Everton suffered a third straight defeat at home to Manchester United.

Bernard opened the scoring for Carlo Ancelotti’s side when he fired well past David de Gea after receiving a flick-on header from Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

But the Blues were level-pegged barely six minutes after the Brazilian’s strike as Bruno Fernandes equalised with a free header from Luke Shaw’s cross.

Fernandes went on to double the visitors’ lead on 32 minutes with a lofted cross-cum-shot which Marcus Rashford attempted to follow into the net.

Matters worsened for Everton in stoppage time as substitute Edinson Cavani gave the Red Devils a comfortable margin of victory with a simple finish.

Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:

Time to drop Sigurdsson

 

Steve Walsh takes an unusual pride in the players he didn’t sign for Everton.

The talent spotter famously boasted about passing up on Erling Haaland, Andy Robertson and Harry Maguire during his time at Goodison Park.

But Walsh’s stint as the club’s director of football is still remembered for the succession of questionable arrivals that he sanctioned in a two-year window.

Not least when arguably his biggest failure is still floundering in the first-team.

Gylfi Sigurdsson continues to offer an incredibly poor return on his £45 million price tag from little over three years ago and the statistics seem to back it up.

The Icelandic playmaker slotted into midfield yet his output was practically non-existent against a Manchester United team under siege before the game.

Sigurdsson’s inability to pick out even a single pass for Dominic Calvert-Lewin throughout summed up just how little he is currently contributing to the side.

Ancelotti faces uphill battle fixing defence

 

Everton’s third consecutive league defeat was painful enough viewing for supporters but their manager will especially not have relished the outcome.

Carlo Ancelotti has not suffered a hat-trick of domestic reversals since 2006, while on the verge of guiding AC Milan to a second Champions League crown.

Tightening up the Toffees’ defence feels like it may be a far more difficult task than drilling Milan’s evergreen backline into cutting out their costly mistakes.

Bruno Fernandes’ first-half brace not only gave United a grip on proceedings but also exposed their hosts alarming lack of response to facing attacks.

The Portuguese was allowed a free header to open the scoring and sent a fortuitious cross goal-wards without so much as an attempted intervention.

Even accounting for a ring-rusty Mason Holgate, making his first appearance of the season after returning from injury, this was poor in the extreme.

Ancelotti has never shied away from the fact Everton’s defending needs to improve but it is hard to see how or when that will happen on current form.

’50 per cent’ James is not enough

 

Ancelotti had doubts over James Rodriguez’s fitness heading into this game.

If the Colombia international showed even ’50 per cent’ of his quality, however, the Everton boss was willing to ignore those personal misgivings.

When he is at full tilt, Rodriguez is simply unplayable; as numerous opponents had experienced during the formative weeks of the current campaign.

Yet the 29-year-old’s less-than-best was not simply not good enough in a game when Calvert-Lewin toiled with a complete lack of support in attack.

Rodriguez at half-pace cannot produce the same effect that helped put the likes of Tottenham, Brighton and Crystal Palace to the sword in succession.

Hindsight suggests that Ancelotti should have trusted his own instincts.

International break perfectly timed

 

Last month’s international break came at the worst possible time for Everton.

Riding high atop the Premier League table and putting together a 100 per cent record, the stars seemed to have aligned for Ancelotti’s side.

But as players prepare to jet off to represent their respective countries, the Blues will be breathing a huge sigh of relief after four win-less matches.

Injury and suspension took its toll on the previous league leaders, with Richarlison a particularly sore miss since his Merseyside derby sending-off.

Tough tests will still await Everton when club football resumes, with clashes against four of last season’s top six teams before the calendar year is out.

Even so, it is still likely to be far more manageable than the past four games.