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Everton 2 Manchester Utd 0: Moyes thrashed in return to Goodison Park

Manchester United's woes compound as they suffer a crippling defeat at the hands of manager Moyes's former side Everton

David Moyes endured a hellish return to Goodison Park yesterday as former side Everton dealt a fatal blow to his current team’s Champions League dreams.

Leighton Baines and Kevin Mirallas were on target to give Roberto Martinez’s side an easy 2-0 win.

Moyes, who was at the helm at the Merseyside club for 11 years, was mocked from the home terraces throughout the rout, walking onto the pitch to a chorus of boos.

One home fan even turned up dressed as the Grim Reaper to poke fun at the Scot from just behind his seat in the away dugout.

Death was ejected from the stadium with 15 minutes on the clock, but he must have known by then that his team would emerge with the three points.

United quite simply never looked like taking anything from the match.

John Stones and Sylvain Distin kept Wayne Rooney quiet, and United were out-muscled and out-classed in midfield while Tim Howard was called into action on just two occasions.

Phil Jones gifted Everton the lead when he handballed Romelu Lukaku’s shot and Baines — who was the subject of what Everton called an “insulting and derisory” £12 million bid last summer — scored from 12 yards.

The sloppy Alex Buttner played Mirallas onside for the second just before half-time and he beat David de Gea from a tight angle.

The performance from both teams showed just how far United have regressed and how much Everton have come on under Roberto Martinez.

For United, Champions League qualification is now mathematically impossible.

For Everton, their dreams of dining at Europe’s top table are very much alive and few would back against them based on this performance.

Martinez’s men are now just one point behind fourth-placed Arsenal with three games left.

Rooney, his every touch booed, dropped too deep, as did Juan Mata, leaving the Reds without a target man up top.

Everton had no such problem. Lukaku raced at the United defence like a freight train, bruising a shell-shocked Jones and Jonny Evans.

The seemingly inevitable second came just before the break when the excellent Coleman played in Mirallas, who beat De Gea from close range.

Howard was finally called into action in first-half injury-time when Evans headed into the US player’s hands.

Rooney had a much better chance after the restart but he dallied, allowing substitute Antolin Alcaraz to come to the rescue.

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