Hey everyone,
There are losses that hurt, and then there are losses that clarify.
Monday night wasn't just a defeat; it was a total exposure. We spent the pre-match review talking about the "Fortress" of Old Trafford masking our flaws. We hoped the home form would validate the process. Instead, against a 10-man Everton side that literally fought itself, the Fortress didn't just crack.. It collapsed.
The context makes this unforgivable. Idrissa Gueye was sent off in the 13th minute for slapping his own teammate, Michael Keane. We played 77 minutes plus stoppage time with an extra man. We took 25 shots. We held 70% of the ball.
And yet, we lost 0-1 to a Dewsbury-Hall strike, failing to score a single goal against a team that pressed the self-destruct button and still beat us.
Ruben Amorim called it "frustrating" and admitted "we deserved to lose." He’s right.
Let's get into the autopsy.
Table of Contents
What was the biggest reason for tonight's disaster?
The Match in Numbers
Complete domination of the ball, complete failure of the execution.
Metric | Everton | Man United | The Quick Read |
xG (Chance Quality) | 0.22 | 1.87 | Created enough to win, finished nothing. |
Possession | 30% | 70% | Empty calorie possession. |
Shots (On Target) | 3 (1) | 25 (3) | 3 on target from 25 attempts is disgraceful. |
Big Chances | 0 | 4 | Clinical vs. Wasteful. |
Passes in Final 3rd | 71 | 272 | Camped in their box, pitched a tent, did nothing. |
Aerials Won | 27 | 20 | Everton won the physical war even with 10 men. |
The Takeaway: Everton had one shot on target, a 20-yard screamer from Dewsbury-Hall and spent the rest of the game clearing their lines. United were toothless.
Key Stats You Didn't See on TV
The Red Card Paradox
The Stat: After Gueye's red card (13'), Everton's average player position dropped 15 yards deeper.
The Meaning: The red card actually hurt United. In our preview, we discussed "Bypassing the Midfield Trap." But once Gueye walked, there was no midfield trap. There was just a low block. United lost the space in behind to exploit (Mbeumo/Amad) and had to play through a dense forest of bodies. We had no answers for the "Moyes Block."
The Finishing Crisis
The Stat: 25 Shots. 12 Off Target. 7 Blocked. Only 3 troubled Pickford.
The Meaning: Volume is not enough. We spent the night taking low-probability shots from outside the box or snatching at chances inside it. We created 1.87 xG, but very little of it felt like "must-score" moments until the dying seconds.
The "Fragile Model" Breaks at Home
The Stat: Everton scored with their only significant attack of the game.
The Meaning: We talked about the "Fragile Model" usually applying to away games. Tonight, it came home. We conceded first and mentally disintegrated. Even with 60+ minutes to fix it, the team looked panicked rather than methodical.
The Tactical Breaking Point
Where the game was lost.
The "Fight Club" Moment The game hinged on the 13th minute. Gueye slapped Michael Keane. A bizarre moment of madness that saw him sent off. David Moyes later said, "I quite like it when my players fight... it shows they care." He was right. That moment galvanized Everton. They dug in, fought for each other, and defended like their lives depended on it. United by contrast, played like they expected the win to be handed to them.
The Goal: A Lapse in Concentration For all our possession, the game was decided by one moment of laziness. Dewsbury-Hall found space between Fernandes and Yoro, shrugged off a challenge, and fired home. It was the only time Everton truly threatened, and it was all they needed.
The Substitution Failure Ruben Amorim tried to change it. He brought on Mount, Dalot, and Mainoo to find a spark. But as he admitted post-match, "I felt that we were not ready." The subs didn't change the dynamic; they just added more bodies to a congested final third. The lack of a clear "Plan B" against a low block is becoming a major concern.
Player Ratings & Impact
Key performers based on the eye test and data.
Amad Diallo (7.0) - Faded Fast Started as our brightest spark, tormenting 37-year-old Seamus Coleman early on. But as the game wore on, he seemed to lose his head. The decision-making in the final 30 minutes was poor; he held onto the ball too long and ran down blind alleys just as we needed cool heads. He looked like a player who let the frustration of the low block get to him.
Matthijs de Ligt (7.2) - The Rock You can't fault him. Defensively solid, won his duels, and was ironically our biggest goal threat at the death. He registered 3 shots, including one saved in stoppage time. He did his job at both ends; the attackers simply didn't do theirs.
Bruno Fernandes (6.8) - The Engine I can't fault the effort. He tried absolutely everything to break them down. He took 5 shots and played dangerous balls, but he was let down by a lack of movement ahead of him. Yes, some shots were wayward, but he was the only one refusing to accept the result and trying to force a breakthrough until the final whistle.
Joshua Zirkzee (6.7) - Rusty, Not Ruinous It’s easy to make him the scapegoat, but context matters: this was his first start in 225 days. He didn't look lazy; he looked like a player with zero rhythm. He actually provided our best moments of "potency," forcing Pickford into two acrobatic saves with headers. He wasn't the sharp finisher we needed, but he wasn't the disaster social media is painting him as. He just looked like a striker who needs minutes.
Final Thoughts
How We Lost We lost because we assumed the red card won us the game. We played with zero urgency, zero creativity, and zero clinical edge. We let David Moyes, who had never won at Old Trafford as a visitor in 18 attempts, set up two banks of four and simply run down the clock. It was a masterclass in anti-football from them, and a masterclass in incompetence from us.
What Comes Next The "Fortress" is gone. We sit 10th in the table, level on points with the team we just lost to. We claimed the Spurs draw was a "point gained." This was three points thrown into the garbage. We now head to Crystal Palace (Away)
A fixture that terrifies me given our road form.
Amorim said, "We need to be perfect to win games." Right now, we aren't even competent.
Prediction Check: I predicted 3-1 United. I assumed we would score goals against a 10-man team. I was wrong.