Kiernan Dewsbury Hall‘s (£4.9m) first-half strike proved to be the difference at Old Trafford as 10-man Everton secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over Manchester United.
This is what we saw in the final match of Gameweek 12.
AMORIM ON CUNHA
Manchester United were without Matheus Cunha (£7.9m) for Monday’s meeting with Everton after the Brazilian suffered a head injury in training this weekend.
Ruben Amorim suggested before kick-off that it was “nothing serious”.
“It was a blow in training, so I don’t know how long he will be out. I don’t think it’s anything serious, but we can’t risk any players.” – Ruben van Amorim about Matheus Cunha
UNITED “NOT THERE”
United may have the most favorable run of fixtures over the next nine Gameweeks, but their performance on Monday was hugely disappointing.
Although they won the expected goals battle (xG) by 1.41 to 0.19, this did not quite reflect the true nature of the match, with Everton feeling comfortable for long periods even playing with 10 men.
Now that Cunha is absent, Joshua Zirkzee (£5.8 million) subsequently received the honour.
But United nevertheless missed a lead Bruno Fernandes‘ (£8.9m) best efforts.
In a deeper role, the Portuguese produced a total of five shots, including one Opta-defined ‘big chance’, but he can’t fault that. In an added blow to his owners, he also finished with 11 defensive contributions (DefCon), just one below the threshold.
Gameweek 12’s most purchased player, Bryan Mbeumo (£8.6m) had a shot parried Jordan Pickford (£5.5m), but like Fernandes, lacked that last bit of quality to make a difference.
“We are not there yet, not even close to the point where we should be fighting for the best positions in the league. We have a lot to do and we have to be perfect to win games. We were not perfect today.” – Ruben Amorim
MOYES’ DEFENSIVE MASTERCLASS
Monday’s win at Old Trafford was a tactical triumph for Everton, who have now kept two clean sheets.
They had just three shots in total, and none after Dewsbury-Hall’s 29th minute winner, but they defended their penalty area superbly and showed real grit and determination.
This was achieved despite numerous challenges Seamus Coleman ( £4.3m ) was injured within the first 10 minutes and Idrissa Gueye (£5.4 million) was sent off shortly afterwards for inexplicably punching a teammate.
Pickford made six saves on the night, including a brilliant stop to deny Zirkzee’s header, collecting ten points.
“I felt in the moment the whole game and I work hard every day on the training pitch to put in performances and make saves like that. To put in that performance and get the clean sheet – another performance, making it back-to-back – is the Everton way. The boys kept me out of trouble sometimes and I get them out of trouble other times – that’s a team sport.” – Jordan Pickford
James Tarkowski (£5.4m), meanwhile, collected DefCon points for the eighth time this season – just Mark Senesi (£5.0m) has delivered more:
Above: Outfield players sorted by defensive contribution points (DC) in 2025/26
Defensive colleagues Michael Keane (£4.5 million) and Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.9m) also collected additional DefCon points in Gameweek 12.
As for Gueye, there’s a chance he won’t play for Everton again until late January as he now faces a three-match ban, and by the time he’s back he could be called up by Senegal for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
DEWSBURY HAUL
Everton went in front when Dewsbury-Hall sent a wonderful curling effort into the top corner.
As a driving force in midfield, he scored a total of 13 points thanks to his goal, DefCon and the maximum bonus.
Remarkably, Dewsbury-Hall has now collected 48 points for the season, the most of any midfielder under £5.0m.
“He has played very well. His goal is exactly what we expect from him. He may have been a bit unlucky not to score a few more this season. He has helped us a lot as a team and helped us improve. I am very happy for him because he works very hard and is a solid professional.” – David Moyes on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Elsewhere, Thierno Barry (£5.7m) remained at the front and should be commended for its efforts. An effective outlet at the front, he won 13 of his aerial duels.
“We are trying to give Thierno that bit of consistency to score the goals, which we really need.” – David Moyes on Thierno Barry
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