By the end Wayne Rooney could probably be forgiven for wondering what
kind of adventures he might be missing with his old team. He had heard
his name sung and, before he disappeared into the tunnel, there was a
little, polite wave of appreciation. Yet Rooney wore the look of a man
whose return to Old Trafford
had felt like an ordeal and he can never have imagined there would come
a time when he would find himself in the away dressing room ruminating
on what it is like to be in the relegation zone.
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| Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia, far right, volleys in their first goal against Everton from outside the penalty area. United went on to win 4-0. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images via Reuters |
The paradox is that this was not always the fluent, dangerous
Manchester United that has been seen in other parts in the new season
and it felt slightly perplexing that José Mourinho described it as their
best performance so far. Indeed, for a long part of the second half
they had flirted with the idea of letting their opponents back into the
match and there was clear evidence of how much they would miss the injured Paul Pogba.
Ultimately, though, it turned into the third 4-0 win of their opening
five league fixtures and another reminder of the team’s firepower. It
is the first time United have won their opening three home games since
the 2011-12 season and they are level with Manchester City at the top of
the Premier League on identical records: 13 points, 15 goals scored,
two conceded. Pep Guardiola’s team are top solely because their second name starts with a C rather than a U.
Everton,
in stark contrast, find themselves in the bottom three on the back of
that late flurry of goals when Henrikh Mkhitaryan (83 minutes), Romelu
Lukaku (89) and the substitute Anthony Martial (92) quadrupled the score
and Rooney, chin in hands, watched forlornly from the dugout, having
just been substituted.
Antonio Valencia had opened the scoring, four minutes in, with a firecracker of a shot and these feel like difficult moments for Ronald Koeman
and his players. Everton have now gone six games in all competitions
without a victory, losing the last four with a combined score of 0-12,
and have not won in the league since the opening weekend of the season.
“Please be realistic,” Koeman said afterwards, taking issue with Mourinho’s reference to Everton
being a club that had ambitions of a top-four finish. The reality,
however, is that Everton’s supporters were entitled to expect more after
an extensive period of summer recruitment.
A lot of those fans had already left by the time Martial’s penalty,
after a Morgan Schneiderlin handball, completed the scoring. They
enjoyed that moment in the first half when Lukaku shot wide when it
seemed certain he would score. Yet they also had to endure being shushed
by their former striker after he had set up Mkhitaryan’s goal. Lukaku
had been booed by the away end and, when he added the third goal, he
made a beeline towards the Evertonians, cupping his ear as if to ask why
the volume had suddenly gone down.
As for Rooney, he found it difficult early on to provide any evidence
that he can still flourish at United’s level. He did, however, grow
into the game and became a difficult opponent for Eric Bailly in
particular. It needed David de Gea’s quick reactions to deny Rooney an
equaliser early in the second half and it was something of a surprise
that Koeman removed him in the 81st minute. At the risk of sounding
slightly cruel it was a better performance than the crowd here became
used to seeing from Rooney in recent seasons. Throughout the middle hour
of the game there was not actually a great deal between the two teams.
Yet Valencia’s goal was a beauty and it is difficult to think of any
other time in his eight years at Old Trafford when he has struck a shot
more powerfully. United’s captain was 20 yards from goal, aiming
diagonally from close to the far corner of the penalty area, when
Nemanja Matic’s crossfield pass curled his way and he let fly.
The noise of the crowd made it clear they had witnessed something
special and the ball flashed past Jordan Pickford at the kind of speed
that makes it harsh, perhaps, to question the goalkeeper. Even so, an
argument could be made that the shot was central enough to be saved.
Hypothetical, perhaps, but it is difficult to think De Gea would have
been beaten that way.
Even in a four-goal win De Gea showed again why he is so valuable
with second-half saves from Rooney and Gylfi Sigurdsson. An equaliser
would not have been implausible at that stage but it was still more
likely that the home team would score next.
Mkhitaryan swept a low shot past Pickford to soothe the crowd’s
nerves and Lukaku’s seventh goal in seven games for his new club came
from close range in a crowded penalty area. Lukaku’s free-kick had
bounced back off the defensive wall but Matic fired the loose ball back
in and United’s £75m striker had dashed forward, anticipating the ball
might come back his way. How Everton miss him.
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