IT was a case of the good, the bad and the ugly at Goodison Park.
The good was Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s classy lob that gave Manchester United the lead against Everton.
The bad was Maroune Fellaini’s lazy late challenge that gifted his former side a penalty and a point when Leighton Baines lashed home.
And the ugly was Marcos Rojo’s horror challenge on Idrissa Gueye that should have brought a red card for the Argentina defender.
If Rojo’s two-footed air-borne lunge had been properly punished by referee Michael Oliver then this might have been a much different game.
But in the end it was two much-needed points chucked away by Jose Mourinho’s men.
The United boss has been going on about bad luck causing their worst start to a league season since 1990.
Yet they were lucky not to have Rojo red-carded and can blame nobody but Fellaini for his foolishness as this shoot-out ended level.
The Manchester United boss appears to have some tax issues but needs some relief in his job as the pressure continues to mount.
Everton will be happy with a point in the end and they remain unbeaten at Goodison Park this season but this was a short-term gain amid long-term problems.
This was a game of low quality and explains why neither of these sides will be challenging for top honours come May despite over £200m spent between them in the summer.
Rojo was lucky not to be sent off in the 17th minute when he crashed into Gueye who was as Everton man as fortunate not to be seriously injured as the Argentina defender was to stay on the pitch.
Everton’s only chance of the half came when Romelu Lukaku slotted in Yannick Bolasie but his cross-shot flashed across the face of the goal.
There was little tempo in the game, especially after seeing the all-action clashes elsewhere in the Premier League involving Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham.
It needed something special or bizarre to spark it into life and it got both two minutes before the break.
Anthony Martial played a ball up to Ibrahimovic, who turned Ramiro Funes Mori easily, but the Swede must have been delighted to have seen Everton keeper Maarten Stekelenburg running at him 40 yards out from goal.
The United talisman cleverly swung his right foot at the ball and beat the Dutchman.
The ball bounced up onto the bar, hit the post and spun back into the net before Funes Mori could hack it away as the referee’s watch flashed to show the goal-line technology had done its job.
Ibrahimovic should have seen red soon after the break though after a seemingly innocuous collision with Seamus Coleman.
But on closer inspection, he clearly caught the Irishman in the head with his boot as they untangled from each other.
Unlike Rojo, who was booked, Ibrahimovic may be later punished by the disciplinary committee if they decide to review the incident.
David De Gea kept Mourinho’s side ahead with a decent stop from Kevin Mirallas before Ander Herrera cracked the bar at the other end.
Everton were piling on the pressure with substitute Enner Valenica and Gueye going close.
Then Mourinho brought on Fellaini with five minutes to go in a bid to shore it up, but the clumsy mop-haired midfielder only messed it up.
He stuck out a leg and down went Gueye in the area before Baines arrowed the penalty into the bottom corner in the 89th minute.
Everton were rewarded for fighting back after the break while United headed back across the M62 feeling hard done by when, in truth, they threw this away.
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