Manchester United jumped to fifth spot in the Premier League after defeating Everton 2-1, with Cristiano Ronaldo netting his 700th career goal on Sunday evening.
Marcus Rashford, who produced a telling display from the bench against Omonia Nicosia on Thursday, started with Anthony Martial up top while Carlos Casemiro was given his first league start.
An intense start granted the Toffees the front-foot after Alex Iwobi collected pass on the edge of the area and beat David De Gea with a top-corner finish.
The blistering opening continued inside 15 minutes where United levelled as an unmarked Antony met a first-time pass from Martial and curled home for his third consecutive league goal.
Everton began to feel the pressure after a strong start and needed a crucial block from goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to parry Martial’s close-range attempt from a cross on the right.
That turned out to be Martial’s last contribution in the match, as he limped off injured was replaced by Ronaldo, who came on to take his spot around the half-hour mark.
Ronaldo’s arrival renewed the visitors a minute to halftime and he put them ahead after he pulled wide and finished off Casemiro’s through pass and finally grabbed his 700th club goal.
United looked to consolidate their tally earlier in the second half through openings from Christian Eriksen and a looping header in the six-yard area by Ronaldo.
The Toffees kept the Red Devils on their toes a little later as the forward momentum from Iwobi and Anthony Gordon threatened the 20-time league champions.
Manchester looked to have bagged a third goal in the last ten minutes after Rashford ran clear from a loose pass and finished from close-range, but it was disallowed after he had handled in the build-up.
Desperate piece of defending was required by the Red Devils in the closing seconds, as the Toffees threw numbers forward for the equaliser which didn’t come and 2-1 it finished to United.
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