Of course their shortcomings will be attributed to the loss of talismanic striker Eric Cantona for the remainder of the campaign following a kung fu-style kick on a Crystal Palace fan in January.
Ferguson was also without the injured Andrei Kanchelskis and cup-tied Andy Cole, while Ryan Giggs started on the bench after being out for a month with a hamstring problem.
Royle had selection headaches of his own with record signing and fans’ favourite Duncan Ferguson having recently undergone a hernia operation and the big Scot was named as a substitute alongside Daniel Amokachi as the manager kept faith with the same starting 11 that had disposed of Spurs so emphatically.
All this meant there was no place in the 14-man matchday squad for midfielder John Ebbrell, who like Royle was a Merseyside youngster who had progressed through the Goodison ranks.
Everton struck the only goal of the game on the half-hour mark.
A shot by Ince was blocked on the edge of the Everton penalty area and Royle’s men quickly countered.
United found themselves outnumbered four to two at the back as Limpar switched play to the right flank to the overlapping Matt Jackson who cut inside before picking out Graham Stuart.
The Londoner, who had been the Goodison outfit’s double goalscoring saviour when they avoided the drop a year ago, could have been the hero again this time but his side-footed effort struck the crossbar. But fortunately for Everton, Paul Rideout was on hand to head in the rebound.
As United piled on the pressure after the break, Neville Southall, the only survivor from Everton’s 1984 FA Cup-winning side, rolled back the years to pull off a stunning double save to deny substitute Paul Scholes an equaliser.
With time running out, United keeper Schmeichel desperately pushed forward to join his side’s attack but Everton substitute Amokachi failed to capitalise at the other end.
It didn’t matter though as the final whistle blew seconds later and Royle’s warriors celebrated as they went from being underdogs to top dogs at the Twin Towers.
