It is clear that the arrival of Robin Van Persie gained most of the attention but the former Arsenal man found himself on the bench for the opening game at goodison.With the spotlight on Manchester United and their makeshift back four it came as a surprise to many that United became unstuck going forward. With injuries to Evans, Smalling, Jones and Ferdinand, Michael Carrick was forced to partner Vidic at Centre Back and Antonio Valencia was stationed in the right back position. But the front 4 of Rooney, Welbeck, Kagawa and Nani seemed to struggle when it came to creating chances which left many wondering why Van Persie was still on the bench at the start of the second half. The main positives to take from a United point of view was the abilty of Shinji Kagawa settling very quickly and the performance of David De Gea will fill the fans with confidence ,about if their goalkeeper was really up to the task, after a mixed start at Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, Everton, had no trouble creating chances due to the aerial threat of Jelavic and Man of the Match Fellaini. David De Gea found himself the busiest of the two keepers but silenced many critics with a splendid first half performance keeping his side in the game. It was inevitable that if Everton were going to break the deadlock it would be from a set piece and questions were asked about the way United set up during corners, especially criticizing the decision that Carrick would have the job to mark Fellaini, whilst Vidic picked up Jagielka. This strange decision on United's behalf was one that would ultimately result in the Everton goal. It was also a positive sign from an Everton point of view that Phil Jagielka put in a performance he wont better all season, which on any other day could of snagged him the Man of the Match award.Everton started the brighter of the two sides with the crowd proving to be the 12th man giving the extra momentum in every attack.
Due to Everton's bright start David De Gea was put to the test and prevailed proving to be the best player in the first half, arguably single handedly keeping United in the fixture.
However, he was run a close second by Fellaini, playing just behind striker Nikica Jelavic, who was the dominant force in United's penalty area.
The Belgium international had already headed over Leighton Baines' corner before he collected a throw-in and turned into the penalty area, holding off Carrick, to hit the post from the narrowest of angles.
Fellaini later turned provider using his physical presence to allow him to chest one into the path of Steven Pienaar and Leon Osman on separate occasions to bring the best out of David De Gea.
De Gea later denied Jelavic, tipped over a long-range Pienaar header and flung himself to his left to save the South Africa midfielder's low shot before preventing Baines' deflected free-kick sneaking into the top corner.
It was not completely one sided as United mustered up chances of their own but were neither as good or as frequent as the hosts.
Danny Welbeck, who could find himself replace by Robin Van Persie, failed to conjure up any clear goal scoring chances partnered with a rather below average performance from Wayne Rooney, none of his attempts causing Howard much trouble throughout.
Fellaini's ravaging of the United defence continued after the interval as his header across goal was smashed against the crossbar by Leon Osman with De Gea, for once, beaten.
With Everton again hitting the woodwork their players and fans knew they were on the front foot and the game was theirs for the taking.The big Belgian was finally rewarded for his outstanding display with a goal in the 57th minute when former Red Devil Gibson swung over a corner and he left Carrick sprawling on the turf to power home a header. The struggling Michael Carrick was at the centre of the discussion of why Vidic wasn't marking Evertons biggest aerial threat.
The Introduction of Robin Van Persie followed in the 68th minute and he looked promising with the few touches he had, with his highlight being a perfectly weighted nutmeg pass which found it's way to Shinji Kagawa who was unfortunately smothered by Tim Howard causing the ball to ricochet out for a goal kick.One clear cut chance was really created from United and it was more luck than judgement that the ball fell to the feet of Tom Cleverly inside the box. The Olympian squandered a golden opportunity to level it up with a remarkable goal line clearance from Phil Jagielka resulting in more frustration for the away supporters.
Continuing into the latter stages of the game United dominated possession but couldn't break down the Evertonian back line as they parked the bus in search of an opening day victory.
Full Time Score: Everton 1-0 Manchester United
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