Manager Matthijs de Ligt said Manchester United must come together, identify the problems and bounce back from Monday’s “really bad night” at home to 10-man Everton. Booth welcomed the end to the Red Devils’ five-game unbeaten run after failing to capitalize on Idrissa Gana Gueye’s surprising early sending off for slapping team-mate Michael Keane.
United had the upper hand in possession and shots on goal, but Ruben Amorim’s toothless side could find no response to Keenan Dewsbury-Hall’s curler as Everton cruised to a 1-0 win at a frustrating Old Trafford. “I think it was a really bad night for us, especially playing against 10 men,” Dutch defender De Ligt said.
“We conceded one goal and didn’t create many chances. I think it was a really bad performance overall today. Obviously the next game (at Crystal Palace) is very important now. We have to bounce back from this performance. We’ve had good performances in the last few weeks, but now it’s been a bad performance. I think everyone can say that.”
“Now it’s about us coming back and coming together and being clear on what needs to improve, because obviously we weren’t good enough today.” It was former United manager David Moyes’ first Premier League win in his 18th attempt at Old Trafford as a guest manager after the hosts failed to score after 25 shots.
Jordan Pickford was in great form as six of United’s shots on target were deflected away, while only Everton’s shot on target found the back of the net. “It’s frustrating, but that’s football,” centre-back De Ligt told MUTV. “The Premier League is not for the weak.
“One chance can be a goal. Yeah, if they score after one chance and we don’t, that makes the difference. That’s the difference between winning and losing, efficiency. We lacked that today.”
“I think today we probably lacked the urgency to score goals and create chances. Then when you play against a team like Everton who go back and are good in the air, it’s going to be quite difficult. That’s basically the summation of the night.”
United will aim to get back to winning ways against Crystal Palace on Sunday, while Everton host Newcastle the night before on the back of their first win at Old Trafford since 2013.
Everton goalkeeper Pickford said: “This is the first time we’ve won here. It’s a difficult place to come and there’s a lot of history. I love playing here and we haven’t had results in the time I’ve been here with Everton. This is the first time we’ve won here.”
“The manager said this to us before the game: ‘You guys want to be the right team and move up the table. Tonight it’s time to prove your authority and get a result.’ We know it’s not going to be that easy, but we gave him what he wanted and we got the reward. He was really happy. The way we trained this week, I think he wanted this pretty strongly and we got that result.
