Manchester United was held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by Everton on their own turf on Saturday.
Man United started well and controlled the match in the opening 20 minutes. Edinson Cavani was picked out by Fred and the Uruguayan striker made a thumping header but it was well saved by Jordan Pickford.
The players were involved in an argument in the middle of the first half as Scott McTominay was found guilty of forceful picking up Digne after fouling him. Yerry Mina and other Everton players were then involved in a small tussle with the Scottish midfielder. The Referee warned both the players for their actions.
United had a good amount of possession to their name but was unable to create more chances. Their greatest moment in the first half came just before half-time as Mason Greenwood provided a great pass to Bruno Fernandes and the Portuguese magician then spotted the run of Martial before laying it for the Frenchmen.
Martial then released a shot the first time and it went past Jordan Pickford via a small deflection. Everton was better in counter-attacks and they had their moment in the first half when Demarai’s powerful shot from outside the box was saved wonderfully by David De Gea.
It looked like United will learn from their mistakes in the first half but it didn’t happen.
Martial’s goal was soon cancelled out in the 65th minute when Demarai got the better of Fred twice and then found Doucoure running through acres of space, and the midfielder passed it on to Andros Townsend who strikes it past De Gea and leveled the scores.
The winger then made a Siuuu celebration mocking the United fans.
Solskjaer made some early substitutions in the second half as he brought on Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba. But both the players weren’t able to turn the tide as United.
Everton got another wonderful chance to make it 2-1 when Tom Davies received the ball at the edge of the box and was in clear sight of the goal but instead of shooting it himself, he passed it on to Yerry Mina, who was in an offside position.
Mina did tap it in but the goal was ruled out. The most disappointing thing to notice was that Everton was able to expose United’s defensive frailties while counter-attacking.
Solskjaer will certainly not be pleased with the match and the results and needs to bounce back quickly as United is losing points quicker than any other top four teams in the Premier League right now.
Manager’s words after the match:
Solskjaer was not so happy by United’s defensive woes and being slow in counter-attacks. As reported by the Manchester Evening News, He said:
“The number of goals we’ve conceded in games, we conceded one and that’s one too many. Today, it’s a counter-attack they throw at us, we were well enough organized and should have dealt with the situation a lot better.
“You can drop deeper and allow them to have the ball. Today we had 75 percent possession and we got hit on one break that cost us and we lacked that cutting edge to get the important second goal.”
What’s next:
Manchester United faces Leicester City on the 16th of October at the King Power Stadium.
