Everton vs Manchester United: Red Devils hit a new low with an embarrassing defeat against struggling Toffees

Manchester United suffered a massive blow in their bid for an unlikely top-four finish this season. Ralf Rangnick’s side was at the end of an embarrassing 1-0 defeat to struggling Everton in the Premier League on Saturday. It was a new low in a season of multiple lows for the Reds. Just when it looked like the Red Devils could not sink any further, Manchester United found a way to hit a new low at Merseyside. With every passing week, Everton keeps getting closer and closer to the relegation places. They seemed to have forgotten how to win football matches. United would not have wanted a better opponent than Frank Lampard’s side to reinvigorate their fast-fading top-four hopes. But as it turned out, it was the Merseyside Blues who took advantage of Manchester United’s indifferent form to register all three points. 

While Everton got three massive points to keep their hopes of staying in the Premier League alive, United’s slim chances of returning to the Champions League next season just got slimmer. A toothless performance saw United create very few half-chances. It was a game low on quality but high on importance yet Rangnick’s side did not do enough to test Everton’s struggling defence. This defeat could not only signal the end of Champions League football for next season but it could also create an extremely unhappy ending to the season.

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Where does the latest defeat rank in a season of embarrassments?

It is hard to imagine that a club of Manchester United’s stature have numerous embarrassing moments this campaign. Starting with the dramatic late defeat against the Swiss side – Young Boys – in the Champions League opening group stage match, United have suffered home defeats in the Carabao Cup (against West Ham United) and FA Cup (against Middlesbrough). 

The humiliating 5-0 thrashing of Liverpool at Old Trafford will haunt Manchester United fans for a long time. The heavy defeats against Leicester City (4-2) and Watford (4-1) – the latter brought an end to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign at Old Trafford – will not be soon forgotten. Then there were the two defeats to Manchester City – one with Ole at the helm and the other during Rangnick’s time. 

Besides, there were also the disappointing losses against Aston Villa and Wolverhampton at home and some poor draws against Burnley (1-1), Southampton (1-1), and Everton (1-1) among other heartbreaks for United fans. The latest 1-0 defeat against Everton on Saturday will be right at the top among the other major embarrassments United have suffered this campaign.

It is not only the defeat, but the manner in which Manchester United lost will send alarm bells ringing. Despite dominating the possession by 68%, the Reds Devils only had four shots on target. Two of those chances came at the start of the first half via Marcus Rashford, but both were expected to be saved by Jordan Pickford and he did it admirably. The best chance of the match came in injury time of the second half to Cristiano Ronaldo, whose quick reaction was incredibly denied by Pickford.

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What next for Manchester United?

The mere fact that Manchester United had to wait till the final few minutes to properly test Everton’s goalkeeper speaks volumes about United’s toothless performance. It was another day to forget in a long list of disappointing days Manchester United have endured this season. Ralf Rangnick’s side are out of all cup competitions and the fading top-four chance is the only real target they still have left to fight this campaign.

Many experts and fans believe Saturday’s defeat against Everton has more or less put an end to their top-four ambitions. In other words, Manchester United’s season is already over. But theoretically, they still have seven more fixtures to play in the league. Some of them are extremely difficult matches – Liverpool (away), Arsenal (away) and Chelsea (home). 

Forget the Premier League top four, if Manchester United don’t get their act together, they could suffer many more humiliating days in what is fast turning out to be a highly forgettable season.