After a thrilling end to the 2011-12 Barclays Premier League campaign saw Manchester United finish second to Manchester City, the Red Devils embark on their quest to regain the title in 2012-13 when they visit Everton on Monday at Gooderson Park in Liverpool. Kickoff for the match is scheduled for 8 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET in the United States). Follow along live with SWR and keep refreshing your browsers for updates on all the action from Gooderson Park.
Newly acquired Robin van Persie will start on the bench three days after making his transfer to United official, but could see action late if the Red Devils have the match well in hand. For his part, goalkeeper Tim Howard and the Toffees will look to keep the reigning Footballer of the Year's rear end firmly fixed to the bench, and build on their seventh place finish in last year's Premier League. Howard is less than a week removed from a clean sheet for the U.S. men's national team against Mexico, helping the Americans to their first ever win over Mexico on Mexican soil, and will look to ride that momentum into a shutdown performance against the team that first brought him into the Premier League, the Man U team he played 77 matches for from 2003 to 2006.
1' - We are underway at Gooderson Park. Tim Howard in goal for Everton, David De Gea for Man U.
1' - Osman header is the first shot taken of the day, but it's well wide of the goal, didn't give De Gea any reason to move.
2' - Nani had a look at a good run, but stalwart defending by Disin resulted in an Everton goal kick, Nani almost got himself booked for dissent.
3' - Nani can't avoid it this time, though. He gets a yellow on a late challenge, but it may well have had more to do with his reaction at the other end. Nothing good can come of showing up an official.
5' - First corner of the day goes to Everton. Fellaini can't get the header he wants on the kick, though.
7' - Everton really playing with great intensity to start the match. It helps that their crowd is really fired up for this one, as you'd expect with United in town. Wayne Rooney, naturally, hearing it from his old home crowd every time he has the ball.
8' - Nice run for Rooney, well-timed by United to avoid the offsides flag, but Everton defended well.
9' - First shot on goal is to United, as Scholes gets it in toward Tim Howard, but the American gets in front of it with little difficulty.
12' - United starting to show their strength more. You can sense that Everton is more rushed when they have the balll know, and the Red Devils are starting to take more control.
13' - Scholes gets a yellow card on a very late challenge on Leon Osman. ManU making some early mistakes, although they're undoubtedly looking like the stronger club.
14' - WOODWORK for Fellaini, as he breaks in on the left side, but Michael Carrick is able to force him close enough to the goal line that his shot can't quite make the angle toward the net. It bounces off the left post and away without harm.
17' - Leighton Baines had a nice free kick in towards goal, and it was a dangerous ball, but Man U was able to defend successfully. De Gea caught an arm near his neck from Fellaini and was down on the pitch, but got back up relatively quickly.
21' - A couple of nice chances for Danny Welbeck, but Everton able to block both times.
23' - Curling shot from Nani goes wide by a couple of feet, but Tim Howard had to dive to make sure. He wasn't happy about it either.
24' - Corner to Everton is the product of great movement by the Toffees, culminating in a Nikica Jelevic shot that De Gea had to knock out.
25' - Another corner to Everton, this time after De Gea had to punch a Steven Pienaar header over the crossbar.
28' - Free kick to United after Scholes got clipped by Pienaar.
29' - Wayne Rooney takes the shot against his old team, and Howard makes a nice dive against HIS old team to ensure that it gets nowhere near the back of the net.
30' - Great pressure from United, as Everton can't seem to make the necessary tackle, but an offsides flag saves the day for the home side.
31' - Long shot from Pienaar, well wide of the net, but you don't get that kind of space very often against Man U, so it was a shot that had to be taken.
33' - Best chance of the day for Everton as Pienaar slips a low curling shot through traffic, but De Gea is equal to the task. All winds up with a corner to Everton, but nothing comes with that.
35' - Everton continues to knock on the door, keeping Man U on the run, but the Red Devils always seem to be where they're needed to prevent the shot.
38' - Another shot for Rooney, but it's right at Tim Howard, who handles it with little difficulty.
39' - Danny Welbeck puts a shot just wide to the right after being set up by the debuting Shinji Kagawa. He wanted a foul, but none was given.
