Zlatan Ibrahimovic rescued an injury-time draw for Manchester United against Everton as Jose Mourinho’s side once again failed to win in the league at Old Trafford.
The Swede’s 94th-minute penalty was awarded after Luke Shaw’s goal-bound shot was handled on the line by visiting defender Ashley Williams, who was given a red card.
The point means United extend their unbeaten run to 20 games, but have now drawn nine times at home in the league and 12 overall, while opponents Everton missed the chance to leapfrog them in the table.
Everton’s opener came through Phil Jagielka’s clever, flicked finish from close range when he had his back to goal.
In response to going behind, Ander Herrera struck the crossbar after Joel Robles parried Daley Blind’s free-kick and the United midfielder also forced Toffees goalkeeper Robles into a full-stretch save.
Paul Pogba came on for the second half and headed against the bar from Ashley Young’s free-kick, while Ibrahimovic had a goal disallowed for offside in a disjointed United performance.
United were staring at defeat for the first time since their 4-0 drubbing against Chelsea in October before Ibrahimovic’s coolly taken penalty which sent Robles the wrong way.
The striker said before kick-off that he and the club are “still in talks” about signing a new deal for next season and they are indebted to the Swede for his 27 goals this term, many of which have been on important occasions.
It was a huge let-off for the hosts, who had 61.5% possession and 18 shots, but only three on target, showing their obvious weakness in front of goal.
Much of United’s play was in front of the Everton backline – often sideways and ponderous – without displaying any real strategy to breakdown the opposition.
Previous boss Louis van Gaal’s slow style of play was criticised by the supporters, but United’s last two performances have been a throwback to those days.
In fact, after 29 games in his first season, Van Gaal claimed 56 points and were fourth in the league, while Mourinho has two fewer points and are a place further back.
n an attempt to get back into the contest, world record signing Pogba replaced left-back Daley Blind at half time.
A reshuffle to the side meant Herrera dropped to Blind’s previous position, allowing Pogba to take up his role in the middle of the park.
But less than five minutes later, Herrera swapped positions with Young to go to the right-back spot.
All this took place with full-backs Matteo Darmian and Luke Shaw – whose commitment has been questioned by the manager – sitting on the bench.
Shaw did come on just after the hour mark but only after an injury to Young, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan – dropped as Mourinho was “not happy” with his performance in the previous match against West Brom – replaced Michael Carrick.
The confusion from his players and the muddled changes from boss Mourinho showed the apparent mistrust he holds towards his squad as they struggle to find cohesion and incisiveness.
A busy April for United has started with two draws, with five further league and two Europa League games to play.
Source: BBC SPORTS