Leighton Baines scored a dramatic late
penalty to add to Jose Mourinho’s problems as Manchester United were
held to a 1-1 draw at Everton on Sunday.
Former Everton star Marouane Fellaini
had only been on the field for two minutes as a United substitute when
he tripped Idrissa Gueye unnecessarily and Baines made no mistake with a
clinically-taken 89th minute penalty.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic had produced the only
moment of quality in a disappointing first half, when he gave United
the lead three minutes before the break, although the goal was as much a
result of a mistake by Maarten Stekelenburg.
The Everton goalkeeper rushed out of his
area, for no obvious reason, to try and beat Ibrahimovic to a hopeful
through ball by Anthony Martial.
And Ibrahimovic, a former team mate of
Stekelenburg with Ajax, cleverly lobbed the ball over the keeper and
towards the open goal, the ball bouncing against the crossbar and the
right-hand post before referee Michael Oliver judged it had crossed the
line with the aid of goal-line technology.
United are now 13 points behind leaders Chelsea as their poor run extended to one win in their last eight league games.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman would have
been angered that such an obvious individual error cost his team so
dearly and would also have had cause for complaint over Oliver’s
handling of an earlier appalling challenge from Marcos Rojo.
The United defender launched a flying,
two-footed challenge on Gueye, but Oliver somehow judged it was only
worthy of a yellow, rather than the obvious red it deserved.
Those were the only noteworthy incidents
of the first period as United looked to improve on an indifferent run
of two wins from their previous 10 league games.
Yannick Bolasie took up promising
positions down the right flank but found his crosses dealt with
effectively by the visiting defence, Phil Jones in particular.
Following Rojo’s yellow card, Kevin
Mirallas’s resulting free-kick found Ashley Williams, who headed back
for Tom Cleverley to volley straight up in the air from a promising
position.
– Foothold –
And, as United started to gain a
foothold in the game, Ramiro Funes Mori tripped Henrikh Mkhitaryan on
the edge of the Everton area and Ibrahimovic placed a tame free-kick
directly into the home wall.
Koeman resisted the temptation to make
changes at half-time and was almost rewarded with an early equaliser as
Romelu Lukaku showed his strength to hold up the ball outside the United
area before playing in Mirallas.
The midfielder advanced into the
visitors’ area only to see his shot kept out by the outstretched leg of
goalkeeper David de Gea.
Ander Herrera almost doubled the lead on
the hour after Michael Carrick’s right-wing cross reached him and his
first-time shot struck the Everton crossbar.
Ibrahimovic had been fortunate to escape
a booking when he tangled with Seamus Coleman and caught the defender
in the face as they lay on the pitch, an incident which led to the
Everton man being replaced on 67 minutes.
Koeman brought on youngster Mason
Holgate and, soon, Enner Valencia having already thrown in Gerard
Deulofeu and the triple substitution brought about a marked improvement.
On 75 minutes, Gueye unleashed a powerful shot, from the edge of the area, which de Gea parried and saved at the second attempt.
And minutes later, a free-kick from
Deulofeu caused United major problems as Holgate met it with a stopping
header that forced de Sea into another fine stop.
Fellow substitute Valencia almost came
close to an equaliser as he rose to meet a Holgate cross but headed
directly at de Gea on his goal-line.
And, as Everton’s late rally brought
their equaliser, they might have claimed a stoppage-time winner as
Baines’ fierce shot was well stopped by de Gea at the foot of his post.
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