Garnacho the teenage tormentor!
Winger too hot to handle as struggling Everton slump to ELEVENTH game without win
EVERTON must be heartily sick of Alejandro Garnacho, whose individual brilliance swung the game Manchester United’s way when their play was otherwise ordinary.
In November, Garnacho scored at Goodison Park with a spectacular overhead kick that is destined to be Goal of the Season.
Yesterday, he caused panic in Everton ranks to win two penalties from rash fouls by James Tarkowski and Ben Godfrey.
Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford both converted from the spot and Everton couldn’t respond despite having 23 shots.
Sean Dyche’s side are now on 11 games without a win and close enough to the bottom three to pray they aren’t docked more points from a second PSR charge.
Not that United could be overcelebratory despite bouncing back from consecutive defeats.
Everton became the fifth team in the last six games to register more than 20 shots and United are still eight points off the top four.
At least, they have Garnacho to wow the fans. The 19-year-old Argentine with the bleach blond hair loves to run and try to beat defenders. And he lured Everton captain James Tarkowski into kicking his shin after 12 minutes which allowed Fernandes to score the opener from the spot.
And when the visitors pushed for an equaliser, Garnacho glided past Amadou Onana like prime Ryan Giggs before being felled by Godfrey, This time, Rashford stepped up and after a stuttering run-up, he sent England colleague Jordan Pickford the wrong way from the spot.
Garnacho is clearly ambitious. ‘We want to be in the Champions League next season,’ he reflected.
‘The manager has said every game is a final. He wants me to dribble and shoot, go one-on-one against defenders.’
Erik Ten Hag knows the talented teenager needs the stick as well as the carrot to fulfil his potential.
‘He likes a challenge. He needs a challenge,’ said the United boss. ‘It’s about him keeping the focus, not only in matches but all week in training. In my experience, you always have to keep telling young players that.’
For long periods, United played like an away team here, looking to hit Everton on the counter.
Goalkeeper Andre Onana was busier than he might have expected against the division’s third-lowest goalscorers.
He dived bravely at the feet of Godfrey, made flying leaps to keep out United old boy James Garner and Abdoulaye Doucoure and was relieved Dwight McNeil’s shot fizzed wide of the far post.
Substitute Lewis Dobbin also miscued badly when Godfrey’s knockdown fell to him in the box.
It was noticeable how many times Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo gave the ball away though they might argue team-mates didn’t give them many options when being pressed by blue shirts.
United relied on individual quality rather than team cohesion to create their own chances. Fernandes had a free-kick clawed away by Pickford.
Twice he combined with Garnacho in the second half with the teenager missing the final touch. Pickford also saved from Fernandes and Victor Lindelof.
Ten Hag knows he needs the end of the season to go well to remain in position given Jim Ratcliffe is now a United co-owner of some significance.
He argued his tactical plan of using Fernandes and Scott McTominay as false nines allowed Rashford and Garnacho to exploit pace on the flanks had worked.
‘All over a good performance,’ he said. ‘I think they (Fernandes and Rashford) decided who would take the penalties on the pitch. Having different takers is more difficult for the opposition goalkeeper to read.
‘Everton had shots but they were low-quality chances. And the way we defended set plays was really good.
‘We had to put this right and keep the pressure on the teams above us. There are many games to play. Now we are back’, he added.
For Everton manager Dyche, explaining reasons for another defeat has become a recurring theme.
‘You sometimes have to get hurt to score a goal. Brian Clough used to say that but I don’t see enough of that in us.
‘There is so much good about our performances apart from the killer instinct. Not long ago we won four in a row. Who is going to take it on? We can’t wait for anyone else to do it. We have had more than enough chances to win football matches.’
At least statisticians would have enjoyed this United win in their last league game until Easter, with the Fernandes-Rashford penalty combination only the third time in Premier League history that different takers have scored from the spot in the first half.
The other times it’s happened were for Fulham against BoltonWanderers in 2002 (Louis Saha and Steve Marlet) and for Manchester City against Leicester City in 2021 (Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling).