Iwobi plays through pain barrier for last few minutes in Everton's big loss to Man Utd

Published: August 07, 2021

Alex Iwobi started and was in action for ninety minutes as Everton were hammered 4-0 by Manchester United in their final pre-season friendly staged at old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.

Manager Rafael Benitez fielded Iwobi in a front four also featuring James Rodriguez, Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray.

The Toffees made a positive start to the game as their Nigeria international got to the byline but his attempted cross was blocked behind for a corner.

Eight minutes into the game, there was a mix up between Digne and Pickford, allowing Mason Greenwood to slot into an empty net after Iwobi's header had cushioned the ball back towards his own goal.

On 15 minutes, Maguire headed in Shaw's header to double the home team's advantage and Iwobi had a chance to reduce the deficit two minutes later but could only divert his shot wide of the post.

Bruno Fernandes netted directly from a free-kick to make it 3-0 fifteen minutes before half-time.

A minute to the end of the game, there was a pause in play to allow treatment for Iwobi, who fell heavily after a clash with United defender Brandon Williams.

With Everton already using all their outfield players named on the substitutes bench with the exception of left-back Niels Nkounkou, Iwobi had to soldier on for the last three minutes of the contest.

Diogo Dalot wrapped up the scoring with a looping header with almost the last kick of the game.

Igho Kingsley

Photo Credit : evertonfc.com

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