Carlo Ancelotti insists Everton have ‘no regrets’ over their Carabao Cup exit.
Late goals from Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial saw Manchester United snatch victory from a below-par Blues in Wednesday’s quarter final encounter.
The hosts registered just three shots on target in the 95-minute affair while also only having 35 per cent possession against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
But Ancelotti refused to castigate his team after managing to keep the match goalless until Cavani struck just two minutes from the end of normal time.
He said: “We are disappointed, of course. It is an important competition for us.
“But I think there are no regrets because we performed. We had a difficult start but after 20 minutes, defensively, we were in control.
“In the second-half, we didn’t give an opportunity [until Cavani scored] to a team that is really strong. Manchester United are a really strong team.
“We were close to penalties but we have no regrets, absolutely.”
The Everton manager also downplayed the controversy surrounding Cavani’s match-winning role after grabbing Yerry Mina by the throat during the game.
VAR has been withdrawn from Carabao Cup ties until the semi-final stage, meaning that the Uruguyan’s act was not scrutinised by the technology.
“We didn’t talk about this at the end of the game,” insisted Ancelotti.
“The rules were that VAR was not in this game, if the referee decided that Cavani didn’t do anything wrong we have to accept it. Full stop.”