London (AFP)

Once again, Manchester United was able to respond when expected at the turn by going home to beat Everton (3-1) in free fall on Saturday for the 8th day of the Premier League, relieving the pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

With these three points, the Red Devils are far from out of the woods, only temporarily pointing to 13th place with 10 points, while Everton, who has taken only one point over the last four days , after having taken 12 out of 12 in the first four, for the moment clings to a 5th place with 13 units.

The ax seemed on the verge of falling for the Norwegian coach, after the catastrophic performance in the Champions League in midweek, and the defeat against Basaksehir Istanbul (2-1).

Worse, the English press echoed contacts between the Mancunian leaders and the former Argentine coach of Tottenham, Mauricio Pochettino, who had opportunely said "always ready to engage in this sport" on Monday.

For this critical match, Solskjaer had made strong decisions, returning to his 4-2-3-1 instead of 4-4-2 with a diamond-shaped midfielder and above all leaving Paul Pogba, too irregular in recent months, on the bench for a more defensive option, with Fred and Scott McTominay in double pivot.

- Bruno Fernandes saves Man United again -

Carlo Ancetotti had recovered, Lucas Digne, who served his suspension, and he again trusted England international goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, on the bench for the last match, but that was not enough to stop the fall of his team.

She had nevertheless managed to open the scoring, despite a start to the match rather to the advantage of the visitors.

On a release from Pickford, Victor Lindelöf, too passive, had allowed Dominic Calvert-Lewin to deviate from the head for the Brazilian striker Bernard who scored with a low shot after a good sequence (1-0, 19th).

But the Red Devils quickly recovered thanks to their savior for 10 months, Bruno Fernandes, author of a double and an assist.

At the end of a 49-second streak with 20 passes between eight different players, and in a blue defense where no one moved or jumped, he headed for a cross from Luke Shaw to equalize with a straight header. (1-1, 25th).

Seven minutes later, the Portuguese sent a broken cross for the head of Marcus Rashford, launched.

The English striker jumped high but apparently without touching the ball, which would die after a rebound on the post, in the goal of his teammate in selection, Pickford (1-2, 32nd).

- Open house operation for Leeds -

In additional time, Edinson Cavani, who entered 10 minutes from the end, definitely removed all suspense with his first goal in his new colors (3-1, 90 + 5).

On a well-conducted 4-2 against, Fernandes fixed the opposing defense before shifting Cavani to his left, who only had to open his right foot to deceive Pickford at the near post.

"I cannot praise enough the strength of character that the players have shown," said Solskjaer after the match, aware that they have undoubtedly saved the day, at least temporarily, even if he keeps his label. coach perpetually on probation.

In the second game of the afternoon, Crystal Palace took advantage of a new open house operation from Leeds (4-1), beaten by the same score as against Leicester last week.

The Eagles go back to 6th place in the standings with 13 points.

Leeds, who had a goal disallowed early in the match because Patrick Bamford's arm, with which he asked for the ball, was offside according to the VAR, sinking to an anonymous 14th place with 10 points.

But if the 7-length mattress in the red zone seems comfortable, the 17 goals conceded in 8 matches suddenly make it more reassuring.

© 2020 AFP