'Best player on the pitch': Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand heap praise on Man Utd star after Everton win

Manchester United earned an important three points in their push to close the gap on the top four as they put two past Everton thanks to a double penalty boost in the first half of their meeting at Old Trafford. The Red Devils broke their losing streak after failing to bank points against Fulham and Manchester City in their previous meetings.

United deployed two different penalty takers against the Toffees as both Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford tucked away their efforts. Rising star Alejandro Garnacho earned the lion's share of the praise after the match as he won both spot-kicks for his side.

Everton struggled to contain the tricky Brazilian, who used his pace and footwork to weave between the Blues' defence and pose a huge threat in the box. After being chopped down by James Tarkowski and Ben Godfrey respectively, Garnacho won two crucial penalties for his team which ultimately won an important game.

After the match, United icons Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand were part of the TNT Sports analysis panel and they weren't short of praise for the Reds' influential winger.

"I think today, Garnacho was going to be the one to make things happen and I think he was certainly the best player on the pitch," Rooney said, who also praised Garnacho for his work rate and hunger both on and off the ball.

According to Sofascore, as well as winning both penalties, Garnacho made two key passes in United's attacking build-up and while he missed two big chances himself, it exemplified his commitment to get the ball into the back of the neck.

"I don't think any of the players really expected him at the beginning of the season to be the player that he is now, in terms of the way he's impacting games from the start," Ferdinand echoed. "I think they all expected him to be an impact player off the bench but he's took the bull by the horns and he's doing all he can now to be one of the main goal threats in this team."

Despite their winning performance, Rooney admitted he believes it's going to be 'very difficult' for United to finish inside the top four this season as results have been 'inconsistent' throughout this extremely competitive campaign.

United are now on 47 points in the Premier League table, eight points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa.