Everton 3-0 Manchester United

Everton once again got the better of Manchester United at Goodison Park as they trumped them 3-0 for their Sunday teatime fixture. This was Everton’s third straight win over the Old Trafford side at home after winning against them in the last couple of seasons.Goals from James McCarthy, John Stones and Kevin Mirallas gave Louis van Gaal’s side the sucker-punch as they were left reeling by the end of 90 minutes.Here are the five talking points from this high profile fixture:

#1 The curse of Goodison Park continues

Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney and Radamel Falcao

Manchester United has failed to win in three consecutive trips to the blue half of Merseyside. What’s worse is that they have failed to score in each of their three defeats. This speaks volumes about United’s recent record at Goodison Park.

What started out as a joke in Liverpool is now turning out to be a shady reality for the boys in red. Not only they have lost three games on the bounce but they have also been thoroughly outclassed in those defeats, barring the 1-0 defeat in Sir Alex Ferguson’s last season. Last season’s defeat led to the sacking of David Moyes while defeat this season has jeopardized United’s chances of a top 3 finish with Arsenal and City both enjoying a considerable advantage over them.

Toffees destroyed United with their steely pace on the break and with their prowess on the set pieces, which ironically has been their modus operandi against these opponents in recent past. Curse or not, Everton has got Manchester United’s number in these three seasons.

#2 Former Evertonians fail to impress

Ross Barkley of Everton and Marouane Fellaini of Manchester United

There is always a lot of buzz in press and in the streets of Goodison when a former player returns. This week all the hype was built around Marouane Fellaini, who is in sublime form over the past month and has resurrected his Old Trafford career from the dead with his recent performances. The burly Belgian was always going to be scrutinised very closely and sadly, things didn’t turn out the way he or Louis van Gaal had planned.

He was smartly marked out from the game by the midfield trio of Gareth Barry, James McCarthy and at times by Ross Barkley. He had a golden chance in the first half to draw United level, but nerves got the better of him and he sent his shot straight over the bar into the roaring Toffees fans. That was his only meaningful contribution in the game and he was rightly taken off at half time. This was one of the bad days in office for the 6’ 4” midfielder and he will look to bounce back next week.

One individual who will share his grief today will be none other than his captain and former Everton star Wayne Rooney. The England captain got into some promising positions but failed to penetrate through a solid Everton backline. He was shifted to a deeper role in the second half and he was pretty ordinary there as well.

For these former Evertonians it was not a trip to remember and they will surely look to bounce back in style next time they return to their erstwhile home.

#3 Missing Michael Carrick

Manchester United’s Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs during a match earlier in April

Michael Carrick has been Manchester United’s midfield mainstay for past five seasons. His presence not only soothes the nerves backline behind him, but also gives a springboard to the wily attackers playing in front of him.

Carrick is the lynchpin of this United midfield – he ticks them over like a busy bee. His calmness and composure while in possession is what sets him apart from all his midfield peers at Old Trafford. Today the Reds missed these exact attributes in midfield. Daley Blind was good but he lacked the composure oozed by the Englishman.

One more thing in which Carrick specializes in is his reading of the game. This is what Daley Blind lacks and what came to haunt Manchester United today at Goodison Park. This doesn’t mean that Blind was poor, in fact the Dutchman put in a decent display in midfield but was some way off from the benchmark set by the former Spurs midfielder.

United’s win percentage drops drastically in absence of Michael Carrick and after today’s display it shouldn’t require rocket science to decipher this fact as the stats here speak for themselves.

UNITED WITH CARRICK – P15 W10 D3 L2; Win percentage: 66.70%; Points per game: 2.2

UNITED WITHOUT CARRICK – P14 W6 D5 L3; Win percentage: 42.90%; Points per game: 1.6

#4 Manchester United\'s defensive howlers

Everton’s Romelu Lukaku outpaces Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia

Manchester United had only one thing to blame for their sorry display today and that is their shoddy defensive organization. Everton hit them twice on the break and scored the other via a set piece. This not only underlines the fact that the Reds rearguard was not only playing out of position but also failing to track their men when it came to set pieces.

Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw were the only ones who can hold their head high after this defeat as they executed their roles to the tee. Antonio Valencia was caught out napping on quite a few occasions and it was his error that led to James McCarthy’s opener. He allowed Everton wingers to get inside of him and was particularly troubled by Kevin Mirallas when he came on.

McNair did well but didn’t have a flawless game either as he succumbed too much to his attacking instincts and gave away possession quite cheaply on multiple occasions. David De Gea must be very upset over the fact that his defence left him for dead far too often, which eventually led him to ship three goals, the goalkeeper not being the culprit even once. All in all, it was a game to forget for these defenders, who need to get back to the drawing board and get their basics straight.

#5 Everton\'s pace leads the way

Manchester United’s Paddy McNair tries to evade Everton’s Romelu Lukaku and Aaron Lennon

Roberto Martinez in his pre-match conference talked about how he had planned for days to negate the threat of Marouane Fellaini. His plan worked as Fellaini was nowhere to be seen in the match – but one thing he never spoke about was the masterstroke which he had in place for their high flying visitors.

He took a leaf from Jose Mourinho’s tactic of catching this swashbuckling Manchester United side on the break. The pace of Ross Barkley, Romelu Lukaku and Aaron Lennon was used effectively to catch the Reds napping very often.

Aaron Lennon was the tormentor in chief from Everton. He not only burst forward to harass United’s defence but also tracked the movement of Luke Shaw who wasn’t given any respite whatsoever by his fellow Englishman. Kevin Mirallas did the same to Antonio Valencia later in the second half. Two of their goals were purely their demonstration of raw pace on the break.

Time and again, Manchester United’s defence was simply caught in no man’s land.