In the end, it was comforting to see events on the pitch finally overshadow the off-pitch controversies that had hung over this Everton-Man United match for the past few days.

With United coasting as the game entered injury time, David Moyes’ men finally grabbed the goals that their play this season has deserved. Prior to this game game, Everton had just one goal from 33 attempts, but as Alex Ferguson’s side discovered, the Toffees are just too good for those sort of stats to continue.

Although Wayne Rooney was taken out of the spotlight by his manager, events may, ironically, have been different if his acceptance to play for Everton in Jamie Carragher’s testimonial hadn’t been denied by England boss Fabio Cappello in midweek.

In Wazza’s absence, Dimitar Berbatov continued his fine start to the season, grabbing yet another goal to take his tally to three in four games. Berbatov is finally looking like the player United shelled out a fortune for, as, indeed, is Nani. Once again playing on the right wing at the expense of Antonio Valencia, Nani has now set up at least one goal in each of United’s last three games, as a streak of consistency surges through his game.

Despite their performance going forward, United are struggling at the back. Clean sheets at Old Trafford may be easy to come by, but matters are considerably different on the road. After the game, the United boss mused:

“Football can do that to you. In a game of a completely comfortable position we’ve thrown it away – simple as that. The last two away games have been like that. We lost a goal against Fulham with two minutes to go, and the same again today. We had chances to bury Everton and we didn’t do it. We played some good football at times. Berbatov I thought was our best player. I thought he was absolutely brilliant today but that’s all wasted because we’ve given the two points away.”

Last season, Fergie’s team conceded 2 or more goals just three times away from home; they have already done so twice this season, and given they have only played two games, this is a clear cause for concern that surely needs addressing, with Chelsea’s win at Upton Park taking them four points clear of their main rivals already.