Премьер лигийн гуравдугаар тойрогт Эвертон өөрийн талбайдаа Манчестер Юнайтедтай 2-2-ын харьцаатай тэнцлээ.
Тоглолтын 95-р минутад сэлгээнээс талбайд гарсан Эйнсли Мэйтленд-Найлс хүчирхэг цохилтоор гоол оруулж, багтаа үнэ цэнтэй нэг оноог авчирлаа. Эвертоны дасгалжуулагч Дэвид Мойес багийн бүрэлдэхүүн нимгэн, довтлогчийн сонголт хязгаарлагдмал байгаа хүндхэн нөхцөл байдлыг үл харгалзан тоглогчдын хичээл зүтгэлийг өндрөөр үнэлэв.
Зун солилцооны цонх хаагдахын өмнөхөн багийн бүрэлдэхүүнд нэгдсэн Мэйтленд-Найлс ердөө 4 сая фунт стерлингийн өртөгтэй ирсэн ч эхний тоглолтоосоо чухал хувь нэмэр орууллаа. Баг нь баруун жигүүрийн хамгаалагчийн байрлалд асуудалтай байсан бөгөөд Жеймс Гарнер гэмтлийн улмаас талбайг чөлөөлөх үед тэрээр талбайд гарч, тоглолтын хувь заяаг шийдвэрлэсэн юм.
Манчестер Юнайтед тоглолтын турш Эвертоны 4-1-4-1 системийг ашиглан Маркус Рэшфордоор дамжуулан давуу тал үүсгэж байсан ч талбайн эзэд эцсээ хүртэл тэмцсээр тэнцээг авч чадлаа. Эвертон өнгөрсөн долоо хоногт Борнмуттай хийсэн тоглолтод ч мөн адил нэмэлт цагт гоол оруулж оноо зулгаасан бөгөөд энэ удаагийн үр дүн багийн сэтгэл зүйд эерэг нөлөө үзүүлэхээр байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
They put you through it. My word, they put you through it.
But that is Everton, and they steadfastly refuse to change.
From despair to salvation and then back again, the picture at the end of Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United was of flailing limbs, both on the touchline, as players mobbed late, late equaliser-scorer Ainsley Maitland-Niles, and in the stands.
Members of the club’s in-house commentary team embraced fans in front of them; manager David Moyes punched the air. Supporters stayed behind to serenade a threadbare squad that already seems close to breaking point just three games into their 2026-27 Premier League season.
Everton’s staff and substitutes pour onto the pitch as Maitland-Niles scores (Peter Powell/Getty Images)
Everton defiant, after the sort of chaotic, turbulent week that they do best. Fortunately for Moyes and the club’s hierarchy, this team and their supporters wear defiance well too, because it feels likely they will need to tap into that spirit countless times over the coming months if they are to overcome the obvious challenges in front of them.
There has been so much said and written about their agonising end to the summer transfer window; of the failure to sign adequate full-back cover, player departures and, more pertinently, the late collapse of a move for United States international Folarin Balogun that has left Moyes with just one recognised senior striker.
The irony of this game was that it was the contribution of the signing they did get over the line on Tuesday, Maitland-Niles, which ended up grabbing the headlines. And he may not have even made the pitch had midfielder James Garner not succumbed to cramp minutes after moving to right-back in place of Merlin Rohl.
The clock read 95:10 when the 29-year-old, on as a 77th-minute substitute, made his telling intervention. His effort arrowed, like a missile, into the top corner of the south goal at Hill Dickinson Stadium before ’keeper Senne Lammens could move.
Not bad for someone who scored only six times in 119 appearances for France’s Lyon over the previous three seasons. “Words can’t describe how I feel right now,” Maitland-Niles, seemingly still in disbelief, told the BBC post-match.
“It was a brilliant goal,” Moyes said. “Technique. Everyone will look at how he finished it with the goalkeeper not able to move. We’re still trying to get to know Ainsley — how he trains and how we want to play. It’ll take a wee bit of time.”
See what happens when you sign a right-back, Everton?
Maitland-Niles is mobbed by his new team-mates (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Maitland-Niles was a piece of opportunism in the market, signed for a budget package of around £4million. Everton looked at, and tried for, countless others in trying to address the position, from Crystal Palace wing-back Daniel Munoz, who opted for a reunion with Oliver Glasner at Nottingham Forest, to Fulham duo Timothy Castagne and Kenny Tete.
They were priced out of their pursuit of top target Guela Doue, who joined German side Bayer Leverkusen from Strasbourg of France in a reported €37million move. Late in the window, with the doomed Tete move uncertain, they pivoted to the Arsenal academy graduate as more experienced competition for Rohl, a midfielder still learning the ropes in his new position of full-back.
The impression from their new arrival was instantaneous, and helped Everton to a draw that feels worth far more than a solitary point against a middling United side.
The outpouring of emotion at the end made that clear. It was about resistance and togetherness in the face of the kind of adversity Everton have encountered many times before. Problems of their own making are still problems, after all.
Rohl struggled at right-back against a rejuvenated Marcus Rashford. Vitalii Mykolenko, the solitary left-back in the squad, fared little better, and was partly culpable for Bryan Mbeumo’s opener — a concession described as “shabby” by Moyes.
There is no striking cover on the bench when Thierno Barry is not firing, and summer signing Christian Norgaard is unlikely to feature before the late-September-into-early-October international break. Garner, who spent most of the summer on the sidelines after hernia surgery, is still getting up to speed.
United regularly exploited Everton’s 4-1-4-1 system, sending runners down the side of Garner as the solitary No 6 and freeing Rashford in his mismatch up against Rohl. There were times when they cut through more or less at will.
This is Everton, let us not forget, at relative full strength, with only Norgaard missing.
It is crucial that they keep England international defender Jarrad Branthwaite and even Barry fit now, but an injury crisis of any sort would hit them square in the face.
Thierno Barry is now Everton’s only senior striker (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
The relationship between the fans and the club’s hierarchy, including ownership at The Friedkin Group, has also been frayed due to the way the window ended. Almost inexplicably, Everton are back where they have been before in recent seasons: reliant on a manager, this time Moyes, and the supporters to pull them through.
It was why this game felt so precarious, and why a positive outcome in it was so important.
And yet, Everton were united on Sunday, clinging on by their fingernails like only they know how. Maitland-Niles’ goal felt pivotal; a potentially galvanising moment after a week of hardship. Eight days earlier, it had been captain James Tarkowski rescuing a point in added time at Bournemouth.
Moyes and his team will keep battling.
“(I told them) there would be no excuses, and the players all agreed,” the Scot said. “The players have hugely bought into it. Sometimes when you have less players, it means everybody has to be ready. I wanted to win, but it was a good moment for the crowd. When you are behind, you need the boys to dig in deep. They did amazing to keep running.”
It was put to Moyes afterwards that Everton are often better when faced with difficulty. His answer summed up the club’s predicament right now.
“I would like to say we are pretty good at it (battling adversity), but I don’t want to be in those moments,” he said. “I want a club that is building, ambitious, trying to challenge all the top teams. I want to show all the big teams that we’re competitive.”
Everton were on Sunday. For now, at least, that’s all that matters.
