A rousing fightback does not camouflage the extent to which Ruben Amorim and Manchester United were reprieved at Goodison Park. The visitors recovered from two goals down to salvage a point against in-form Everton, but only after a penalty awarded to David Moyes’ team was controversially overturned in the 96th minute.

Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte, the latter with his first United goal, appeared to have rescued Amorim’s team from a dire first-half performance in which Beto and Abdoulaye Doucouré gave Everton a merited lead. Moyes’ side were comfortable until Fernandes converted a free-kick in the 72nd minute but were given the chance to regain the lead in stoppage time. After André Onana had saved from Idrissa Gueye, Ashley Young appeared to be impeded by both Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire before he could reach the rebound. Referee Andrew Madley immediately awarded a spot-kick but overturned his decision after being sent to the pitchside monitor by VAR. It was a huge and debatable let-off for United.

Everton v Manchester United: Premier League updates – live

Everton paid the price for allowing Amorim’s team to gain a foothold in a game that should have been beyond them. United were desperately poor before the interval, showing no attacking intent, no ideas, no energy, no spirit and little defensive cohesion. The central midfield pairing of Casemiro and Ugarte were comfortably outplayed by opposite numbers Gueye and James Garner, a former United academy graduate, and Everton dictated proceedings as a result. Beto headed the game’s first opportunity at Onana after Diogo Dalot and Casemiro had made a mess of attempted clearances. The same lack of conviction led to Everton’s breakthrough.

It came from a Jack Harrison corner, won from a surging run by Doucouré. United had five attempts to head clear and never succeeded. Doucouré headed back into the mix and the ball dropped to Beto, who steered his finish into the ground and through Onana’s guard from close range. The VAR took over three minutes to check possible offsides against Beto and Jesper Lindstrøm, and whether the Denmark winger had touched Doucouré’s header onto the goalscorer, before allowing the goal to stand. It was Beto’s fifth goal in four games, as many as United’s Rasmus Højlund and Joshua Zirkzee have scored all season. The unexpected goal machine became the first Everton player to score in four successive Premier League games since Richarlison.

Ashley Young (centre) argues with referee Andrew Madley at full time after the late penalty controversy. Photograph: James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images

United’s defending reflected badly on Amorim’s set-piece coach Carlos Fernandes, again. Everton’s second goal reflected badly on the entire United set-up, but demonstrated the superior quality and work rate that Moyes’ team brought into the game. Jake O’Brien, an accomplished figure at right back, easily cut out a rare United attack and found Doucouré deep inside his own half. Lindstrøm carved open the visitors with a fine ball to Beto, who squared to Harrison in front of goal. The winger stepped inside Maguire and, though his shot was pushed skywards by Onana, Doucouré reacted quicker than the statuesque England international to head home from two yards out. An excellent Everton move but still a dreadful goal to concede.

United’s xG was a pitiful 0.04 for a first half in which a Ugarte shot that drifted harmlessly wide and a Zirkzee header, also off target, were the sum total of their attacking endeavours. From such a base level the only way was up. Amorim’s team played the second half with an urgency and positively that had been sorely lacking previously, though not the quality to seriously threaten a recovery.

skip past newsletter promotion

Sign up to Football Daily

Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

after newsletter promotion

Quick Guide

Show

• Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for ‘The Guardian’.
• If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
• In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
• Turn on sport notifications.

Thank you for your feedback.

That changed the moment Fernandes reduced the arrears with 18 minutes of normal time remaining. The United captain struck his first free-kick into the Everton wall after Gueye was penalised for a foul on substitute Alejandro Garnacho. Madley spotted it had struck Doucouré’s raised arm. Fernandes made no mistake with the second, closer attempt, curling the free-kick into Jordan Pickford’s left hand corner with the Everton goalkeeper rooted to the spot.

Goodison was suddenly, unnecessarily, consumed by nerves every time United took possession. The fear of throwing away a comfortable lead was justified, however, eight minutes later when the visitors scored from another set piece. A Fernandes free-kick was again the source, this time floated in from deep for Beto to head clear but only as far as Ugarte. The midfielder had time on the edge of the penalty area to control with his chest and steer his first United goal beyond Pickford from 18 yards. Pickford saved superbly to deny Fernandes in the final minute before United were saved themselves by VAR and Madley.