Although Man United were fortunate to smuggle a single point from Goodison Park, Coach Ruben Amorim has described his side as “soft” despite fighting back from 2-0 down to salvage a 2-2 draw at Everton on Saturday.
Everton had a merited half-time lead thanks to goals from Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure, and United appeared set to suffer their ninth defeat in 13 Premier League outings.
However, captain Bruno Fernandes rallied the visitors to battle back and prevent another loss for Amorim’s troops.
On 72 minutes, Fernandes curled in a free kick, United’s first shot on goal.
Manuel Ugarte levelled shortly afterwards after another Fernandes set-piece delivery was only partially cleared.
United, though, were fortunate to escape Goodison Park with a point as Everton had a penalty controversially ruled out after a VAR review in stoppage time.
The Red Devils remain down in 15th, but are 13 points clear of the bottom three and should be safe from the embarrassment of relegation.
“The worst part is that we are losing the ball without pressure and we are not doing what we need to do. We were soft”, said Amorim, who has taken just 15 points from a possible 45 since taking charge in November.
“In this moment, we need to focus on day-by-day. We need to survive this season and then we can think ahead.
“I don’t want to just say the negative part. In the second half, we were close to winning this game.”
In contrast to United’s struggles under new management, David Moyes’ return has propelled Everton towards safety.
The Toffees were in a relegation battle when the former United boss returned last month, but they have taken 14 points from the last six games to surge up to 12th.
Moyes was disappointed not to take all three points after a dominant first half but gave credit for the manner in which Fernandes helped turn the tide after the break.
“We should have been probably three up, I think if we’d been three up we wouldn’t be shamed by that at all,” said the Scot.
“To go 2-0 up was great, but 2-0 is always a dangerous position to be in as a manager. Manchester United have got nothing to lose but to come in and have a go.
