Everton 0-1 Manchester United: Super-Sub Sesko Strikes Again As Red Devils Return To Top 4

Liverpool — Benjamin Sesko climbed off the bench to fire Manchester United back into the Premier League’s top four, his 71st-minute strike sealing a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday.

The Slovenia international, signed from RB Leipzig in the summer, has quickly become Michael Carrick’s go-to impact player, and his latest intervention maintained the interim boss’s remarkable unbeaten start. Carrick has now presided over nine matches across two spells in the Old Trafford dugout, winning seven and drawing two — a sequence bettered only by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s 11-game run in 2018-19 and Herbert Bamlett’s 10 in 1927.

In a contest short on clear openings, United’s 1.27 expected goals trumped Everton’s 0.62, yet the decisive moment arrived with surgical precision. Collecting a raking diagonal from Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo ghosted inside Michael Keane before teeing up Sesko, who thundered a first-time finish beyond Jordan Pickford.

Everton, chasing a response, pumped 10 corners into the United box, but Senne Lammens stood firm amid the aerial barrage and produced smart stops to deny Keane and Tyrique George. Pickford later clawed away a Sesko drive that would have sealed a brace, yet the single goal proved sufficient for the visitors.

The result extends United’s resurgence under Carrick and deepens Everton’s home-grown gloom; the Toffees have now lost six league fixtures at Hill Dickinson Stadium this term, surpassing the five they suffered all last season at Goodison Park. Despite edging the shot count 12-11 and efforts on target 4-3, Sean Dyche’s side failed to craft a single ‘big chance’, whereas United fashioned two — the second of which Sesko buried with typical composure.

Sesko’s statistics continue to soar. No Premier League player has scored more goals as a substitute this campaign than his three, a tally matched only by Emiliano Buendía, Junior Kroupi and Samuel Chukwueze. Across all competitions, the 21-year-old has struck six times in his last seven appearances in red, underlining his growing value to a side with renewed Champions League ambitions.

With the victory, United leapfrog rivals into fourth place, the latest evidence that Carrick’s tactical tweaks and faith in youthful firepower are steering the club toward European contention once more.