Manchester United continued their winning run in the new year and registered their second win of 2023 edging past Everton 3-1 in the third round of the FA Cup on Friday at Old Trafford.
England forward Marcus Rashford continued his rich vein of form and scored consecutively in his fifth game to help his team to a win. The Red Devils couldn't have asked for a more dominating start, with United's forwards combining brilliantly for the first goal. Anthony Martial controlled the ball well to feed it to Rashford, who outpaced his marker before finding Antony rushing in at the far post.
Conor Coady had equalised for Frank Lampard's side after taking advantage of an absurd blunder by David de Gea in the Manchester United goal. However, the defender sent the ball past his own goalkeeper in the second half to score an own goal and give the lead back to the hosts.
The visitors came close to finding the second goal and levelling the score, but Dominic Calvert-goal Lewin's was disallowed for offside. After Alejandro Garnacho was fouled, it was left to the player of the match Rashford to seal the victory with a stoppage-time penalty.
Everton's focus returns to the Premier League relegation battle, while Erik ten Tag's trophy campaign continues with United having now won seven games in a row.
"Again, a great performance. I think Marcus was the one who goes in front and showed the confidence, showed the belief, good movement behind, taking players on. I think he was a threat for 90 minutes for the defending part of Everton," said Erik ten Hag as quoted by Sky Sports.
Asked if there is scope for improvement to come, Ten Hag added, "You can never say with football. How can you quantify it? Naturally, as a striker, you track goals and assists. He had two assists and a goal today, which was fantastic. He possesses exceptional abilities. When he has that mental stability he keeps going but that demands a lot from him and also a lot from us as a team to make sure that we have the right organisation, the right environment, the right structure. But when he remains focused like this I am sure he can keep this going."
Manchester United play Charlton Athletic in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday. The Red Devils will then face Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday, January 14.
Everton's next game is at home against fellow Premier League relegation candidates Southampton on Saturday, January 14.
( With inputs from ANI )
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