Fletcher: Celebrates with fellow goalscorer Valencia
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Dominant United pass Toffees test
Manchester United strolled to a 3-0 victory over Everton at Old Trafford to climb above Arsenal into second place in the Premier League.
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A fantastic first-half strike from Darren Fletcher was added to by Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia in the second period as Sir Alex Ferguson's side capitalised on the Gunners' defeat earlier in the day at Sunderland to move within five points of leaders Chelsea.
Everton were lined up to defend against the champions, with former United striker Louis Saha seeing almost nothing of the ball as the hosts dictated play throughout the first period. Despite dominating possession however, United struggled to test Tim Howard until Fletcher popped up in the 35th minute to smash home a wonderful opener.
Patrice Evra's deep cross from the left was headed back by Valencia to Fletcher on the edge of the box, who did superbly to get over the bouncing ball to lash a volley from 19-yards into Howard's top corner.
David Moyes threw on Yakubu at the break in the hope of troubling the injury-hit United defence, and the Toffees did manage to find the net but Marouane Fellaini's strike was correctly ruled out after the Belgian had strayed offside.
Yakubu's first real impact came on the hour when his pass put Tim Cahill in behind Evra, but the French full-back was rescued by Edwin van der Sar, who sprang off his line to smother the danger.
Yakubu's shot on the turn that drifted narrowly wide was a sign of the Toffees' increasing confidence, but their progress was halted abruptly when Carrick grabbed United's second on 67 minutes.
Wayne Rooney's wayward shot was collected at the corner flag by Ryan Giggs, who delivered a sublime pass into Carrick's path for the midfielder to stroke home from the edge of the box.
Two quickly became three when Valencia - with the aid of a deflection - added to United's tally with 14 minutes remaining.
The winger was played into space on the right-side of the box by substitute Paul Scholes, before the Ecuadorian's drive took a nick off Leighton Baines on the way into the net.
The win takes United three points clear of Arsenal while Everton drop to 13th in the table.
BlueLion : "...While I don't condone John Terry's people on here need to realise that nobody's been murdered!! Reading some of the posts from "outraged" fans is like listening to a bunch of old grannies at a knitting group! Come on guy..." view full comment
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Your Comments
Devilz_4Life (Manchester United fan)
"HeavyMetal (Chelsea fan)... You saying that MON didnt say that to his team when they trashed you clowns?"
cleonard (Manchester United fan)
"I can't believe you guys are slaggin' off Rooney !! the guy is a brilliant player and works his ass off but is not the headless chicken that Tevez was, Mr Rooney is a player any team in the world would take ... he's said he wants to stay at United for ever so what's this crap about wanting to move abroad ??? You guys are in the bar ... right ? What's the next move ? .... fish n' chips ? ... pizza ? .... lock in ? ... throw up ? .. you're gonna' feel rough tomorrow boys !"
ysouk (Manchester United fan)
"was rooney the best player agst chelsea? he has not been playing well, without ronaldo, someone need to step up to score goals but rooney is not doing it. he is too predictable, shifting to the right to shoot. the EPL defenders know how to defend agst him. same for giggs, he does not have the pace to keep up with the game, opponents are exploiting it. it has been painful watching him play. well, he only made one good pass to carrick to score..
we need a world class player to create and score goals, frankly speaking i dun see us challenging agst chelsea unless we get a world class signning in jan."
ronaldoreds (Manchester United fan)
"HeavyMetal, it sounds like you lot are starting to get a little worried, especially after your extremely lucky and undeserved win at Stamford Bridge last week. Can't wait to have chelski coming over to OT and we whip your a**ses off ! As for you, I'll wait until the end of the season and see what happens before commenting... Note - we didn't even get out of 2nd gear today to get our win...! "
ronaldoholic (Manchester United fan)
"HeavyMetal (Chelsea fan)..you mean the same way Wolves let Chelsea walk all over them?"
Neophill (Manchester United fan)
"Watching United playing their normal game like this is incredible, I think the United are back to claim the Title ever since playing at Stamford Bridge, it would have sound better if we were able to Demolish the Bridge again, but like I always believe, their is always a second chance, so the Blues, BEWARE of UNITED... as for my Gunners Friends, let them relax and wait for their turn, this year Title is strictly between United and Blues...lol"
Neophill (Manchester United fan)
"Watching United playing their normal game this is incredible, I think the United are back to claim the Title ever since playing Stamford Bridge, it would have sound better if we were able to Demolish the Bridge again, but like I always believe, their is always a second chance, so the Blues, BEWARE of UNITED... as for my Gunners Friends, let them relax and wait for their turn, this year Title is strictly between United and Blues...lol"
RedFrederick
"I am ashamed to say I was one of the fans who derided Fletcher three seasons ago, when all he knew was ho to pass a ball back to the keeper. I couldn't see what Fergie saw in him.
The improvement this lad has made is amazing. He is fast becoming a world class midfielder and United legend. Well done lad."
donjuan
"TheIncredible00 and FaroeUnited: In regards to Rooney, what the F*** are you smoking?? "
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