Everton 3-3 Manchester United
Two goals in a minute in stoppage time at the end of the second half earned a remarkable draw for Everton at home to Manchester United on Saturday afternoon.
Late goals from Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta earned the Toffees a draw against Sir Alex Ferguson’s side after it had looked that United would cruise to victory when Dimitar Berbatov put United 3-1 ahead in the 66th minute.
Before kick-off, Sir Alex Ferguson decided to omit Wayne Rooney from his squad because of the abuse he was likely to face from the supporters of his former club following recent revelations about Rooney’s private life.
Everton were the better side in the opening stages and went ahead in the 39th minute after Leon Osman supplied Steven Pienaar, who slipped the ball under Edwin van der Sar and into the net.
It didn’t take long for the visitors to equalise, however. In the 43rd minute, Nani swung over a beautiful cross from the right wing which Darren Fletcher slotted in on the volley to level the scores.
United took the lead two minutes after half-time; Nani was the provider once more, crossing for Nemanja Vidic, whose powerful header crashed into the ground and into the roof of the net.
Dimitar Berbatov looked to made the game safe in the 66th minute with the best goal of the day. The Bulgarian controlled an exquisite Paul Scholes pass on the right wing, took one touch and beat Tim Howard with a super effort with the outside of his right boot.
To their credit, Everton never gave up the ghost and were rewarded for their efforts when Tim Cahill headed home Leighton Baines’ left-wing cross a minute into injury time to score what looked like a consolation goal for his side.
Mikel Arteta had other ideas, however, getting on the end of a Cahill knock down a minute later to smash the ball past Van der Sar and seal a point for the hosts after a sensational encounter at Goodison Park.
