Youngsters Garnacho, Mainoo catalysts in Man United victory،
GOODISON PARK, England — If this is the start of a turnaround for Manchester United, Erik ten Hag can thank two teenagers for taking the wheel.
Playing against an in-form Everton at Goodison Park, which at times looked like a bear den given the home fans’ anger at the Premier League for their 10-point deduction, 19-year-old Alejandro Garnacho scored a wonder goal and, in chaos. sometimes exploding all around him, 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo was the calmest man on the pitch during his 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 crucial 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 Erik ten Hag, who spent the afternoon in the stands due to an on-line suspension from the sidelines, to express oneself with enthusiasm. about his team’s biggest league win this season.
“It was a good performance,” Ten Hag said. “The start was very good, exactly as we expected. We scored a great goal and in the second half we were proactive and scored two goals. We take some positives from that. We had problems at the start of the season. “A lot of things went against us. We are growing. We must continue to develop this process. “
It was Everton’s first game since announcing their 10 deduction for breaching Premier League financial rules and after thousands of supporters joined a protest outside the stadium, the atmosphere had reached its peak. climax at kick-off. Fans booed Premier League signage as it took to the pitch for team lineups and supporters held up thousands of pink signs emblazoned with the league logo and written “corrupt” underneath. Sean Dyche said in preparation that he hoped the anger would galvanize his players, but with just three minutes on the clock, the energy was drained from the stands by Garnacho’s magical moment.
It was a goal so beautiful that it will be shown on replays forever. For a second it looked like Diogo Dalot had overshot his cross, but Garnacho first backtracked and then fired a bicycle kick into the top corner. Think Wayne Rooney against Manchester City; the type of goal that shouldn’t really be humanly possible and therefore takes a split second to absorb. By the time he figured it out, Garnacho was halfway through his “Siuuu” celebration of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo, who scored United’s winner here last season, would have approved.
“It was a fantastic goal and this season still has a lot of games to play but it’s probably already the goal of the season,” Ten Hag said. “Not just the finish, it was the total from start to finish. The finish was incredible, world class. It was a magnificent moment.”
As good as the opening goal was, it didn’t stop United from showing their usual fragility for the remainder of the first half. For a moment after Garnacho’s goal the stadium remained in a sort of stunned silence, but then Everton started playing and for the last 15 minutes it was chance after chance.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin managed two headers, one saved by André Onana and one over the bar, and Abdoulaye Doucouré missed the target from 10 meters. Idrissa Gueye skewed a shot high and wide and amid wave after wave of Everton attacks, Mainoo blocked a Dwight McNeil shot and cleared another effort off the line.
Depending on how you want to look at it, it was either impressive or frightening that Mainoo, a teenager making his first steps in the Premier League, was the calmest man in a red shirt, despite being surrounded by internationals expensive and experienced.
“He has a lot of ability and it was a really disappointing moment in pre-season when he was injured so badly,” Ten Hag said. “I know he can improve a lot if he plays a lot of games like today. Players will develop very quickly and we thought it was the time to bring him in. He’s a good boy, very mature and he showed it.”
Fortunately for Ten Hag, who later said he had leveled harsh criticism at his players at half-time, Mainoo’s calm seemed to rub off on his teammates in the second half and when Ashley Young was deemed had tripped Martial in the box after a VAR check, Rashford scored from the penalty spot to put United 2-0 ahead in a league match for the first time this season.
A smooth team move was completed by Martial – in the starting XI for the injured Rasmus Hojlund – to make it 3-0 and make the scoreline look more comfortable than it perhaps deserved. But Ten Hag doesn’t care, as do Garnacho and Mainoo, who might have allowed United to finally move in the right direction.