41' - Best save of the day for either side goes to De Gea, who gets right to where he needs to be on a wonderful turning shot from Osman. That could easily have put Everton up 1-0, but we're still scoreless at Gooderson Park.
45' - Vidic in heated conversation with the official as Everton prepares to take a free kick.
45' - BIG save for De Gea on Leigthon Baines' free kick. Save for one outstretched hand, it's 1-0, but it's still scoreless as we're into two minutes stoppage time.
45 + 2' - Nice opportunity for Rooney, but he can't get the header he wants, and Tim Howard is there to punch it away.
HALFTIME, EVERTON 0-0 MANCHESTER UNITED - Entertaining first half between these two teams, with Everton finding its opportunities, and De Gea keeping Man U level. Each side has things to be happy about from the first half. Should be an exciting final 45.
46' - Back underway at Gooderson Park. No substitutions at halftime for either side.
47' - Darron Gibson's long shot is high and wide to the left.
49' - WOODWORK AGAIN for Everton, as Leon Osman's shot strikes the crossbar and bounces harmlessly down. It comes back down the other way for Welbeck, but he's well defended and can't get a shot off.
54' - Crowd wants a foul on Welbeck, but none is given.
57' - Corner to Everton
57' - GOAL, EVERTON! And it's Fellaini putting his unmistakable head to the ball off of Hibbert's cross, sending it down into the bottom right corner of tjhe net.
59' - Robin Van Persie is off the bench and warming up, but that's likely lost amidst the celebrations from the home fans. Nani's shot easily caught by Howard.
62' - United corner, sent away with little difficulty.
63' - Nice defensive heading job by Distin to keep a dangerous ball away from the Everton goal.
64' - Fellaini bids for a second goal on a header, but De Gea is right in position to catch that ball.
67' - Everton survives a dangerous chance for Cleverley. Howard was out of position, but Phil Jagielka was there to keep the ball out of the net.
68' - Welbeck goes off, and here comes Robin Van Persie to make his Manchester United debut. He'll start out taking a corner.
69' - Jelevic sends Van Persie's corner away, denying him the most instant of instant impacts.
72' - Corner to Man U.
73' - Nani's corner headed away by the first defender, Man U looks to set up, but Everton sends it back down into Man U's end.
75' - Man U controlling the ball more, Everton having a bit of trouble keeping up. Might be time to use a sub or two, use some fresh legs to fight off United's challenge.
76' - Very nearly a disaster for United, as De Gea came out way too early with Everton attacking. Antonio Valencia was there to break up the opportunity, though.
78' - Corner to Man U, but first, we have a substitution for United, as Ashley Young comes on for Nani. Corner headed away by Everton.
79' - Shinji Kangawa had a nice chance set up by Van Persie, but Howard's challenge forced the Japanese star to send his shot wide.
81' - Substitution for Everton, as Seamus Coleman comes on for Leon Osman. Osman gets a well-deserved round of applause after a well-played 80 minutes.
84' - Everton clearly playing to protect the lead at this point, and it's hard to blame them.
85' - Cleverley takes a seat, as Anderson comes on for United's final sub of the day.
86' - Brief little counterattack for Everton, but Seamus Coleman has the ball knocked out.
87' - Jelevic sits down for the day after aggravating his hamstring.
88' - Ashley Young's shot doesn't pose much of a challenge, easily snared by Howard.
89' - Steven Naismith comes on to replace Jelevic, making his Everton debut in the process after coming over from Rangers.
90 + 1' - Into four minutes of added time at Gooderson.
90 + 2' - Fellaini gets a well-deserved cheer as he leaves the pitch, with Heitinga replacing him.
90 + 4' - United tries to send one in for Van Persie, but that won't happen.
FULL TIME, EVERTON 1-0 MANCHESTER UNITED. For only the fourth time in 21 attempts, Everton has defeated Manchester United at Gooderson Park. Marouane Fellini is the hero with his goal, and Tim Howard has had some week between Wednesday's friendly against Mexico and Monday's Premier League opener against Manchester United.
