Phil McNulty: Manchester United's Crisis over?

Manchester United enter the international break in fourth place - a position they have not occupied since they drew with Chelsea in their second game last season, David Moyes' first home game as manager.

They were heavily reliant on goalkeeper David De Gea to secure a 2-1 win over Everton on Sunday, the Spaniard earning the distinction of making the first Premier League penalty save from Leighton Baines before producing two world-class stops from Leon Osman and Bryan Oviedo in the closing moments.

So hardly a case of the clouds all rolling away.

But new manager Louis van Gaal can be pleased with two successive wins, another decisive contribution from British record buy Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao's first goal for the club.

Everton, Liverpool and Manchester City all did the double over United last season and Sunday's win ended a run of eight matches without a victory against north-west opposition.

And the effectiveness of Di Maria can be seen in the fact he has now scored three goals and provided three assists in five Premier League appearances.

A sign of the turnover at United can be illustrated by the fact they have used 30 players in seven matches this season already, only ever using more in the Premier League era on two occasions: 2011-12 (31) and 2008-09 (33).

Van Gaal will hope with the return of more players to fitness, and with Wayne Rooney to come back from suspension in two games, he can build on these foundations.

Louis van Gaal: "I've told my players 'we're not playing well but we are already fourth in the table - so what is coming when we play well?'"

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel on Twitter: De Gea, heroic performance winning @ManUtd two points with three extraordinary saves. Great to see.

Former Liverpool defender and boyhood Everton fan Jamie Carragher on Twitter: Have to be honest. De Gea has just ruined my afternoon.

BBC Sport pundit Trevor Sinclair on Match of the Day 2 commenting on De Gea's performance: "An unbelievable last five minutes where he was outstanding. He is a player who has come into his own.

"He had wrists of granite at the penalty where he got down early and had that confidence that suggests he always thought he was going to save it."

Martin Keown on Everton boss Roberto Martinez being under pressure: "They are just outside the bottom three and that is remarkable. He is an outstanding manager, but this is going to test him. Romelu Lukaku was a big investment at £28m and he's not doing it for him."

Credit: BBC Sport