Manchester United secured a crucial victory over Everton by sharing penalty-taking duties at Old Trafford.

Before half-time, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford scored from the penalty spot, both awarded for fouls on Alejandro Garnacho, who had previously scored against the same opposition at Goodison in November.

Despite an unimpressive performance, United reduced the distance to fourth-place Aston Villa to eight points after recovering from two consecutive league defeats.

Meanwhile, Everton’s winless streak has extended to 11 games, and they will be praying that a second PSR case does not result in a further points deduction, having already been docked six.

The irony is that Everton often seemed the more dangerous team, particularly in the first 45 minutes, while trailing 2-0 at halftime.

United goalkeeper Andre Onana boldly dove at Ben Godfrey’s feet and leaped into the air to save a chance from former United star James Garner.Casemiro’s clumsy play in midfield boosted the visitors’ confidence.

Even with a lack of team chemistry, Erik ten Hag has individual talent to rely on.

After 12 minutes, Garnacho persuaded James Tarkowski to tap him on the shin for the first penalty.

Fernandes accepted captain’s responsibility for the penalty kick and buried it low to Pickford’s left. It was the Portuguese international’s 29th successful penalty for United, a club record, but he had missed his last one in the Premier League against Chelsea.

Dwight McNeil fizzed a shot barely wide as United maintained the players and system that had been used at The Eithad last week, with Rashford wide on the left and Fernandes as a false nine.

He tested Pickford with a diving free kick, but Garnacho scored United’s second goal.

He slid by Amadou Onana before being knocked over by Godfrey. Rather than take another penalty, Fernandes offered Rashford the opportunity, but he stuttered in his run-up and sent Pickford the wrong way.

Everton must be sick of seeing Garnacho, whose overhead kick in their previous match was set to be Goal of the Season.

For the majority of the second half, the home team preferred to play on the counter. Whenever Everton sent players forward, United appeared capable of splitting them apart.

After 55 minutes, Fernandes’ ball released Garnacho, and the Argentine could have shown more calm instead of firing over after his pace had got him clear.

The identical combination then saw the midfielder roll a ball across the six-yard box, where the winger attempted to slide in at the far post but was unable to do so in time.

Pickford stopped from Fernandes and Victor Lindelof, who threatened a third, and Dyche answered on the hour with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lewis Dobbin, and Andre Gomes.

It did not aid the visitors, as Dobbin dragged a shot after Godfrey had headed down to him in the box.

Dyche will point to Everton’s 24 shots on United’s goal, most of which were off target, and Ten Hag was relaxed enough to give Sofyan Amrabat a late run-out to rest Kobbie Mainoo.

United will be pleased to return to winning ways, and statisticians will have appreciated the Fernandes-Rashford penalty combination.

It was only the third time in Premier League history where a side scored two first-half penalties with separate takers, after Fulham against Bolton in 2002 (Louis Saha and Steve Marlet) and Manchester City against Leicester in 2021 (Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling).