Manchester United have ended their recent Goodison Park hoodoo by seeing off Everton 3-0 in the Premier League.
The Red Devils had lost on each of their last three visits to the blue half of Merseyside, but they had no such trouble this afternoon as they comfortably claimed maximum points.
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United were enjoying more of the ball in the opening stages of the match but, a wayward Wayne Rooney effort aside, it was all comfortable enough for the hosts to deal with.
Ander Herrera was the next player to try his luck, this time forcing Tim Howard into making a save against his former side as he tipped the shot over the bar.
From the resulting corner better luck was to arrive for the Red Devils, with the ball not being cleared away and eventually landing to Morgan Schneiderlin, who calmly picked out the far corner to open the scoring.
Everton did not look too fazed by the setback, but the deficit was doubled soon after when Herrera headed home from Marcos Rojo's pinpoint cross to make it two.
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The Toffees were almost granted a route back into the game after Romelu Lukaku - one of a select few Premier League players to have scored a hat-trick against today's opponents - got to a cross ahead of David de Gea, only for Chris Smalling to clear up the danger.
While Roberto Martinez's men were boosted by the return of John Stones and Seamus Coleman at the back, they were badly exposed at the end of the opening period as Rooney picked out Anthony Martial for the Frenchman to get a shot away, before Ross Barkley's on-target shot signalled the end of the first half.
United, still hurting from their heavy defeat at Arsenal prior to the international break, would have seen their comfortable lead cut in half had De Gea not got across to deny Lukaku's shot from 10 yards out with his trailing leg just before the hour mark.
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Barkley was looking lively, but could not quite make contact when put under pressure by half-time substitute Jesse Lingard, before seeing a dangerous in-swinging free kick just about dealt with by De Gea.
All Everton's hard work to try to get back into the game ultimately counted for nothing, however, as another mistake at the back allowed Herrera to play Rooney through on goal, and the England international calmly finished off the move to rectify his recent poor form.
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That goal - just his second in the league this term - went a long way to silencing Goodison Park, but there was still plenty of entertainment as De Gea and Howard were both called into action in quick succession to deny Barkley and Rooney respectively.
Martial came closest to rounding off the scoring for the Red Devils, wriggling away from two players and working a shooting angle on goal, though Howard was quickly out to get his body in the way.
It mattered little in the end, however, as United saw out the remaining minutes to ensure that they head into next weekend's Manchester derby meeting sitting just two points off their arch rivals at the summit.
Daniel Lewis
