Rooney helps Man United beat Everton 3-0 in Premier League
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) Manchester United bounced back from its drubbing against Arsenal to beat Everton 3-0 on an emotional day at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Former Everton striker Wayne Rooney sealed the win shortly after the hour, with his first away league goal in 11 months, after Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera had put United firmly in control inside 22 minutes.
Manchester United remained two points behind leader Manchester City, while Everton slipped to ninth.
There was a somber mood after former Everton player and manager Howard Kendall died earlier Saturday at the age of 69. He led Everton to two league championships and a European title in the mid-1980s in the first of three coaching spells with the club.
Both sets of players wore black armbands and there was a minute's silence before kickoff. A video of Kendall's time at the club was also played on the big screen before the match.
Everton was aiming for a fourth successive home win over United but Louis van Gaal's side was looking to recover from the humiliating 3-0 defeat to Arsenal.
United grew stronger as the game progressed and took the lead in the 18th minute after poor defending from Everton, which failed to clear a corner. Marcos Rojo knocked the ball back into the area and Chris Smalling chested it into the path of Schneiderlin, who fired across into the bottom right corner for his first goal for the club.
The visitors doubled their lead four minutes later as Rojo put in a pinpoint cross for Herrera to head powerfully home.
United had chances to extended its lead before halftime and Anthony Martial saw a weak shot comfortably saved by Tim Howard after Rooney had cut the ball back to the Frenchman.
Everton manager Roberto Martinez brought on Arouna Kone for Steven Naismith and the hosts looked more purposeful after the break.
They almost got one back 10 minutes into the second half but United goalkeeper David de Gea pulled off a great reaction save to keep out Romelu Lukaku's shot with his foot.
United sealed the result shortly afterward. Schneiderlin collected Phil Jagielka's wayward pass and found Herrera, who threaded the ball into the path of Rooney for the England forward to race forward and fire past Howard.
It was Rooney's first goal at Goodison Park for eight years, and his 187th in the Premier League - taking him level with former Manchester United striker Andy Cole in second in the all-time Premier League scoring charts, 73 behind Alan Shearer.