An early Christmas present
It has been 15 years since Everton last won at Old Trafford and United made sure they failed again when Ronaldo scored a late penalty to win the game.
It was an uncompromising first half and cards were flashed everywhere but it was Ronaldo who broke the deadlock after 20 minutes. There appeared little on for the Portugal winger when he collected Carlos Tevez's square pass but, having stepped inside Carsley's poor challenge, he let fly with a superb shot which dipped and swerved beyond Howard.
It was tough luck on Everton. However, it took them only five minutes to level as Pienaar exposed some hesitancy on the part of rookie defender Danny Simpson and picked out Cahill with an excellent far-post cross which invited the headed finish.
Although they succeeded in cramping United's style, the Merseysiders were not the first to find that keeping Ferguson's range of attacking players totally quiet is virtually impossible.
Joleon Lescott nodded Rooney's disguised far-post chip off the line, then Ronaldo skimmed the bar with an acrobatic volley as an unmarked Tevez waited behind.
Tim Howard's powers of concentration were questioned by Ferguson during his time at Old Trafford but the American's agility has never been in doubt, and after one low stop to deny Tevez, he stood firm to beat away an Anderson piledriver. It was the sum total of United's threat until Rooney strode onto Ronaldo's short free-kick and blasted a shot which flicked off the crossbar. The introduction of Louis Saha at least gave the hosts an aerial threat but a draw looked certain until Pienaar stuck out his back leg for Giggs to trip over, giving Ronaldo the opportunity to claim the win.
But when Steven Pienaar brought Ryan Giggs down, Ronaldo nervelessly converted his 16th goal of the season, sending Tim Howard the wrong way, to move the Red Devils back to within a point of leaders Arsenal.
Cristiano Ronaldo had produced another match-winning performance in Manchester United's 2-1 victory over Everton and admitted the win was vital heading into the busy Christmas programme.
‘I think the team played very well. In the first half it was not too good but in the second half I think we played better, created more chances and I think we deserved to win. It's important, we've got many games coming up now and it's important always to win. At home you need to win. With the next games, there is not too much time to rest, so it was important to win to stay near the top.'
Regarding his personal contribution, Ronaldo said: 'I'm very happy with Christmas coming up. I think Father Christmas gave me my present early !
'The most important thing is the team. The game was very tough, Everton played very well and created a few bad things for us. I think the lads played very well.'
It was an uncompromising first half and cards were flashed everywhere but it was Ronaldo who broke the deadlock after 20 minutes. There appeared little on for the Portugal winger when he collected Carlos Tevez's square pass but, having stepped inside Carsley's poor challenge, he let fly with a superb shot which dipped and swerved beyond Howard.
It was tough luck on Everton. However, it took them only five minutes to level as Pienaar exposed some hesitancy on the part of rookie defender Danny Simpson and picked out Cahill with an excellent far-post cross which invited the headed finish.
Although they succeeded in cramping United's style, the Merseysiders were not the first to find that keeping Ferguson's range of attacking players totally quiet is virtually impossible.
Joleon Lescott nodded Rooney's disguised far-post chip off the line, then Ronaldo skimmed the bar with an acrobatic volley as an unmarked Tevez waited behind.
Tim Howard's powers of concentration were questioned by Ferguson during his time at Old Trafford but the American's agility has never been in doubt, and after one low stop to deny Tevez, he stood firm to beat away an Anderson piledriver. It was the sum total of United's threat until Rooney strode onto Ronaldo's short free-kick and blasted a shot which flicked off the crossbar. The introduction of Louis Saha at least gave the hosts an aerial threat but a draw looked certain until Pienaar stuck out his back leg for Giggs to trip over, giving Ronaldo the opportunity to claim the win.
But when Steven Pienaar brought Ryan Giggs down, Ronaldo nervelessly converted his 16th goal of the season, sending Tim Howard the wrong way, to move the Red Devils back to within a point of leaders Arsenal.
Cristiano Ronaldo had produced another match-winning performance in Manchester United's 2-1 victory over Everton and admitted the win was vital heading into the busy Christmas programme.
‘I think the team played very well. In the first half it was not too good but in the second half I think we played better, created more chances and I think we deserved to win. It's important, we've got many games coming up now and it's important always to win. At home you need to win. With the next games, there is not too much time to rest, so it was important to win to stay near the top.'
Regarding his personal contribution, Ronaldo said: 'I'm very happy with Christmas coming up. I think Father Christmas gave me my present early !
'The most important thing is the team. The game was very tough, Everton played very well and created a few bad things for us. I think the lads played very well.'
posted by Swanson Red at 9:32 am
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