Calvert-Lewin stuns Manchester United to snatch last-gasp Everton draw

A topsy-turvy contest ended with spoils shared, Manchester United showing to have received it earlier than Everton’s dramatic late equaliser. Dominic Calvert-Lewin bundled house to make it 3-3 in harm time, United having been 2-0 up on the interval. It means Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s facet drop two factors and if leaders Manchester City can win at Liverpool on Sundaytoday they are going to be 5 forward with a sport in hand.

Once extra United’s defence was to blame; all three Everton objectives might have been prevented. The guests’ late strike crystallised what’s a deep-lying fault line within the rearguard. Lucas Digne’s free-kick was not handled by the hapless David de Gea or the equally responsible Harry Maguire, who as captain ought to have taken accountability. Instead the ball was allowed to go to Calvert-Lewin and he scored.

But wherever the blame lay, sadly as soon as once more the night time ended with a United participant being racially abused on social media, this time Axel Tuanzebe, who had given away the free-kick. Greater Manchester police had been already investigating abuse he received, together with Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, after final month’s defeat by Sheffield United.

“We should have been out of sight really,” mentioned Solskjær. “I wouldn’t blame anyone on the goals but we know we could have done better as a team on all of them . The last kick of the ball makes us go home really disappointed, we have lost two points on a long thump upfield which we should have defended. We should have played the last minutes better – we had to get the ball in the corner and see it out. We need to stop conceding easy goals [but] we have got better as a team and we will see where we end up.”

Mason Greenwood was a significant plus for United. The teenager has struggled to emulate final season’s post-lockdown kind however the way in which the ahead carried out all through impressed. One run alongside the suitable that had him skating by way of the Everton rearguard, earlier than letting fly, impressed. This was large but United had been quickly forward with an completed strike: Bruno Fernandes fed Rashford on the suitable and, spying Edinson Cavani’s intelligent motion, landed a cross on the striker’s head. He didn’t miss.

If the Uruguayan’s arrival on a free switch is the cut price of the season, his end had his crew in cruise management. Either they tapped the ball about with Greenwood, Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka to the fore or they hemmed Everton in, squeezing the ball and spirit from them.

Fernandes twice may need been concerned in a second. First a free clearance fell to the playmaker however his effort was blocked. Then a free-kick he fired into Robin Olsen’s close to put up was not anticipated by a teammate. But the half ended with Paul Pogba limping off, Fred changing him.

Solskjær mentioned: “Paul has a muscle injury – his thigh, so we need to give him a scan [on Sunday] – see how serious it is.”

His exit was adopted by a elegant Fernandes end. Collecting the ball 20 yards out to the suitable the Portuguese usual the sweetest of strikes over Olsen and in.

For United the order for the second half was to carry on pushing on. They started this fashion however quickly faltered. A pointy transfer had Cavani discovering the on-rushing Shaw whose on the spot effort was parried away by Olsen.

This might have been the killer intuition Solskjær speaks of his crew requiring to be true title challengers however it was absent when Everton levelled the competition with two fast objectives.

The first was a transfer by which Tom Davies fed Calvert-Lewin who slipped previous a slumbering Maguire. The centre-forward’s ball in was pushed – too weakly – by De Gea into Abdoulaye Doucouré’s ft and he made no mistake. United had barely cleared their senses when Doucouré turned creator. Once extra they had been culpable for slack focus, permitting the midfielder to discover James Rodríguez who beat De Gea with aplomb. The sport was effectively and actually again on.

A involved Solskjær patrolled his technical space as United tried to get better: this was a check of their championship credentials. Could they overlook the setbacks and go as soon as extra? Rashford spurned a close-range likelihood when put in by Cavani in what was a regarding augury.

It proved – seemingly – disingenuous. Because Olsen dedicated a howler akin to De Gea’s. Shaw’s free-kick in was headed by Scott McTominay and although the ball veered from Everton’s goalkeeper he was leaden-footed and United thought they’d secured the winner.

Towards the shut Rashford ought to have secured a fourth – a miss that proved extraordinarily expensive for his crew. Carlo Ancelotti, Everton’s supervisor, mentioned: “I am really proud. The spirit is really good.”