Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial scored late as Manchester United defeated Everton at Goodison Park to enter the Carabao Cup semi-finals on Wednesday.

Everton’s goalkeeper, Robin Olsen, almost gifted Cavani a Christmas gift via a loose ball but was quick to recover the ball before any major damage was done.

Olsen was on hand again but this time to deny Cavani when he pulled a double save in the 16th minute as the pressure pilled up from the away team in the opening minutes.

United dominated most of the opening minutes of the first half with six attempts to none after about 22 minutes on as the home side struggled to find their feet on their turf.

Mason Greenwood came close in the 25th minute with a diving header from an Alex Telles cross but the ball rolled wide as Olsen who was well beaten could do nothing but watch.

Paul Pogba was the next United player to test the Swedish keeper about three minutes later after a corner from Telles but his header failed to beat the Everton shot stopper.

Everton finally began growing in confidence and got rewarded with their first corner but Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s header did less to trouble Dean Henderson as the home side managed to get their first shot on target with about 10 minutes to half time.

Henderson was forced to another save in the 37th minute as Gilfy Sigurdsson almost knocked one in from a free kick which resulted into the home side’s second corner.

Everton looked like they found their feet as they kept forcing the away side back to their shell with five minutes to the whistle but Sigurdsson’s second attempt was calmly saved by Henderson.

Bruno Fernandes forced Olsen to another save before the whistle marked the end of the first 45 but the keeper ensured the first half ended gaolless.

As both sides returned for the second half they kept at each other’s toe towards the 61st minute without any attempt  threatening enough to break the deadlock.

Frustrations continued into the 70th minute as the game begged for a little spark from both sides who have been back and forth at each other for the most part of the second half.

As the game progressed further, tired legs began setting in from both sides with a couple of misplaced passes as it moved into the 80th minute.

Benart fould Pogba just before the penalty box, giving United a freekick in a good position with just ten minutes to play but Alex Telles swept it off target.

Instead of a spark which the game cried out for, both teams produced more error passes as the game drew closer to a possible penalty shootout.

The deadlock was finally broken by Cavani in the 88th minute as he fired a brilliant left shot to score his fourth United goal on his league cup debut after latching on to a pass from Anthony Martial.

Carlo Ancelotti threw in Cenk Tosun to replace Abdoulaye Doucouré in attempt to get an equaliser before the whistle.

The home side suddenly burst forward in search of the equaliser and got a freekick close to the box but failed to get it on target.

With an additional five minutes added time, Everton got a late corner in the 94th minute but their quick play ended up in the safe hands of Henderson.

Fernandes almost sealed it for United but hit the woodwork and moments after, Marcus Rashford missed a sitter as he searches for his first ever goal against Everton.

The English man later set up Martial for United’s second in the 96th minute to secure the away side’s spot in the semi finals of the league cup.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men ended the game with 19 shots and eight on target against Everton’s six and three on target.