Fellaini suffered an ankle injury in an FA Cup replay victory against Chelsea in February 2011 and although he was able to play in a 2–0 win against Sunderland a week later, the injury caused him to miss the remainder of the 2010–11 season.[22] He did not play a competitive match until August 2011, when he appeared as a substitute in a 1–0 loss to Queens Park Rangers at Goodison Park and played the full match in the very next fixture, as Everton beat Sheffield United 3–1 in the League Cup.[23] In November 2011, he signed a new five-year contract with the club.[24] He finished the season having won the most tackles, aerial duels and made more passes than anyone else at the club. He won the second highest number of tackles in the league and won possession of the ball 190 times, the most out of any player.[25]
In the opening game of the 2012–13 Premier League season against Manchester United, Fellaini received plaudits for his outstanding performance, as he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory.[26] He continued the season in great form with goals against Arsenal, Manchester City, Sunderland and Fulham amongst others. Fellaini was subsequently awarded Premier League Player of the Month for November 2012.
Fellaini was banned for three matches by the Football Association on 17 December 2012 after headbutting Ryan Shawcross during a game against Stoke City, an incident missed by the match officials at the time.[27] The same month he was ranked as number 60 in "The 100 Best Footballers in the World" by The Guardian.
Manchester United
On 2 September 2013, Fellaini signed a five-year contract, reuniting with former manager David Moyes at Manchester United in a £27.5 million, deadline day deal.[30] He made his debut for the club on 14 September, in a 2–0 home win against Crystal Palace, coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute for Anderson.[31] He made his full debut on 17 September, starting in a 4–2 win against Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League.[32] On 5 November, Fellaini received his first red card for Manchester United in a match against Real Sociedad in the group stage of the Champions League.[33]
In April 2014, Fellaini was named as one of the "10 Worst Buys of the Premier League season" by The Daily Telegraph.[34] He made only fifteen league starts throughout the season, in contrast to thirty one starts he made in the previous season while at Everton.[
2014–15
In his first pre-season game of 2014–15, Fellaini came off the substitutes bench to score his first Manchester United goal in injury time, giving the club a 2–1 win over Valencia in Louis van Gaal's first game at Old Trafford as manager.[35]
On 20 October 2014, he scored his first competitive goal for Manchester United in a 2–2 draw in the Premier League against West Bromwich Albion two minutes after coming on as a half time substitute.[36] He was given his first start of the season by Van Gaal in the following match against Chelsea, and helped United earn a point against the league leaders. Fellaini covered 12.17 kilometres in the match, the most by any United player, and made 70 high-intensity runs, more than anyone else on the pitch. During second half stoppage time, he contributed to United's goal when his header was saved by Thibaut Courtois and ultimately rebounded in by Robin van Persie.[37] On 2 December, Fellaini scored his first competitive home goal for Manchester United in a 2–1 defeat of Stoke City.[38]
Fellaini's third goal of the season came in a 2–0 away win at Queens Park Rangers on 17 January 2015.[39] On 15 March 2015, he scored his fourth goal of the season and assisted the second goal for Michael Carrick in a home game against Tottenham in which United won 3–0 and he was voted Man of the Match.[40] On 12 April, he scored the second goal for Manchester United in a 4–2 win in the Manchester derby.[41] On 9 May, he scored the winner, his seventh of the season, for Manchester United in a 2–1 win over Crystal Palace.[42] On 24 May, Fellaini was sent off in Manchester United's final Premier League fixture of the season, a 0–0 draw with Hull City at the KC Stadium, 18 minutes after appearing as a substitute.[43]
2015–16
On August 18, his first match for the club in the 2015–16 season, Fellaini scored the third goal in a 3–1 home victory over Club Brugge in the first leg of the Champions League play-offs.[44] On 25 August 2015, Louis van Gaal stated that Fellaini would feature more as a striker.[45] After struggling to establish himself as a striker in the next few games, he admitted in an interview with Bleacher Report: "When the manager asks me to play somewhere, I play there. But my best position is midfield."[46] Fellaini scored the first goal in a 2–1 win against Everton in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium on 23 April 2016.[47] On 5 May, Fellaini was handed a 3-match suspension by the FA for throwing an elbow at Leicester's Robert Huth. Huth was handed the same punishment for tugging at Fellaini's hair during the altercation.[48] He played the full 120 minutes as Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 2–1 in extra time in the 2016 FA Cup Final.[49]
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