Fernandes and Rashford on the spot to lead Manchester United past Everton | first division

In the first leg in November, Alejandro Garnacho flew through the air at Goodison Park to beat Jordan Pickford with a searing scissor kick to kick off a 3-0 victory. On Saturday afternoon, the winger made scapegoats of defenders James Tarkowski and Ben Godfrey to claim the penalties they gave manchester united a beautiful three points.

The penalties were scored by Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford, who “decided between themselves on the field,” explained Erik ten Hag.

Of his star Garnacho, the coach said: “His contribution today was enormous, his runs, his dribbles. He is also attractive to the public, obviously we want to show something (our quality).”

Everton suffered because the plethora of opportunities they created could not be converted, as illustrated by their tally of just 29 goals in the competition. Ten Hag, surprisingly, isn't worried about his team allowing multiple opportunities.

“We have been doing it for a long time in many more games,” said the coach. “You can see the opportunities they had: low quality.”

From this point of view, the openings that Everton opened were decent. Example: In the 75th minute, United allowed Sean Dyche's team to operate and Lewis Dobbin passed the ball over the goal to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but the forward kicked into the air when it seemed easier to find the net.

Ten minutes were all United needed to score. Garnacho was fed by Rashford on the left, he took a step into the area, feinted and Tarkowski took the bait and a leg. Fernandes took the penalty to Pickford's left: the goalkeeper took the right direction but was unable to stop it.

Everton responded by advancing up the field where United, of course, were criminally open. The ball fell to Dwight McNeil, but his left-footed shot missed André Onana's right.

The opening was due to Ten Hag's men being AWOL, and although before the match he mentioned “the cost of good margins” to explain Sunday's 3-1 defeat at Manchester City, defeats at Tottenham and Arsenal , and the draw with Liverpool, this is a smokescreen. Elite sport is defined by these and the challenge is to come out on the positive side.

From this, let's move on to a more lax United defense. McNeil was again the beneficiary: when United pulled back, he ran inside and Diogo Dalot was caught before Casemiro finally intervened.

The best players shape competitions in their own way and that is what Garnacho did. Simon Hooper had rejected a second penalty shout when Vitaliy Mykolenko touched the ground with his hand, but the referee did not hesitate when the next appeal came. This time Garnacho crossed the Everton box and tricked Godfrey into standing on tiptoe. Now came the decision for Rashford to take the shot and his conversion, to Pickford's right, was perfect, kissing the inside of the side netting. Dyche said: “They are both penalties, but soft ones on our part.”

Garnacho soon had a third appeal when the ball hit Mykolenko's handball again from a winger's cross, but he was again found not guilty.

Calmer was Ten Hag's message to his players. However, what he saw was amateur defending that allowed the ball to bounce close to Onana and ended with Abdoulaye Doucouré's attempt repelled by the goalkeeper at the near post.

United were also wasteful. Despite lighting up the game, Garnacho missed two opportunities by moving to Pickford's left. And when Fernandes found the goal with an effort that was deflected by the goalkeeper, the corner that followed created more disorder: the ball fell into a mini-body involving Victor Lindelöf and Jonny Evans, and when Pickford lost the ball and then grabbed the ball, Evans fell. him.

In added time, following a Fernandes corner, United managed the kind of controlled possession they had lacked for too long. But the victory was theirs in front of a packed Old Trafford.

Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, has previously said public money will be needed whether United's stadium is renovated or a new one is built on the current site. Along with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the new minority owner, the mayor is part of a new working group tasked with exploring what model should be adopted and how best to regenerate the surrounding area.

Burnham was asked if public money is needed. “Even renovating Old Trafford will have to be a public-private partnership,” he said.

Burnham was asked why Ratcliffe, who is one of the richest people in Britain, and the majority owners, the Glazers, who are billionaires, need public funding.

He offered an example. “This land has a train station that is not used at this time because it is not well designed. That itself means that if the stand were renovated as part of that approach, something would have to be done to move that station and that would require public money.”