Manchester United endured another frustrating afternoon in the Premier League as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Everton at Old Trafford.
Anthony Martial put United ahead on 42 minutes before Andros Townsend levelled things up just after the hour mark. In a late twist, Yerry Mina‘s late effort was ruled out for offside as both sides had to settle for a point.
The result increases the pressure on United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who have picked up one point in six and have failed to keep a clean sheet in nine league games — their worst defensive run in 50 years.
Solskjaer sprang a big surprise ahead of the match by dropping Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba to the bench, with Martial starting despite a meagre return of two goals in his past 24 appearances for the club ahead of the game. Rafael Benitez’s Everton, meanwhile, were without Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison through injury, while Alex Iwobi failed a late fitness test.
Ronaldo struck a 95th minute winner, his fifth goal in five matches since returning, against Villarreal in the Champions League in midweek. But he was a high-profile absentee to begin with, as Solskjaer rotated his squad after complaining about the fixture scheduling in the wake of the club’s exploits in Europe.
United suffered a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa last time out in the league but they began brightly here, Martial heading wide and Mason Greenwood flashing across goal in the first 10 minutes. Michael Keane then had a decent chance for the visitors as he headed wide, before Edinson Cavani saw a powerful header saved by Jordan Pickford.
Demarai Gray was the latest to threaten in a lively first half for Everton before United grabbed the lead. Bruno Fernandes slipped the ball to Martial and he made no mistake, flashing a powerful drive into the net.
Martial was replaced by Jadon Sancho and Ronaldo came on for Cavani on 55 minutes but just under 10 minutes later, it was level. Fred was muscled off the ball in the Everton half and the visitors broke, with the ball finding its way to Townsend who smashed it low past David De Gea.
Solskjaer reacted by bringing on Pogba for Fred with 20 minutes to go and Ronaldo then fizzed an effort across goal, before Pogba whipped one over. Mina then slipped the ball home on 85 minutes, only for VAR to rule it out for offside.
United pushed for a winner but failed to find the breakthrough, and a disappointed Ronaldo walked straight down the tunnel at the final whistle as Solskjaer’s side slipped up again.
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