Two leads, one point—and an early warning for United

United twice took the lead at Hill Dickinson Stadium through Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Šeško, only to be pulled back both times. Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ 96th-minute equaliser made it 2–2 and ensured Michael Carrick’s side could not turn a promising attacking display into a second league win of the season.

How it played out

The first minute saw Harry Maguire go down after a clash of heads. With the United man requiring treatment on the pitch and blood visible around his nose, many supporters will have wondered whether United’s luck on the injury front was already beginning to run out. Thankfully, Maguire got to his feet and, after a few deep breaths and the obligatory minute on the touchline, returned to the action. He appeared to get over what looked potentially nasty relatively quickly.

The first half started well, with some nice passages of play and a willingness to run at Everton’s defence. Bruno Fernandes hit the crossbar with a slightly awkward side-footed volley from the middle of the 18-yard box after an overlapping Luke Shaw cross from the byline was headed back by Mbeumo. Cunha also saw his shot fly high into the Everton crowd after another byline cross, this time from Marcus Rashford, initially towards a closely shepherded Diogo Dalot. The full-back was unable to make contact as the ball continued to the feet of United’s number 10.

Everton had a good opportunity to go ahead from a Merlin Röhl cross from out wide, but Thierno Barry’s effort flew just above the United crossbar. The first half then seemed to slow in pace, with both teams going in at half-time level after a period of spirited defending from the likes of James Tarkowski.

United came out for the second half on the front foot after the manager’s half-time team talk, and Bryan Mbeumo scored in the 47th minute to make it 1–0. He showed his ability to drive towards the box from the wide right, taking the ball past two or three Everton players before striking with considerable pace across Jordan Pickford’s goal and into the bottom-left corner, beyond the Everton goalkeeper’s reach.

Everton seemed to wake up after the goal and showed that they, too, could attack and force their opposition into retreat with good spells of pressure. There were moments, however, when United showed they wanted to keep the momentum in their favour. Rashford looked lively and nearly set up Matheus Cunha with a backheel after some nice close control into the six-yard box, but he was unable to find space for a shot himself.

Everton remained robust in defence and were then able to return to United’s area. Hayden Hackney laid the ball off to Tyrique George, who scored their first equaliser with a thumping right-footed shot that gave Senne Lammens little time to react as it flew between him and the near post.

Both teams made use of their substitutes. Everton saw Jack Grealish return in an Everton shirt around the 65th-minute mark, while Hayden Hackney and Ainsley Maitland-Niles were given the final 15 minutes of normal time to help their team. United made five changes to Everton’s three. Patrick Dorgu and Benjamin Šeško came on for Marcus Rashford and Matheus Cunha around the 70th minute as United sought other ways to create chances.

They were eventually rewarded with what felt like the winner in the 88th minute, when Bruno Fernandes played through another overlapping Luke Shaw run. Shaw’s byline cross cleared the Everton defence, allowing Benjamin Šeško to head down from close range past Pickford.

Both teams received three yellow cards during the game, a testament to how hard-fought and frustrating the contest was. Another example came in the sixth minute of injury time, when United seemed to lose their focus. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall fed Hayden Hackney on the edge of a heavily manned and congested United 18-yard box. The Reds managed to scramble the ball clear only as far as Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who had plenty of space outside the box and scored a sumptuous right-footed goal high into the top-left corner.

The game ended 2–2, but one team felt as though it had lost two points while the other felt it had earned one. I’ll leave you to work out which was which.

What comes next?

United welcome Sabah to Old Trafford in the Champions League on Thursday before hosting the Manchester derby next weekend, as the fixtures start to come thick and fast. United will only continue to feel busier in the run-up to Christmas.

That gives Carrick little time to dwell on Everton. The performance contained encouragement, but the message is simple: the team now needs to learn how to finish matches when it is ahead.