Everton 1-2 Man Utd: Raphael Varane's first touch was heroic piece of defending

Manchester United got back to winning ways at Goodison Park.

The Red Devils were humbled by rivals Manchester City in their previous Premier League fixture, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden scoring hat-tricks in a 6-3 win for the champions.

But United regrouped to pick up a crucial 2-1 win against Everton last Sunday, first half goals from Antony and Cristiano Ronaldo after Alex Iwobi’s stunning early opener securing all three points.

United had to defend for their lives in the final minutes of the match, though.

Everton piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser, but were ultimately unable to breach the visitors’ back-line for a second time.

There were a number of close calls for United, with the Toffees’ goalkeeper Pickford coming within inches of a famous goal.

The England shot-stopper came up for a corner in the dying embers of the match and were it not for some heroic defending by Raphael Varane, he would have had a first career goal.

Varane had only entered the fray a few moments prior to his crucial intervention, the Frenchman replacing Antony in the 90th minute to help see out the game – which he certainly did.

The former Real Madrid man’s glancing header from a well-directed Everton corner kick is deservedly being praised by United fans on social media…

This is what you call a Rolls Royce defender.. pic.twitter.com/JYfRv1A3Ma

Now that’s what you call a match-winning cameo! It was a tactical masterstroke by Erik ten Hag, who recognised that United desperately needed their biggest aerial threat to combat Everton’s late barrage.

Here’s some of the best reaction to Varane’s vital piece of defending:

Speaking after the match, Ten Hag was unsurprisingly very happy with Varane’s cameo, as well as the performances of