Benjamin Sesko was Manchester United’s super-sub for the second match running as the Slovenian scored the only goal against Everton to send Michael Carrick’s men clear in fourth spot.
Thirteen days after Sesko struck deep in injury time to rescue a point at West Ham, the £73.7m forward applied a clinical first-time finish to a 71st-minute counter-attack that he had started deep in his own half.
Sesko kept motoring after laying a pass off to Matheus Cunha. By the time Cunha had delivered a long pass to Bryan Mbeumo, the eager Sesko had outrun Everton’s defence and was on hand to stroke home his eighth goal of the season.
Remarkably, only two of those goals came under former boss Ruben Amorim, with three coming in Darren Fletcher’s two-game stint in interim charge and three under Carrick, who has now won five of his six games at the helm.
It was a moment of class that was a long time in coming in a match that was low on quality at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Both sides struggled against obdurate defences, having gone almost a fortnight without a game after playing early in the last round of matches, late in this one and with no FA Cup game in between after respective early exits.
In a game of few chances, James Tarkowski cleared off the line in the first half after an effort from Amad was half-saved by Jordan Pickford.
Visiting goalkeeper Senne Lammens denied teenager Harrison Armstrong, who had Everton’s best attempt before Michael Keane let fly with a thunderous long-range effort eight minutes from time. The shot was heading towards the top left corner but Lammens was again alert, with the Belgium international tipping the ball over.
This result means it is now seven home games without a win in all competitions for Everton, who sit ninth.
