Having got back to winning ways against Aldershot in midweek, the Reds netted a much-needed three Premier League points thanks to Javier Hernadez's goal.
The Mexican pounced after 19 minutes, converting Patrice Evra's cross. United were in control for the most part although Leighton Baines did hit the cross bar with a free-kick late in the first half.
The only negative on the day for United was an ankle injury that forced midfielder Tom Cleverley off - although it is not thought to be serious.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson gave Jonny Evans a vote of confidence following his sending off against City by restoring him in defence after suspension.
Evans took his place alongside Nemanja Vidic, himself sent off on Champions League duty recently, with Rio Ferdinand left on the bench.
Otherwise United's emphasis was on attack with Hernandez, Danny Welbeck and former Everton prodigy Wayne Rooney all starting.
Everton were the first side out of the blocks as Seamus Coleman burst down the right, cut inside Patrice Evra and fired a shot at David de Gea with just 15 seconds on the clock.
The visitors started brightly too with Welbeck jinking into the area and pulling back for Park Ji-sung at the near post, but the Korean's effort was blocked by former United keeper Tim Howard.
A chance appeared to open up outside the box for Rooney, whose reception from the Goodison crowd was not too bitter, but referee Mike Halsey got in the way and he stabbed wide.
United claimed the lead when an Evra cross found its way to Hernandez in front of goal.
Tap in
Phil Jagielka was unable to reach the ball from the left and Hernandez tapped in unmarked.
Welbeck almost sneaked in on goal when Jagielka headed back towards Howard after an awkward bounce but the American just beat the striker to the ball.
Everton finished the half well as Marouane Fellaini won a free-kick in a good position five minutes before the interval when felled by Darren Fletcher.
Baines, who missed a penalty in the Carling Cup in midweek, stepped up and curled a superb effort against the crossbar.
Some intricate one-touch passing from United put Welbeck through in the opening moments of the second half but the striker was unable to control the final ball.
Rodwell extended De Gea for the first time when he cut inside onto his left foot from the right but the Spaniard produced a fine save to his right.
United immediately countered as Tom Cleverley, making his first Premier League appearance in seven weeks after recovering from a foot injury, released Hernandez with a brilliant long pass.
Hernandez came inside but lacked options and slowed, allowing Everton to come clear.
That proved to be Cleverley's last major involvement as he limped off shortly afterwards to be replaced by Nani.
The game went into six minutes of injury time, caused in part by an injury to an assistant referee which forced fourth official Phil Dowd into emergency action on the line.
But United held firm. They may have beaten Aldershot in the Carling Cup on Tuesday but this victory, in spite of the performance, will do much more for their confidence as the shockwaves from Old Trafford last week continue to reverberate.
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Well, back to the drawing board, but I’m not too sure that they have a drawing board at United. I thought that the game was screaming out for Berbatov in the early going but, when he came on, he did nothing. It’s a disgrace to be pinned back for most of the second half especially against Everton. Well done for the win lads but let’s have a bit of entertainment eh.
Great bounceback. Very typical of United. Anyone who counts us out, do it at their own peril. We will win our 20th title come May of next year. UNITED ALL THE WAY!!!!
Great defending was brilliant to see Vidic back the only shots Everton really had were tame and outside the box and De Gea scooped them up easily, also have to mention how well Fletcher covered the defence he supported brilliantly.
Got away with that Baines free kick that hit the bar though but still its off target if you hit the bar.
Midfield was poor once Clevs went off and a very unusual starting line up with 3 strikers in there what was it a narrow 4-3-3? anyway it wasn't our typical football and we play far better with a 4-4-2 with Young on the left and Nani on the right.
Fingers crossed that they took Clevs off as a pre-caution and its only a niggle.
please cleverly get well soon
First of all, a word for the fans at Goodison. They were marvellous. The boss talked about showing what United are about and the fans certainly did that.
Second, a huge shout out for Nemanja Vidic. He was massive, an absolute colossus. Just what we needed in that defence.
Patrice Evra faced a lot of criticism over the last week, and rightly so. But today, he was very good. A couple of mistakes, but that was only to be expected with the way he plays.
The rest were adequate. What I did not understand was why Sir Alex, in the process of keeping things tight at the back, allowed Everton to come at us. We could have kept the ball and remained solid at the back. We've done that for years, I did not understand why we did not take advantage of at least two opportunities. Everton had holes in their defence the size of a crater and both times, we were a bit unimaginative.
Nonetheless, a huge three points. Just wish the players had shown more imagination. We're lucky it was an Everton side lacking in creativity after Arteta's departure. Still, first win at Goodison for a while, so job well done. Onwards and upwards.
A good win after an ugly loss, but this team looked far too much like last years team, in that they had zero ambition going forward once they had a one goal lead. This cost us so many points last year in victories turned into draws because we conceded possession and played back. After Hernandez' goal, I don't believe we tested Tim Howard even remotely, and there were at least five times where we had the ball deep into their half, but did not put any effort into an attack. We must do better.
Good performance compare to last week.. I think CLEVERLY is next OWEN HARGREAVES for injury... Evra played well.
