GOODISON PARK, England — If this is the beginning of Manchester United turning a corner, Erik ten Hag can thank two teenagers for grabbing the steering wheel.
Playing an in-form Everton at Goodison Park, which at times felt like a bear pit given the home fans’ anger at the Premier League for their 10-point deduction, 19-year-old Alejandro Garnacho scored a wonder goal and, with chaos at times exploding all around him, 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo was the calmest man on the pitch on his full Premier League debut.
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This week — with three away games against Everton, Galatasaray and Newcastle in the space of six days — could prove pivotal in United’s season and thanks to Garnacho and Mainoo, they are off to the perfect start.
Marcus Rashford‘s second goal of the season from the penalty spot and Anthony Martial‘s first league goal since April earned a 3-0 win and meant that Erik ten Hag, who spent the afternoon in the stands because of a touchline suspension, was able to talk glowingly about his team’s biggest league win of the season.
“It was a good performance,” said Ten Hag. “The start was very good, exactly how we planned it. We scored a great goal and in the second half we were proactive and scored two goals. We’re taking positives from it. We had problems at the start of the season. A lot went against us. We’re growing. We have to keep this process growing.”
