Match Review - Everton 0 Man Utd 2 - It's The Hope That Kills You

I won't lie, this was the most nervous I have been going into an Everton game for a very, very long time. It has been over 25 years since we last lifted silverware (I know, like you needed reminding) and all I remember from the 1995 FA Cup triumph is watching the open top bus parade along Queens Drive - and even that memory is fairly hazy for me.

As fans, we have been starved of success for so long, but we went into this game in good form after 3 wins in a week against tough opposition and with a manager in Carlo Ancelotti who knows what it takes to win. We are ever so slowly starting to see the ingredients of a successful side coming together - I think that, and the anticipation and excitement that comes with it, is the reason why I was so nervous before the game.

"It's the hope that kills you" is the saying that all too often goes hand in hand with Everton. The hope before the game was that we could go some way to finally putting that to bed and book our place in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup.

The first half an hour of the game did absolutely nothing for my nerves. It was so bad it almost nonsensical. United started much the brighter and had taken 5 corners inside the first 10 minutes. Then when Robin Olsen took a heavy touch and almost gifted the ball to Cavani in front of an open goal I almost spat my drink out. We looked a shadow of the side that had been so assured against Chelsea, Leicester and Arsenal recently.

I couldn't understand for the life of me why we started the game the way we did. We were nervous in possession. Nobody was prepared to put their foot on the ball and calm things down. The players you would hope would take control in the middle of the park - Gomes and Sigurdsson - didn't, leaving us facing wave after wave of United attack. Not only that, but without the ball I felt we were mostly chasing shadows. Not a good combination. In truth, I don't now how we made it through this period without conceding a goal.

Luckily, we eventually seemed to settle. Doucoure started to win tackles in midfield and we began to push forward, fashioning a couple of chances of our own. When the half time whistle went, I actually felt we were on top in the game. Nevertheless, the message in the dressing room at half time had to be that under no circumstances could we come out for the second half the way we did the first.

I had written in my first half notes that I'd have taken Andre Gomes off after about 25 minutes of the game - I thought he was dreadful and for me he is very close to the top of players who should be deemed surplus to requirements. Despite us coming back into it towards the end of the first half I was slightly surprised to see no changes at the break.

Gomes was eventually hooked for Tom Davies 15 minutes into the second half, having already lost Richarlison to injury after a dangerous combination of challenges. First Bruno Fernandes (fast becoming one of the players I dislike the most in world football) gave him a sly nudge in the back before Eric Bailly just seemed to jump at his head. How the two of them escaped unpunished was beyond me.

Unfortunately our substitutions only served to give United the momentum. Bernard, on for the injured Richarlison, offered very little at either end, proving just how important a player Richarlison is to us and how weak our squad is as a whole. You could tell United felt the game was there to be won for them. The game swung back in their favour and with 25 minutes to go they rolled the dice and threw on Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.

And therein lies the problem. It is a problem I have alluded to previously and a problem that will continue to hold us back until Ancelotti is given the time and the transfer windows to mould his own squad. United were able to make several changes to their best 11, still field a competitive 11 and then bring on Martial and Rashford to win them the game.

Conversely, we can't really afford to make any changes to our 11 as the players waiting to come in are simply not good enough, which in turn means that when said players come off the bench they have little to no impact.

Weirdly though, I thought United's substitutions had the same effect as ours. They almost stifled the momentum United had and the game evened itself out again. All the while my overriding feeling was that if the match ended up going to penalties we'd no doubt end up on the losing side. We had to somehow find a way to nick a winner or I felt we'd be out.

Unfortunately it wasn't to be. Although both sets of substitutions did little to effect the game when they were initially made, the difference between them was that United brought on match winners and we brought on players we have actively tried to sell.

Having kept them out until the 88th minute they finally made the break through when Anthony Martial dropped short into an acre of space and had the freedom of Goodison Park to pick out Cavani who lashed a shot beyond Robin Olsen and into the corner of the net. Incidentally, that was the same Cavani who arguably should have seen red earlier in the game after choke slamming Yerry Mina to the floor - one of many decisions the inept Andy Madley got wrong.

We ended up conceding again to an Anthony Martial goal not long after, but the damage had already been done. Another year, another trophy passes Everton by.

Ultimately we got what we deserved in this game. United should have been out of sight in the first half and we didn't really do enough to win. Unfortunately the acceptance of the fact that we were second best on the night doesn't take away the massive sense of disappointment.

It's important now that we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and put this result behind us. We must not let it derail our season. A win on Saturday at Sheffield United will be just the ticket to lift the spirit of the blues again.

Player Ratings

Olsen - 8 - Almost gifted them a goal in the first half but had it not been for him we could have been 3 or 4 down at half time

Godfrey - 8 - MOTM for me, thought he was excellent again and it was obvious he was desperate to win

Coleman - 6 - did ok on his return to the team, in hindsight would have left Holgate in

Keane - 7 - didn't do an awful lot wrong, has found a good level of consistency

Mina - 7 - as with Keane, seems settled in the team and performing consistently

Gomes - 4 - another dire performance, not been the same since his injury and for me his career at Everton is finished

Doucoure - 6 - guilty of several sloppy passes in the first half but had to do the job of 2 alongside Gomes

Sigurdsson - 7 - thought he did well again, worked hard and battled

Iwobi - 6 - worked hard and tried to make things happen but gave the ball away a lot, final ball so often disappointing

Richarlison - 6 - wasn't having his best game before he went off injured

Calvert-Lewin - 6 - not involved but starved of service

Davies - 5 - had very little impact on the game, was nowhere to be seen for the first goal

Bernard - 3 - waste of a substitution, would much sooner see Gordon given his chance

Tosun - N/A - not on long enough