The good news for Ole Gunnar Solskjær is that Manchester United did not throw in the towel here as they did in losing 4-0 last season.
Even after making a comically inept start and gifting Everton an opening goal inside three minutes, they kept their cool and kept going.
The even better news for the United manager is that the questions about Paul Pogba’s absence have suddenly gone away. Since the arrival of Bruno Fernandes the United midfield is once more a fully functioning unit.
United have not lost a game since Fernandes joined, the Portugal midfielder looking the part from day one and impressing everyone at the club with his fitness and willingness to take responsibility. For all the drama of Everton being denied a stoppage‑time winner, the visitors will be a little disappointed to leave Goodison with only a point.
It could be said Everton created the clearer chances, though in the middle of the pitch United were superior. To say Fernandes has formed an instant relationship with Fred would be an understatement, the pair are practically a double act already. They stand together to decide what to do with free-kicks, pick each other out effortlessly in open play and are constantly running off each other to keep the game moving.
One move after an hour was typical, with Fred finding Fernandes on halfway for a dummy that allowed Mason Greenwood a free run at goal. That was one of the occasions when United might have finished more decisively, and there were a couple more before the end.
Both involved Fernandes, first seeing a cross intended for Odion Ighalo expertly cut out by Leighton Baines, then being frustrated along with Ighalo by a tremendous double save from Jordan Pickford.
With Nemanja Matic back to his best as a defensive screen in front of the back four United had a midfield platform that ought to have been enough to set up a victory, even if they could have done with more natural width than Scott McTominay was able to provide.
In the end they were let down by anonymous performances from Anthony Martial and Greenwood up front, and it was no surprise that their equaliser came from midfield or that it was Fernandes who scored it.
When Everton managed to lose the ball in their own half Matic lost no time in finding Fernandes, who finished confidently with a swerving shot from just outside the penalty area.
United might have had to wait until the end of the transfer window to bring over their big January signing, but there is no doubt that Fernandes was worth waiting for.
At times he was further forward than any other United attacking player, at times he was back on his goalline helping out his defence. The only criticism that could be offered is that once or twice he went for goal from optimistic distances when passing to a colleague would have been a better option, though perhaps he was reluctant to share the ball with United’s anaemic strike force.
Fernandes has already transformed his new team into a far more urgent proposition and Solskjær must wish he had arrived earlier. “I can’t look at it like that, I’m just happy he’s here now,” the United manager said. “Having seen him play though I can fully understand why Sporting wanted to keep hold of him for as long as they could.”
If Pickford felt he could have done better with Fernandes’s shot he more than redeemed himself in the second half, as in fact did David de Gea, who made a terrific save from Gylfi Sigurdsson seconds before the Harry Maguire deflection of a Dominic Calvert-Lewin shot plunged the conclusion of the game into heated controversy.
As Carlo Ancelotti conceded when everything had calmed down a little, the referee had a very difficult decision to make. Or rather he did not, because effectively what he did was wait for VAR to issue a ruling. The verdict was always going to please one side and not the other, and though it was Everton who were left incensed, United would have been equally aggrieved had the goal stood.
The only conclusion to be drawn, really, is that when you are clearly in an offside position it is not a good idea to sit on the floor and wait to see what happens.
The Guardian Sport
