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Rob DawsonCorrespondent
MANCHESTER, England – When referee Jon Moss blew the final whistle on Saturday, Victor Lindelof picked up the ball and tossed it into the empty stands at Old Trafford: The action summed up Manchester United’s night.
Having led 2-0 and then 3-2 with seconds to go, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team managed to draw 3-3 with Everton and give up more ground in the race for the Premier League title.
As players trudged away amid the visitors’ celebrations, it looked a lot like the 4-4 draw with Everton in April 2012 that ended up costing United the league.
It’s too early to tell if this result will have a similar impact, but it’s the kind of game they really have to win if they want to push Manchester City to the limit.
– Report: Man United lead waste twice, draw 3-3 against Everton
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City will be five points clear with one game in hand if they beat injury-ravaged Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday. It shouldn’t have been like this.
At halftime, United were flying after goals from Edinson Cavani and Bruno Fernandes that put it 2-0 up. Everton looked dead and buried, but seven minutes after the restart they were 2-2 when first Abdoulaye Doucoure and then James Rodriguez found the net.
United appeared to have recovered from their wobble when Scott McTominay made it 3-2, but the final 10 minutes were filled with tension and panic until Dominic Calvert-Lewin stabbed into the tie with the final kick of the game.
It was no surprise that Lindelof wanted to kick the ball as far into Stretford as he could. United were a threat up front, and Fernandes’ goal in particular was spectacular, but it was overshadowed by what happened at the other end. For the fourth time in the Premier League era, United led by two goals at halftime and failed to win.
“We played good football in the second half, but we conceded three goals from three shots on target, when you do it is disappointing,” Solskjaer said after the match.
“We reacted well after his two goals, but then why were four minutes added? We had to get the ball into the corner and watch it come out. Bad goals to concede.”
“I don’t blame anybody for the goals, but we know we could have done better as a team in all of them.”
Nine goals against Southampton and another three here mean United are comfortably the Premier League’s top scorer, but goals against the column are becoming increasingly worrisome.
The Calvert-Lewin goal, scored in the fifth minute of injury time, was United’s 30th goal in the league conceded this season, the most of any team in the top half of the table and just one less than Fulham, eight points adrift in relegation places. By contrast, Man City has conceded 13.
Solskjaer is the type of coach who can live with goals if they are something special, but Everton’s three were avoidable. First, David De Gea fumbled with a Calvert-Lewin cross pass to give Doucoure a tap-in, and then the lack of pressure on the ball gave Doucoure the age to select Rodriguez 10 yards from the ball. goal without a red jersey within walking distance.
It is the third goal, however, the worst of all.
United couldn’t deal with Lucas Digne’s long free kick into the box, and when the ball twisted between De Gea and Calvert-Lewin, the Everton striker seemed the only one who wanted to win it.
United had already gotten away with it when Calvert-Lewin pulled Harry Maguire close and Richarlison got a chance to score as Maguire lay on the floor waiting to hear a whistle that would never come. It should have been louder, an indictment that could be leveled at all United defenders during a frenzied finish when they seemed to radiate vulnerability.
Lindelof’s hoof in the air at the end was the only thing they did with conviction, and by then it was too late.
Solskjaer spoke at his pregame press conference on Friday about the need to strengthen certain areas of his squad and it would not be a surprise to see him bring in another center-back in the summer.
Question marks on Lindelof refuse to go away and Eric Bailly is not in shape often enough to be trusted, so Dayot Upamecano at RB Leipzig remains a target. De Gea’s performance will also reignite the debate over whether it’s time for Dean Henderson to make a run on the team.
“We deserved to win the game, but that’s football for you, you have to take your chances and you can’t concede with every shot,” Solskjaer said.
“After 2-2 we played very well, then the last shot of the ball kicks our teeth and we go home disappointed. We have to stop conceding easy goals.”
