Marcus Rashford shines as Manchester United beat Everton in the FA Cup | FA cup

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Marcus Rashford is the best of all the Player of the Year shortlists if he continues to put in such performances. The No. 10 was the creative force behind Anthony’s opening goal and Connor Coady’s own goal before he scored a stoppage-time penalty that came after the elimination of Alejandro Garnacho that secured Manchester United’s passage to the next round.

Of his stellar acting, Erik ten Hag said: “Again, a great performance, Marcus was the one who came up front and showed confidence, faith and good moves at the back, helped the players and for 90 minutes he was a threat. When he keeps focusing like that, I’m sure That he can continue the process.”

Frank Lampard arrived needing a win to try and save his job but left his future hanging by a thread. Everton will host Southampton next Saturday of the week, whether Lampard will remain in charge is open to question.

He said of his chances of avoiding the sack: “It’s not in my control. It’s not for me to focus on that. For me, I have to focus on what I saw tonight and that was the performance every manager wants with team attitude and focus. The focus now is Southampton.”

In three minutes United promised to be an irresistible juggernaut who would topple their visitors but it never materialized. Casemiro entered Anthony Martial, lost the number 9, then recovered the ball and found Rashford. He drove down the left field, gained a half yard on Ben Godfrey, and rolled the ball across to Anthony for a tackle.

Everton were confused and stunned and there was more. Martial shot wide, Anthony walked down the right but his shot was a disappointment, and Christian Eriksen hit the shot from long range.

However, football, as the saying goes, can be a funny game and the latest evidence came in Everton’s farcical equalizer. Amado Onana shrugged Casemiro and passed it to Neil Maupay: the striker was actually on the sideline to the right of David de Gea’s left post, but when he took the shot, the goalkeeper comically refused to lift his left hand off the post to save the ball, the ball went through his legs, and Cody forced it back .

Connor Coady turns the ball past his team’s goalkeeper Jordan Pickford from Marcus Rashford’s cross-goal. Photo: Ryan Brown/Shutterstock

De Gea has an unfortunate catalog of howls on his resume and this was one of the worst. With the equalizer, Everton gave their manager the perfect boost in their first FA Cup meeting with United since the 2016 semi-final which United won en route to their latest FA Cup victory.

Both managers chose a strong lineup, with Martial, Rashford, Casemiro and Luke Shaw in the Ten Hag squad, and Lampard chose his strongest team except for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who recently returned from injury.

Ten Hag key man Raphael Varane conjured up a feint to leave Idrissa Gaye for dead before stepping in from the right and passing it to Casemiro whose goal was mishandled. Also, Eriksen’s campaign was also – albeit marginally so – the latest in the bombing that Everton survived to remain level at the break.

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The usually uber-silky Casemiro was off the track and was eventually replaced. The Brazilian started the second half with a faulty pass that allowed Alex Iwobi to run into United’s half. Tyrell Malacia lunged in but inadvertently hit the wing and Iwobi was taken off. “It’s ankle ligament damage – hopefully to a lesser degree,” Lampard said.

Another wide man – Rashford – was close to giving him his second assist. This time it was Séamus Coleman who was the quirky left defender as the No. 10 sprinted past and hit a cross that Coady was unfortunate to get past Pickford.

Here was Rashford’s latest game-changing act in one of their season. He had a delightful Stretford End tell Lampard he was “sent off in the morning”, and raised the question: could United take control and, as the cliché goes, get their foot on the ball?

The answer is no. The scene remained similar to a hockey game with Casemiro swinging near a corner flag for Everton, then Coleman volleying the ball across the United area and Vitaly Mikolenko coming close to making it 2-2. Fernandes then warmed Pickford’s fingers from 30 yards and Rashford pointed Abdoulaye Doucoure to a yellow card.

De Gea came close to another clownish foul under pressure from Calvert-Lewin, who replaced Maupay. The striker would collect in the net seconds later but Gray was offside earlier in the move. Rashford’s penalty – now scoring in five successive matches – sealed United’s lead.

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