Everton torment for Man United

EVERTON 3 MANCHESTER UNITED 0: There was no Grim Reaper accosting the Manchester United manager, as had been the case when David Moyes visited Goodison a little over a year ago in his final game in the job.

But this emphatic reverse may yet prove just as fatal to Louis van Gaal’s hopes of bringing Champions League football to the club in his first season in charge.

On one of their least favourite grounds of recent years, United slumped to fourth in the table after a miserable defensive performance, still seven points better placed than Liverpool but having played a game more and with a top-four finish no longer the formality it appeared at Easter.