Manchester United twice led and were twice pegged back as a dramatic afternoon on Merseyside ended 2-2 — the final score sealed by debutant Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who curled a 25-yard effort into the top corner in the 96th minute to deny Michael Carrick's side a first away win of the season.
Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring 61 seconds into the second half, driving infield from the right flank past two Everton defenders before arrowing a left-footed shot beyond Jordan Pickford. The goal broke open a first half that had offered little in the way of clear chances, though Bruno Fernandes had rattled the crossbar with a volley from Mbeumo's knock-down, and Thierno Barry headed over at the other end when well-placed inside the box.
United's lead lasted until the 83rd minute. A well-worked Everton move ended with Hayden Hackney threading the ball to Tyrique George, who manufactured space before smashing an unstoppable effort from a tight angle into the top corner of Senne Lammens' net. The former Chelsea youngster's first goal for the club drew the hosts level at 1-1 and sent the stadium into life.
Benjamin Sesko, introduced from the bench, appeared to have settled the contest in the 88th minute. Luke Shaw surged forward and delivered a clipped cross which the Slovenia international met with a firm header that Pickford could not keep out, restoring United's advantage to 2-1 with time seemingly running out.
Yet the drama was far from finished. In the sixth minute of added time, Maitland-Niles — who had joined Everton from Lyon on transfer deadline day for £4.2 million — collected the ball as it rolled out of the box. The 29-year-old, only 19 minutes into his debut, curled a first-time effort from 25 yards into the top corner to make it 2-2, sparking bedlam inside Hill Dickinson Stadium. It was only the sixth league goal of his career and his first in the Premier League in nearly eight years.
United's frustration was compounded by a difficult afternoon for Diogo Dalot at right-back. The full-back lost eight of his 10 ground duels, was dribbled past twice, conceded three fouls and picked up a yellow card, which ultimately left Carrick with little choice but to withdraw him in the 84th minute for a centre-back. Jack Grealish had been particularly damaging after coming on in the 66th minute, drawing that booking from Dalot and causing persistent problems down that flank.
Carrick told NBC: "There was a lot of good things in the game for us. We played some really good football, were dangerous at times. For the most part we defended well as a team. The longer the game went on there were a few more balls into the box and a few decisions we made it more difficult for us when we should've seen it out really. We're disappointed we didn't come away with a win." Asked to be more specific about those errors, he replied: "I'll keep them to myself a little bit but we should've seen the game out really so we're disappointed with that."
Maitland-Niles told Sky Sports the point felt like a win, adding that the ball fell to him on the edge of the box and he simply put his foot through it to send it into the top corner. Everton boss David Moyes said he felt his side deserved at least a point, praising George as being close to man of the match. The result leaves United with four points from their opening three Premier League fixtures, sitting 11th, while Everton remain unbeaten to start the campaign.
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