Updated at 15.50
ROBERTO MARTINEZ OUTWITTED Louis van Gaal as Everton earned a richly deserved 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Goodison Park.
Martinez has come in for criticism from certain quarters of the Goodison faithful during a testing second season on Merseyside, but the Spaniard got his tactics spot on to earn a morale-boosting win on Sunday courtesy of goals from James McCarthy, John Stones and Kevin Mirallas.
Heeding the blueprint of Chelsea’s victory over United last week, Everton sat deep throughout, allowing the visitors to dominate possession before breaking quickly with Aaron Lennon, Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku. Predictably, Everton’s fifth-minute opener came via a swift counter, with man-of-the-match McCarthy applying a superb finishing touch to a move that he started.
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And the hosts’ second goal also arrived after a spell of United pressure, with Stones’ brilliant near-post header from Leighton Baines’ corner giving Martinez a two-goal cushion 35 minutes in.
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Van Gaal introduced Radamel Falcao for Marouane Fellaini – who missed United’s best chance of the game in a miserable return to Goodison – at the break in an attempt to sharpen his side’s cutting edge.
But it made no difference, as an Everton substitute, Mirallas, rounded the scoring off 16 minutes from time to condemn United to a second straight loss after last week’s defeat at Stamford Bridge.
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Originally published at 13.57
