With a lopsided victory at Old Trafford, Manchester United tightened their hold on a top-four spot and kept Everton mired in relegation jeopardy.

Anthony Martial’s first Premier League goal since December and a quality first-half effort from Scott McTominay were sufficient for United to win.

Yet, Erik ten Hag’s team should have won by more since Jordan Pickford made several excellent stops and Aaron Wan-Bissaka inexplicably missed putting the ball in the back of the net after Antony’s attempt came back to him off a post.

Marcus Rashford being forced to leave the pitch and being seen stumbling through the tunnel to the home dressing room caused late alarm for the hosts.

Before Thursday’s Europa League quarterfinal against Sevilla, that is not what Ten Hag needs, though Martial’s return and Christian Eriksen’s after a two-and-a-half-month absence due to an ankle injury were welcome developments as Brazilian midfielder Casemiro completes his four-match domestic suspension.

Everton is in the unfortunate situation of needing to wait and see how other teams perform in order to fully assess the harm this loss will have on them.