It's obvious that United need a creative midfielder in the January market: every match makes it clearer and clearer. Cleverley is good, but he's either injury prone or being deliberately targeted. We need back up. Let's hope the injury isn't too serious.
Who was the guy next to Vida in central defense? Looked like Evans but surely he couldn't get the nod again based on his performance on black Sunday.
Boring game which was to be expected. We were a bit lucky but in the end we got the three points.
We move on.
Wingless United,for the first time since God knows when. The three wingers,Nani,Valencia and Young all dropped their form at the same time so a new approach was necessary and it worked to a degree. Nice to have Vidic back to form and Evans had a decent game also.
Good win at a difficult ground.
Positives -
3 points (2 more than last season at this ground)
3 away wins so far (last season 5 in total)
Great to see Berbatov on the pitch - moaning to his colleagues (I missed that)
Cleverley - great pass for the goal
Evra - finally an assist
Vidic - more like his great self)
Front line should be fresh for Wednesday (after all United didn't play the second half ;)
Really gritty win
Dismal performance , but at least we got three points
Vital win , well done boys !!
Not going to post a pre match team prediction again , there`s just no point and watching Evans and Evra getting skinned within 20 seconds was scary .
But we settled , played some decent stuff , deserved to take the lead , played some more decent stuff and then with about the 30 mins on the clock . . . BANG !!!!! we just lost all cohesion , could hardly put two passes together and what followed was pretty abject .
Fortunately Vidic was there to add some steel to the defence . MOM by a mile .
Another vital match winning goal from Hernandez his ability to find space in the box is incredible . Lets hope its not Toms ligaments again that would be a bitter blow for him and us , his ability is there for all to see .
Well done again boys !!
Rilo
Exiled Droylsden Red
De gea man of match and Vidic
the rest were terrible , still suffering with a µBIG hangover
Not a step in the right direction,Everton should have got something from the match.Far to sloppy when in posession,especially in the last third,allowing the opposition to put unwanted pressure on us.This has been going on since the Chelsea game and culmimnated in lastv weeks debacle.Not sure the message has sunk in,but we need to improve.Still I'm grateful for the 3 points even if it was an uncomfortable watch.
“We’ll keep the Red flag flying high, for Man United will never die!”
Flaming well done you beloved Reds, I am so proud of you. Not one of our greatest wins so to speak, but certainly one of our most important ones, especially with all the negativity, doom and gloom from the usual suspects, leading up to this game!
In the circumstances I would have taken any kind of a scruffy win. However, I thought that we gave a decent enough display to fill me with encouragement for the rest of this campaign. Like everyone else, I would appreciate a more fluent, swift passing game with great skill and finesse, but sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and knuckle down to grounding out a result. Today was simply that, a “ground-out day!”
I was particular pleased by the well-taken goal by Hernandez, and a fine defensive showing by our back four. Special mention to Jonny Evans; well-done young man, well done!
In vast contrast to last weekend, I will enjoy my scoops tonight!
United ‘til I die!
Fergie never changes our midfield was Dior what is the most surprising thing was we managed to win with Park Fletcher and Evans on the field .
Berbatov should have started and finished and trying to run the clock down is a very dangerous game how we could do with a VAN PERSIE
poor performance yet again,Sniejder should be brought in ASAP!!!!
Defence is awful whenever Evans plays there....he simply is not good enough
Poor poor performance.
However picking up 3 points away from home with rubbish display is how championships are won!
3 Points in the bag :)
This was one of those games where the result was far more important than the performance. I thought we controlled the game very well but could have gone on to win it with more to spare. Still, back to winning ways and that was good. Just hope that Tom Cleverley is not sidelined again as he certainly has the ability to make us tick.
Great result, getting 3 points here was vital.
Not the greatest performance yet again, and it could easily have been a draw or worse, but we held firm and got the result.
Why Fergie went back to Evans again is beyond me, but Fergie has always tried to prove the doubters wrong - remember how he persisted with terrible players like Blanc, Chadwick, Djemba and his godson Fletcher...
An Ugly Win beats a Lovely Loss any day! Take the 3 points and move on after last week's beat down. Just look what happened to Chelsea today. Think they would take an ugly win?
Evra made a great cross, a ball going away from the keeper right into Chicha's feet.
Chicha does not miss those, in fact he makes everything look easy, that is class, his touch, his composure and the finish.
A very scrappy game, could have resulted in a half dozen injuries.
Bernstein(ex city) at the FA is going make the most trouble for us.
I think we'll see a few games where the excessive gung-ho attacking is reigned in. We've been far too open this season and you can't guarantee to outscore every team. Having a defence full of holes puts too much pressure on the forwards. So this is a good first step in rebalancing the side.
I'm still convinced that this squad, with no additions, can win the title again this season. We will need a bit of better luck with injuries. So far we've had injuries to Valencia, Rafael, Fabio, Carrick, Hernandez, Welbeck, Young, Fletcher, Smalling, Rio, Vidic, Park, Cleverley, etc. and it's been disruptive. If we can get players back fit and be more settled at the back then we'll win silverware in the end.
I did'nt think we played to good after the first 20 minutes but we'll take the 3 points.One thing though we made three subs and got to say I did'nt see any of them after they came on all three were atrocious a disgrace in fact!!