Perfect retort
Scholes is scolded
appearance and 10 for the season – the first time he has hit double figures in his career.
United created some dangerous moments before the break but could not finish off some promising moves, usually involving Pogba. The first half was so uneventful the biggest cheer was when Pogba lost his footing. But Wayne Rooney received a warm reception from United’s visiting fans when he trotted over to take a corner.
Everton’s most dangerous moment came when Oumar Niasse was robbed by a superbly timed tackle Marcos Rojo just as he about to pull the trigger.
But United came out for the second half with more pace and intent. Mata saw a shot tipped over and then another effort by was clip the outside of the post with Pickford beaten, while Pogba saw an effort roll just wide of the far post. It was no surprise when Martial gave them the lead. Lingard’s super strike made sure of the points to send United into the new year in better shape as manager Mourinho had something to smile about for a change.
EVERTON (4-2-3-1):
Scholes one day decides to be a manager I wish that he can be 25 per cent as successful as myself. Fifty per cent of that is 12.5 trophies, 25 per cent is around six trophies. If he’s 25 per cent, he’ll be quite happy.
“Not every one of us has to be phenomenal like he was as a player. Sometimes Pogba plays very well, sometimes he doesn’t play so well. It’s not his fault he made much more money than Paul Scholes. It’s just the way football is.”
Scholes also accused Mourinho of underperforming but the United manager said: “We knew
P W D L F A PTS MAN CITY 21 19 2 0 61 12 59 MAN UTD 22 14 5 3 45 16 47 CHELSEA 21 14 3 4 39 14 45 LIVERPOOL 22 12 8 2 50 25 44 ARSENAL 21 11 5 5 38 26 38 TOTTENHAM 20 11 4 5 39 20 37 BURNLEY 22 9 7 6 19 19 34 LEICESTER 22 8 6 8 34 32 30 EVERTON 22 7 6 9 25 34 27 WATFORD 21 7 4 10 30 37 25 HUDDERSFIELD 22 6 6 10 18 35 24 BRIGHTON 22 5 8 9 17 27 23 NEWCASTLE 22 6 4 12 20 30 22 BOURNEMOUTH 22 5 6 11 22 34 21 SOUTHAMPTON 21 4 8 9 20 30 20 STOKE 22 5 5 12 23 47 20 C PALACE 21 4 7 10 18 32 19 WEST HAM 20 4 6 10 22 38 18 WEST BROM 21 2 10 9 15 28 16 SWANSEA 21 4 4 13 13 32 16 we needed a third midfield player to give us more consistency in the middle and the performance was really good so maybe I’m lucky this time – and the kings of rock and roll who say I was underperforming last match say, this time, I performed.”
Mourinho said Romelu Lukaku is set to return for Friday’s FA Cup tie with Derby having missed the return to his former club after a blow to the head.
Everton boss Sam Allardyce will learn today if his £25million bid for Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun is successful. He said: “We need a bigger scoring threat than we have at the moment.”