Paul Pogba says Manchester United 'woke up' as they ended a four-match winless streak with victory at Everton

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Paul Pogba claimed that Manchester United 'woke up' at Everton as they started 2018 with a 2-0 victory on New Year's Day.

United arrived at Goodison Park without a win in their previous four matches, having been held to Premier League draws by Leicester, Burnley and Southampton after losing at Bristol City in the Carabao Cup.

But they produced a polished performance to deny Everton a single shot on target while firing in six of their own. 

Paul Pogba (right) captained Manchester United to a 2-0 victory at Everton on New Year's Day

After United's first win in four, Pogba said: 'We just had to wake up and today I think we did'

Pogba was United's star man as he claimed two assists — setting up Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard for second-half goals — but the Frenchman was pleased with how the team performed as a whole.

'First game of the year, a good win, 2-0,' Pogba told Sky Sports. 'We had chances today, we played aggressive but in a positive way, creating chances. Defensively we were very good, a very good team performance today.

'We were pushing. We were talking at half-time, we knew we could score and we did it. We believe in ourselves, we just had to wake up and today I think we did.

'I think we deserved to win against Leicester [City, a 2-2 draw] against Southampton [a 0-0 draw], but this is football and today I think we did what we had to do.'

United's victory saw them reclaim second place ahead of Chelsea, who play their game in hand away to Arsenal on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, the Red Devils closed the gap on leaders Manchester City — who also have a game in hand — to 12 points.

Midfielder Pogba set up both United goals, assisting Anthony Martial then Jesse Lingard (left)

Pogba was involved in a midfield battle with former United team-mate Morgan Schneiderlin