A few days after beating Southampton 9-0, Manchester United missed a glorious opportunity to pick up another three points to move back into a tie with Manchester City for the top spot in the Premier League.
With the Red Devils taking a big 2-0 lead into half-time, many United fans were expecting another big result, but what they got was a disastrous second-half performance. Everton stormed back with goals from Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Rodriguez to equalise things not too long after the break.
Scott McTominay scored his second goal in as many games with 20 minutes left and Solskjaer’s side was once again in the driver’s seat. But with the game seemingly over with 95 minutes on the clock, United’s defensive issues reared its head once again as Dominic Calvert-Lewin was able to break free relatively easily to make it 3-3.
Here are three takeaways from the draw with Everton:
Edinson Cavani once again proving his worth
When Manchester United announced they had signed Cavani, most people assumed they had brought him in to be a substitute behind Anthony Martial. Most of those people would have been right at start of the season, but all the Uruguayan has done this season is score and provide the club with a consistent presence in the final third of the pitch.
Cavani has now seemingly supplanted Martial in the starting line up and has provided United with the boost they’ve needed to get back into the title race and compete for the Premier League. With 7 goals and 2 assists in all competitions this season, he looks the more lethal striker.
Solskjaer will be smart to keep using Cavani if he wants to stay in the title race unless Martial can start playing like he did last season.
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Set pieces remain Manchester United’s Achilles heel
Once again United was outdone on a set piece, the same old problem for the Red Devils, who have struggled with set pieces all season long.
With the game seemingly in the bag, just a clearance was needed to end the game. But they allowed Calvert-Lewin to come down with the ball and make it 3-3 in the dying second of the game.
If United are to win the title this season, they need to fix their set piece issues or it will undo them whenever the going gets tough.
David de Gea commits another mistake
De Gea might be one of the best goalkeepers in the world on his day but committing mistakes has become more and more of a regular occurrence for the Spaniard.
Once again, De Gea committed an error that allowed Everton back into the game. When Calvert-Lewin broke free on goal, he let a weak shot with the outside of his boot from a bad angle and instead of the Spaniard grabbing the ball he parried it back into the path of Doucoure, who made no mistake and deposited it into the back of the net.
United and De Gea will need to be more consistent if they wish to stay in this title race because it seems Manchester City are ready to turn on the jets and run away with the Premier League.