Why Carlo Ancelotti was so pleased with Everton's victory over 'good team' Sheffield United

United held out for 80 minutes as they looked to seal a long-overdue first win of the Premier League season, but Gylfi Sigurdsson capped a good move involving Bernard and Abdoulaye Doucouré to win the game for Everton.

"I'm really pleased with the spirit of the team," Ancelotti said.

"Defensively we were solid and didn't give opportunities to Sheffield and in the end we found a good opportunity.

"Sheffield is a good team because they play with a lot of intensity and have a lot of fighting spirit. We knew we'd have to be patient and couldn't give them the opportunity to be in the game. We couldn't allow them a lot of chances to score and that was the plan.

"The fact that we are second with all these players out means the squad is good. The squad is motivated and ambitious."

Defeat was United's 13th in their 15 Premier League matches so far this season. They are only the third club in top flight history to be without a win on Boxing Day, after Burnley in 1889-90 and Bolton in 1902-03, and have now not kept a clean sheet in their last 19 games in all competitions.

Next up for Chris Wilder's side is a clash with fellow relegation candidates Burnley at Turf Moor on Tuesday evening.

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