Manchester United were still 2 goals behind Everton at the hour mark, but scored 4 goals in the final 30 minutes to seal the game 4-2.
The comeback victory gave United a huge advantage against Chelsea at the Premiership title battle, as Chelsea only managed a 2-2 draw against Bolton. With 3 more matches to go, United are leading 5 points ahead of Chelsea.
United started the game without Cristiano Ronaldo (on the bench because of minor injury) and seemed a bit sloppy at the very beginning. It was not a surprise that Everton opened the score line on 12th minute. Alan Stubbs with a 30-yard freekick, and a slight deflection from Michael Carrick was enough to divert the ball just beyond the reach of Edwin Van der Sar.
United players were a bit jaded even at a goal down; Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs made some decent run but the whole team wasn’t connected properly. Everton kept their 1-0 lead into half time.
United seemed more lively at the start of 2nd half, perhaps fired out after some serious lectures from Alex Ferguson… but their game was almost doomed when Manuel Fernandes doubled Everton’s lead on 50th minute with a wonder strike from the edge of the box.
United players didn’t give up though; they fought hard and managed to crawl a goal back on 61st minute through John O’Shea; thanks to a blunder from Everton goalkeeper Iain Turner.
Feeling that United might still have a chance to win, or at least savage a draw… United brought in Cristiano Ronaldo on 63rd minute. The substitution proved as a wise option, as Ronaldo was largely credited to force an own goal from Phil Neville on 68th minute.
It was quite an irony that a former United favorite had scored such a vital own goal in United’s favor; I bet Phil’s popularity in United would be high rising again after this ‘accident’. Jose Mourinho won’t be too happy though.
Manchester United had very much controlled the game from then on, but they had to wait until 78th minute for Rooney to take the lead… thanks to some poor Everton’s defending. Rooney did well to keep his composure and found the net.
Chris Eagles’s injury time strike was icing on the cake.
In the end, a great comeback victory for Manchester United, and a step closer to the Premiership title.