Erik ten Hag gets it right with ruthless change in Manchester United win vs Everton

Everton ordered Manchester United to switch ends at kick-off when they traditionally attack the Stretford End in the second half, as if Jordan Pickford's goal would be hexed. For 36 minutes, it was.

After all that attacking and feckless finishing, it was apt that the charmed life that Pickford's goalframe led expired through a purportedly defensive-minded scorer.

Scott McTominay's goal-getting nous is renowned enough that whenever his name appears on the scoresheet it is not incongruous. He was deployed as the deepest of United's front six and still had the positional discipline to burst into the gap that Michael Keane had dozily afforded him and lashed the ball past a porous Pickford.

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Should Daniel Levy opt to inflate Harry Kane's valuation, he need only present United with their chance conversion rate from this first half. United hit Pickford, the post, the advertising hoardings and the Stretford End. They had 21 attempts; their most in a first half since records began in 2003-04.

Everton were uncharacteristically open. On three occasions, United exposed the auxiliary left-back Ben Godfrey with long balls for Antony, dashing from inside his own half. Godfrey was so awful he was hooked at the pause.

United's interval advantage, a modest 1-0, was misleading. Everton were obliging opponents, a shadow of the compact workhorses who gained a point off Tottenham at Goodison Park on Monday evening, yet United played their most dominant and creative 45 minutes of Erik ten Hag's reign. It would have been a travesty had they returned to the dressing room goalless.

Their progressive play was underpinned by Bruno Fernandes, lauded by Ten Hag in midweek for "initiating" United's