Manchester United kept alive their faint hopes of finishing in the Premier League’s top four with a 2-0 win against Everton, while Arsenal prepared for their chance to seize top spot later on Saturday.
United stars Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford sealed the points with first half penalties at Old Trafford. Erik ten Hag’s team are now eight points adrift of fourth placed Aston Villa and three behind fifth placed Tottenham in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Everton sit four points above the relegation zone as their winless league run extended to 11 games.
Back-to-back defeats to Fulham and Manchester City had put a huge dent in United’s top four ambitions.
With Villa and Tottenham facing off on Sunday, they made the most of Everton’s mistakes to close on their rivals.
Alejandro Garnacho was the difference between the sides as his quick feet twice provoked spot-kicks.
James Tarkowski was the first Everton defender lured into a mistimed challenge on Garnacho after 10 minutes and Fernandes rolled home his eighth goal of the season.
Garnacho danced through a series of challenges in the 36th minute before he was chopped down by Ben Godfrey.
Fernandes passed over penalty duties to Rashford and Jordan Pickford was unable to deny the forward, who fired home his fifth goal in nine league games.
