Gylfi Sigurdsson’s goal glut and other moments you might have missed from Everton’s Manchester United trip

A decent performance in patches but ultimately another away defeat at one of the Premier League’s elite clubs after being on the receiving end of a controversial refereeing decision, you’d have been forgiven for thinking it was the same old story for Everton against Manchester United at Old Trafford but here are some of the moments you might have missed.

Six-shooter Sigurdsson

In a game of two penalties, it was of course Manchester United’s spot-kick that touch centre stage.

It had it all – a ridiculous dive from Anthony Martial to con the referee, an even more preposterous run up (well a long trotting sequence of baby steps) from Paul Pogba that resulted in Jordan Pickford making a save and then ultimately the maddening injustice of the ball rebounding straight back into the France World Cup winner’s feet for him to tap in at the second time of asking.

Although it only proved a consolation goal on the day, when looking at the bigger picture, Gylfi Sigurdsson’s effort from 12 yards could be of far more significance for Evertonians.

Unlike Pogba’s power puff effort, the Blues Ice Man showed ice cold nerves to emphatically despatch his effort past David De Gea.

The goal took Sigurdsson’s tally for the campaign to half a dozen – the same total he managed throughout his entire first season at Goodison Park.

An increasing scoring return from the club’s record signing suggests that now playing in his favoured number 10 role, Everton are starting to get the best out of him.

All right now?

From the moment they first combined down Everton’s Starboard flank, Seamus Coleman and Theo Walcott have looked an exciting combination.

On January 31 this year the Irish captain returned to play his first game in 10 months following a double leg break and produced an all-action performance against Leicester City that culminated with him proving his fitness with a lung-busting length of the field run in stoppage time while on the same night Walcott helped himself to a brace – his first goals in a royal blue jersey after ending his 12-year association with Arsenal.

However, after such auspicious beginnings, it seems that currently all is not well down the Blues right.

Most of United’s most dangerous attacks came down that side of the pitch and while that may of largely been due to the presence of Martial, given their respective talents, both Coleman and Walcott will have been disappointed.

Never one to shy away from responsibility, the skipper admitted afterwards that his side had shown the hosts too much respect.

Big test for the little man

While Everton manager Marco Silva maintained the awarding of United’s hotly-disputed penalty “had a big impact on the match” he also conceded that after a similar showing away at Arsenal, his side need to become more clinical in their finishing in such games against the division’s established elite.

Bernard was arguably the Blues biggest culprit in this respect.

He did the hard bit and held his nerve to dribble the ball around United’s David De Gea – one of the world’s best keepers – no mean feat in itself – but then with the goal gaping he slotted his shot wide into the side-netting.

It was a golden opportunity to get his side back into the game and as the net appeared to ripple some travelling Evertonians even momentarily celebrated what they thought was a goal.

Cue the biggest Bernard-inspired laugh from a Mancunian audience since the late Mr Manning used to to take to the stage at his self-styled World Famous Embassy Club.

The problem is that such shortcomings ensure that for Everton, away wins over English football’s big boys seem like the politically incorrect gags of such comics at working men’s clubs, a relic of a bygone age.

Lukaku goes into hiding

Unlike his first encounter against former club Everton last season when he was determined to be the centre of attention, Blues old boy Romelu Lukaku seemed to want to go into hiding this time around.

Last season when Ronald Koeman’s side visited Old Trafford, the Belgian international – who chose not to celebrate his first goal following his permanent move to Everton in 2014 out of respect for previous loan employers West Brom – seemed hell-bent on finding the net.

When he finally did nick one, a near delirious Lukaku reacted wildly and even cupped his ear while running towards the away fans.

Injury prevented him for a first Goodison Park return later in the campaign and it was all rather different this time around.

Dropped to the substitutes bench by Jose Mourinho, Lukaku sneaked out of the tunnel with the hood up on his jacket and once he was finally introduced to the action for the final 25 minutes he was almost as anonymous.

Now without a goal in his last nine outings for United, he was mocked by his once adoring Merseyside public for supposedly having bulked up too much and made a hash of the one big chance that came his way.

A short tale to finish with

Maybe some eagle-eyed fan with more time and inclination than myself might prove me wrong but was that the first time that Everton got to wear their regular colours of royal blue shirts and white socks away to Manchester United in over four decades?

United’s usual red shirt, white shorts combination previously meant that Everton had to don their blue change shorts in the fixture – certainly since some point in the 1970s it would seem – but given that Old Trafford chiefs have chosen to ride roughshod over tradition this season and adopted a kit with black shorts, the visitors did not have to deviate on this occasion.

From Everton’s point of view it was a little victory for the purists given the recent trip to the Emirates to face Arsenal when the Blues unnecessarily switched to their away strip despite there being no clash.