Marcus Rashford scored his fifth goal in as many games and assisted on two more, advancing Manchester United into the FA Cup’s fourth round with a 3-1 victory over Everton.
Conor Coady, who scored the equalizer for Everton, converted a pass into his own goal in the second half after Rashford had set up Antony’s early goal.
Rashford then continued his scoring streak during stoppage from the penalty spot after ben Godfrey fouled Alejandro Garnacho.
United achieved seven straight victories in all competition for the first time since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer served as interim manager in 2019. They were not brutal and being thankful to have a potential Dominic Calvert-Lewin equalizer chalked off for offside.
Everton found solace in an improved performance,with pressure mounting on Frank Lampard following Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to Brighton. They are now 18th in the Premier League standings.
In his wisdom, Erik ten Hag deployed Luke Shaw at the heart of the defence, leaving out Lisandro Martinez, who hasn’t played since coming back from the World Cup, on the bench with Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof.
Lampard on the other hand switched back to the 3-5-2 formation after the defeat on Tuesday, he had deployed the same formation to frustrate Manchester City the previous weekend, with Calvert-Lewin dropping to the bench.
The 9000 away support were still incensed over their most recent defeat; the first cries of “sack the board” could be heard 15 minutes before kick off. Their mood did not improve when United took the lead after just four minutes as a result of more appalling defending.
Rashford and Martial teamed up brilliantly, the England forward then rolled in a low cross from the left that Antony went unnoticed and dashed in to poke in at the far post.
Antony should have been in again but missed his opportunity to score, and Martial blazed a shot wide as Everton’s lack of confidence allowed them to pass carelessly, giving the Red Devils more opportunities.
Everton, however, miraculously restored parity after 14 minutes when Amadou Onana shoved Casemiro aside and saw Maupay running towards the box. De Gea should have had no trouble catching his low cross, but for some reason he allowed it to fumble through his legs before Coady tapped it in.
United attempted to reclaim their lead, but Pickford denied Martial, who then saw another chance blocked by James Tarkowski.
A minute into the second half, Alex Iwobi appeared to have twisted his ankle while being tackled by Tyrell Malacia. He left the field on a stretcher while shielding his face. Doucoure replaced him.
Things turned worse for the visitors minutes later when Rashford cut in from the left and sped into the Everton box, beating Coleman to deliver in a low pass that Coady turned into his own net.
United fans yelled at Lampard, “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” anticipating their team to win easily.
De Gea was called into action minutes later when Varane stopped Doucoure from charging into the area, but the ball rolled to Coleman, who forced the Spanish keeper to parry a potentially deadly cross before stopping Mykalenko’s shot.
Substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin thought he had equalized for the visitors when he chested in Gray’s cross from close range in the 73rd minute and fired it past De Gea, only for the VAR to intervene and rulled it offside.
Rashford extended the host’s lead at stoppage time when he sent Pickford the wrong way from the spot after Godfrey had fouled Garnacho.
