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28th October 2018
08:03pm GMT

Gylfi Sigurdsson reduced the deficit with a penalty of his own 13 minutes before full-time, with an assist from Pogba's mishit scooped pass in midfield and Chris Smalling's clumsy challenge.
However, United held on for a win that they deserved, despite the moments of luck, an inability to finish off Everton and late pressure from the visitors.
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For the home side, there were a couple of things those watching would have learned. Firstly, United's issues at centre-forward are perhaps systemic more than individual.
Romelu Lukaku dropped to the bench after eight games without a goal, and watched his stand-in mirror almost his performances this season.
Marcus Rashford only had 25 touches in his 64 minutes on the pitch. He only managed one shot and was dispossessed more times than any other United player (3).
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Yet, Rashford did at least pose some problems with his movement, something that cannot be said about Lukaku this season.
United's forward three was more fluid than in previous matches. But the central player in this triumvirate is still isolated. This arguably goes back to the manager, who seems intent on having a fixed-point up front, rather than deploying a flexible front-three that inter-change positions.
Whether it is Lukaku, Rashford or Alexis Sanchez, United struggle to get their centre-forward involved in the game. The same can't be said of Martial, who arguably proved his manager wrong.
If numerous reports are to be believed, the 22-year-old wanted to leave Old Trafford during the summer, and Mourinho wouldn't have stopped him.
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If the Portuguese coach had got his way, Martial could be playing for Tottenham now. Instead, he is United's best player at the moment. He scored in the comeback victory over Newcastle United earlier this month, netted twice against Chelsea last week and was brilliant once again against Everton.
Martial has made a mockery of the decision to sign Sanchez at such a large cost to the club and the development of others in the team.
Sanchez went straight into the starting lineup when he joined from Arsenal in January. It took nine months for Mourinho to see the light and return Martial to the left side of United's front three. The Chilean has dropped to the bench and there is no reason why he should return to the team anytime soon. It would, once again, disrupt Martial's progress and weaken the team.
With Martial and Rashford in the squad, there was arguably no need to ever sign Sanchez.
Yes, he had been excellent over the past few seasons, and it was a chance to get one over Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, but was he ever worth such an outlay?
It appears not. Especially when one considers that Martial was already in the squad.
In the second half, Coleman had a chance in United's penalty area, but was put off by Martial who had tracked back to put pressure on the Everton full-back.
This conveyed that Martial is perhaps prepared to listen to his manager, to put in the effort Mourinho demands from his forward players. He appears to be developing into the complete forward. He certainly has the talent to.
"He has the same talent, the same natural talent he had one year ago, but he’s improving his way of thinking football, thinking training too, and thinking his role in the team," Mourinho said about Martial following the match.
"So I’m really, really happy with him, with Luke Shaw, with boys who are improving, and difficult periods for them, difficult periods for myself because I want more for them and I took them to the limit, but at the moment Anthony is able to do things that he was not able to do before. So I’m really happy with Anthony."
Ironically, if Mourinho had just persisted with the Frenchman last season, if he had have shown Martial the faith his talent warranted, then he may have had the funds to address the problem areas in his squad during the summer.
If United had not spent so much on the financial package to land Sanchez, the club may have been more receptive to landing Mourinho's preferred targets in central defence during the transfer window.
If that had happened, they may not have started the day with a minus one goal difference in the league.
Rather than seeking quick fixes, Mourinho would have benefitted from giving Martial the time to find the form he is now showing.Explore more on these topics: