6 days ago
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19 min: United settle into a rhythm of possession but Everton still pose a threat on the break. Ndiaye leads a counter attack, skipping around a tackle and clear of Diallo, but can’t find the right through ball to Barry.
17 min: Moyes is, as you might expect, unimpressed with all that. His side now face a daunting 75ish minutes to navigate with 10 men against a team that they were previously dominating.
14 min: Replays of Gueye’s initial slap or shove on Keane are inconclusive, but there didn’t look to be much in that. Keane gave Gueye a decent shove in the chest first, almost as though to say ‘get on with the game’ and Gueye reacted by giving his teammate a bit of a clip around the ear. A red card feels harsh but the referee has ruled it as violent conduct.
RED CARD FOR EVERTON'S IDRISSA GUEYE!
13 min: After Fernandes sees a long-range shot whistle just wide of the far post, Gueye confronts his own teammate, Michael Keane. The two have a few handbags, with Gueye appearing to slap Keane in the face. Referee Tony Harrington immediately produces the red card, which sends Gueye into a frenzy, and the Senegalese has to be held back by Ndiaye and Pickford and bundled down the tunnel. Gueye was ready to throw hands there, before he was led away. What a mess for Everton, who were the dominant team here!
11 min: An early sub for Everton! Coleman comes off for O’Brien. It’s not clear if the veteran has an injury or if Moyes has been very unimpressed by Coleman’s opening 10 minutes. I suspect the latter because Coleman played a couple of loose passes and put in a dreadful cross. Coleman kicks a bottle as he goes down the touchline, he looks extremely ticked off.
9 min: Off the ball, Tarkowski shoves Zirkzee to the ground. The United forward writhes around for a bit, then gets to his feet and confronts the Everton defender, who looks down his nose at the Dutchman. There is a bit of handbags and finger-pointing and play resumes.
7 min: It’s heartening to still see right-footed players on the right wing. Iliman Ndiaye is one of the most exciting wingers in the league and the Everton wide man digs out a sensational dinked cross to the back post, where Yoro does well to glance it away. A centre forward better than Barry might have been there to nod that one in.
6 min: This has been a promising start from Everton, who are really snapping into challenges in midfield, harrying those in red. I think you might describe these opening minutes as ‘busy’ rather than full of quality.
4 min: “Looking at the teams, it’s great to see Martinez on the bench, I expect he’ll get half an hour,” emails Remo Casale. “But to me it seems United’s bench is almost stronger than the team being fielded. Martinez, Mount, Mainoo, Ugarte and Dalot. I guess Amorim knows what he’s doing, it’s not the team I’d pick.”
Lisandro Martinez hasn’t played a minute of first-team football since early February but is back in the reckoning now. He also trained with Argentina national team over the international break.
2 min: A loose pass from Coleman, who captains Everton tonight, but Dewsbury-Hall does well to retain possession and earn a free-kick. Wasted by Garner. Moyes scowls on the touchline. He knows how important set pieces are today.
PEEEEEEEEEEP!
And we’re off at Old Trafford!
A tribute in the stands at Old Trafford to Stone Roses bassist Mani, whose death was announced on Thursday.
Mani was a huge United fan. There’s a great snap of him in this gallery, at the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United in 2011.
Another favourite memory, from Paul Moody: “Would be watching Martin Buchan equaliser, very late on, I still remember my exact feelings. I was in the Stretford End but living in London. Now I live in Brasil.”
A reminder of Manchester United’s situation with their attackers. Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo will depart for Afcon in the next few weeks, by which time Sesko might be back. Might.
Matheus Cunha appears is injured, although it is not exactly clear what has happened. The Brazilian had been due to turn on the Christmas lights in Altrincham on Saturday evening. But the organisers wrote on Facebook that “Unfortunately, Matheus Cunha has had an accident in training today and will not be able to attend tonight’s Christmas Lights Switch on in Altrincham due to medical reasons.” More breaking news from the Facebook pages of Altrincham, when we have it.
Joe Keggin emails: “My favourite moment from this fixture – and maybe any – was Duncan Ferguson’s winner in 2005 at a feral Goodison. My season ticket was right behind the Gwladys Street goal, and I can still see that ball in from Arteta and the chaos afterwards.”
Here’s what Moyes had to say on his return to Old Trafford.
Joshua Zirkzee hasn’t started a match for Amorim all season, but due to the injuries to Sesko and Cunha, gets a chance to impress here. Just his sixth appearance of the season in all competitions.
Séamus Coleman, similarly, has been starved of club football but given he is 37, that is maybe not a huge surprise. The right back, however, did play all 90+ minutes of Republic of Ireland’s historic win in Hungary and that has maybe convinced David Moyes to hand Coleman his first start in over two months.
Elsewhere, it’s more or less what you would expect from either side. United line up with their 3-4-3 or 3-5-2, Everton in their 4-2-3-1.
The teams!
Manchester United: Lammens, Yoro, de Ligt, Shaw, Mazraoui, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dorgu, Diallo, Mbeumo, Zirkzee.
Subs: Bayindir, Dalot, Martinez, Mount, Malacia, Ugarte, Heaven, Mainoo, Lacey.
Everton: Pickford, Garner, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko, Coleman, Gueye, Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish, Barry.
Subs: Travers, King, McNeil, Beto, O’Brien, Dibling, Alcaraz, Aznou, Iroegbunam.
Preamble
This one has a bit of a nostalgic feel, like some sort of sepia ITV fever dream with Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend on comms (unfortunately you’ll have to make do with me). Maybe it’s because it’s Old Trafford under the lights and the distant memories of those palatial Champions League evenings or maybe it’s just because Manchester United and Everton are two of England’s grandest clubs that share so many merged memories that bridge matches, players and moments (the first things that come to mind: Paul Rideout at Wembley, Wayne Rooney and Phil Neville, Alejandro Garnacho’s bicycle kick, Steven Pienaar’s equaliser in the 4-4 draw that proved to be a decisive moment in the 2012 title race). Do get in touch with your favourite moments from this fixture, or in general: [email protected].
Yes, this is a fixture rooted in the past but both clubs are entering new eras. Following over a decade of banter years, United are beginning to emerge into something approaching respectability. Of course, by the standards of Busby and Ferguson, they are still lightyears away from what might be deemed acceptable but there are green shoots under Ruben Amorim. United could possibly go fourth with a victory here, could they force their way into the reckoning for the top four come the end of the season? That would be a sizeable achievement.
New stadium and an old manager, Everton are another team in flux. Nobody is quite sure how far this team can go under David Moyes, anywhere and everything from a relegation battle to European qualification remains a possibility. That’s quite an exciting and enticing thing for Everton fans. It would be a surprise but not a shock for them to leave Manchester with all three points today, even if a win today would represent just a second victory at United in 32 years. In 17 attempts Moyes has never won at Old Trafford and was in the home dugout when Everton last won here in 2013.
It’s all set up to be a cracker.
Kick-off: 8pm GMT.
