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A penalty shootout called Goodison Park, but Edinson Cavani had other ideas. The veteran Uruguayan international produced an impressive goal in the 88th minute to keep Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s quest for a first trophy as Manchester United manager and condemn Everton to more heartbreak in the cup.
Cavani opened his United account here early last month, also at the end of the game and in the Park End of the stadium. He found his range once again to give the visitors a victory that deserved his dominance in the first half, but which seemed to have eluded them in an otherwise sterile second half. With Everton wide open at the rear as they looked for an injury time tie, substitute Antony Martial pushed his way to add a second. Bruno Fernandes also hit a post and Robin Olsen stopped Marcus Rashford with a good save in time.
Fernandes and Harry Maguire were the only players to hold onto their places from the 6-2 victory over Leeds as Solskjær rotated heavily, although they still had a strong and experienced line-up. Paul Pogba again joined Nemanja Matic in the heart of midfield, Edinson Cavani led the line, Donny van de Beek and Mason Greenwood flanked Fernandes while Eric Bailly accompanied Maguire in central defense. The personnel changes did not interrupt the pace and arrogance United gained from the Leeds result. They dominated possession and dictated the game early on, and may have been out of sight before a nervous Everton built their first significant attack.
Fernandes orchestrated United’s 3-1 win here in the Premier League last month: “I found out that day that if you give him space, we’re dead,” Carlo Ancelotti admitted, and he was presented with an early opportunity to reprise that role. when Michael Keane mishandled Alex Iwobi’s rear pass.
The Portugal midfielder broke free with Cavani free to his left only to unusually scrape his pass to the veteran forward. Yerry Mina cleared this time but the pattern had been established. Everton were riddled with mistakes and careless whenever they had the ball. United frequently created chances, with Alex Telles a productive source down the left, but lacked the clinical flair to finish off the hosts.
Olsen had replaced Jordan Pickford when Ancelotti switched his goalkeepers for the third time this season and made a memorable contribution. The Swedish international hit Mina on the nose as they tried to clear the first of a series of dangerous United corners and nearly let Cavani in by lingering too long on a Keane pass and needed a desperate recovery tackle to escape.
He also had many opportunities to show the good and the routine. Olsen saved Cavani’s feet after Axel Tuanzebe ditched Ben Godfrey on the right, denied Uruguayan striker Cavani twice in quick succession at his near post, and maintained a docile header from Pogba when the midfielder was found unmarked by a shot. corner of Telles.
Séamus Coleman also produced a vital block to deflect Van de Beek’s close-range shot off a Pogba back heel and Greenwood came within inches of converting a diving header from a center from Telles’ left.
Everton, no doubt wondering how they had remained level playing field, took 35 minutes to put Dean Henderson to the test for the first time, when Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed Gylfi Sigurdsson’s corner kick directly to the United goalkeeper. Moments later, they nearly got ahead when Sigurdsson swept a long-distance free kick into the top corner, but Henderson lived up to the effort and pushed the ball.
The recovery of the local team was fleeting. United, working their way through the home side with neat one-touch triangles, finished the first half back on the rise and required an acrobatic interception from Mina to prevent Cavani from connecting with a Fernandes cross in front of goal.
Olsen made another save near Cavani’s post early in the second half after the forward, with no VAR to intervene, appeared to control a Tuanzebe cross with his upper arm. The Uruguayan was involved in a fight with Mina when, having been stopped by the Colombian defender, he reacted by grabbing his marker by the chin. Again, the VAR may have had a different take on Cavani raising his hand than the referee, Andy Madley, who chose to lecture both players.
Richarlison had to retire after being stunned and confused by a collision with Bailly. The contact was purely accidental on the defender’s part, but Richarlison’s teammates were visibly unhappy with Fernandes for pushing the Brazilian to the crushing challenge.
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Those incidents aside, the second half was only impressive because Rashford received warm applause from the 2,000 Evertonians inside the stadium for his efforts to feed the school-age children during the lockdown. Football was turgid.
Everton grew physically tired and United ran out of ideas after their first-half dominance failed to make a breakthrough. Solskjær introduced Martial in an attempt to inject rhythm and energy into the visitors’ attack and it paid off with just two minutes to go. Martial, falling deep in midfield, picked up Maguire’s ball off defense and found Cavani intentionally stalking to the right of Everton’s penalty area. The 33-year-old cut into Godfrey and unleashed an excellent first-time shot that flew past Olsen into the far corner. The penalty shoot-out had been avoided.
