THE NOTEBOOK: Everton suffer from shoddy finishing, banned Erik ten Hag opts for ear-pieces over ear-defenders at noisy Goodison Park… while United enjoy a rare week out of ‘crisis mode’

Manchester United recorded a comfortable 3-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday evening.

The home side’s misery continued after 10 points were deducted for breaching the Premier League’s winning and sustainability rules.

Everton’s battle went from bad to worse when Alejandro Garnacho opened the scoring after just three minutes with a stunning bicycle kick that ignited the evening for the Red Devils.

After struggling to find their form in the Premier League, Erik Ten Hag’s side appear to have found their feet with a glorious win over the struggling Toffees team.

The win moves Man United into the top six, just two points behind Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham.

MailSport’s Lewis Steele takes a look at some of the things you might have missed.

Mayor of Manchester – and Toffees fan – accuses Premier League of ‘abuse of process’

Andy Burnham has accused the Premier League of ‘abuse of process’ and the decision to deduct Everton 10 points for financial violations should be ‘null and void’ due to the change to the framework used to rule on the case midway sheets.

Everton were charged and referred to an independent commission in March for breaching profit and sustainability rules, but guidelines for sanctioning such a case were not drawn up until August 10 this year.

“Has a fair trial taken place?” the Labor politician and mayor of Manchester asked reporters at Goodison Park on Sunday. ‘There has been a very flawed process and I would even say there has been an abuse of the process. And that abuse of process concerns the guideline and framework that was compiled in August and submitted to the independent committee.

‘You could say that the fact that the Premier League is submitting a new penalty regime to the Commission in this way is comparable to the government submitting new sentencing guidelines to a judge in the middle of a certain trial.’

In a letter to the Premier League, seen by Mail Sport, Burnham wrote to chairman Alison Brittain: ‘I would say the process should be quashed due to the regulatory malpractice of introducing new rules in the middle.’

Erik Ten Hag chooses earphones over earmuffs

Erik Ten Hag was spotted in the stands with an earphone in – and that was not to drown out the deafening protest of Everton’s raucous protest supporters. The Dutchman, who also wore a flat cap, was suspended for picking up a third yellow card of the season in United’s win over Luton a fortnight ago.

Mitchell van der Gaag, a bit of a Ten Hag lookalike, was in the dugout. The 52-year-old has been at Ten Hag’s side since his time with Ajax’s B-team and has also been successful in Portugal and Cyprus.

They handed a first Premier League start to 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo, who was born in Stockport and played for prestigious youth club Cheadle and Gatley. The midfielder passed his audition with flying colors and was a calming presence for United.

Manchester United stays away from the crisis

Whisper it softly, but it seems we’re having a rare week where Manchester United haven’t been in crisis mode. ‘The red and white army of Ten Hag’, sang the away match, after having won five of the last six competition matches – with the European champion as the highlight.

There were also chants of ‘Viva Garnacho’, to the tune of the old song sung about Cristiano Ronaldo, and the United winger imitated CR7 in more ways than one today. After his fantastic goal of the season, the Argentinian performed Ronaldo’s signature ‘siu’ celebration.

So United fans enjoyed their trip to Merseyside and were in good spirits all afternoon. However, it is a trip to Istanbul and the bear pit of Galatasaray. If you lose there, the positivity turns sour again.

Everton’s battle at Goodison Park

Most of the stats were in Everton’s favor, with them winning the possession battle and having 24 shots to United’s nine – but those numbers don’t matter if they can’t put the ball in the goal and have only four points in the table after their deduction.

Goodison Park is seen as a fortress, but they have just four points at home, with a win over Bournemouth and a draw against Brighton. Only Sean Dyche’s Burnley have fewer home points (0), making it the fewest the Toffees have ever achieved in their first seven home games of a season.

Your browser does not support iframes.