LIVERPOOL, England — After a thorough dismantling at the hands of Manchester City in their last Premier League outing, Manchester United bounced back on Sunday at Goodison Park against Everton, earning a 2-1 win.
Everton’s Alex Iwobi and United’s Antony exchanged goals inside the first 15 minutes, until an injury to Anthony Martial changed the course of the game.
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Martial came off in the 29th minute and on came Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored the eventual game winner in the 44th minute.
ESPN’s Rob Dawson has reaction and analysis from Goodison Park.
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Rapid reaction
1. Ronaldo hits No. 700 to boost United
It’s a sign of Cristiano Ronaldo‘s status now that at Goodison Park he made a fifth consecutive appearance as a substitute in a league game for the first time since he was a teenager at Sporting Lisbon.
But at 37 years old, he still has a deadly ability in front of goal and showed it when he raced onto Casemiro‘s pass to shoot low underneath Jordan Pickford.
It was Ronaldo’s 700th goal of his club career, and it was the latest evidence that there are likely to be a few more yet. It was only Ronaldo’s second goal of the season as he battles to win a regular place in Erik ten Hag’s team, but it was a crucial one, helping Manchester United to a vital win in a game that felt it could have been another banana skin after the derby mauling to Manchester City and the awkward trip to Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League.
There is a gap starting to open up between the top three of Man City, Arsenal and Tottenham and everyone else, and it was important United bounced back from the result at the Etihad Stadium and kept up the pace in the race for the top four.
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2. More Martial injury woes
There was no surprise that Anthony Martial was handed his first start of the season after scoring three times off the bench against Manchester City and Omonia Nicosia last week — but it didn’t go the way he would have wanted.
Martial set up United’s first goal with an inch-perfect pass for Antony, but his evening was over inside the first 30 minutes when he hobbled off with another injury.
It’s been a frustrating season for Martial, who looked sharp in preseason before picking up a hamstring problem prior to the campaign kicking off and then got an Achilles injury after making his return as a substitute against Liverpool in August. That saw him miss the next five games, and he can only hope the latest setback isn’t serious.
Martial’s injury problems will also have a knock-on effect for Ronaldo, and not just because he replaced the French player against Everton. Ten Hag can’t rely on Martial to be available, and the United boss is already reluctant to consider letting Ronaldo leave in January over fears it would leave him short of options up front during the second half of the season. The only other recognised striker in the squad is Marcus Rashford, and he’s been injured already this season as well.
