Ole a celly boy as his gamble on Ronny fails
Andros shows what he missed in sub snub
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saw a trademark Cristiano Ronaldo goal celebration – but not from the legend he’d listed as a sub.
The under-fire Old Trafford gaffer could only watch in horror as Andros Townsend rounded off a blistering Toffees counterattack by firing the leveller.
The Everton winger rubbed salt in the wounds by performing Ronaldo’s jumping, armssplayed pirouette to celebrate his strike and crank up the heat on Solksjaer.
That saw another two points slip away for United, whose next four fixtures see them travel to Leicester, host Liverpool, head for Spurs, then face rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford.
It was the decision to bench midweek Champions League hero Ronaldo which had the fans most on edge but Solksjaer remained defiant.
The Norwegian insisted: “Cristiano’s not a young puppy.
“I have no regrets, we make decisions based on a long season.
“The decision was the correct one. Anthony Martial did well. Edinson Cavani needed minutes and got an hour. We have to make those decisions.”
It had all looked to be working out for Solskjaer when Martial fired United in front two minutes from the break.
The striker fired first time past Jordan Pickford from an angle inside the box after a lovely lay off by Bruno Fernandes.
Yet the warning signs had been there for United in the first half.
Salomon Rondon and Abdoulaye Doucoure had both seen shots blocked and David de Gea produced a superb one-handed save to deny Demarai Gray.
But it was Gray who had the last laugh in the 65th minute when he shrugged off Fred and Aaron Wan-Bissaka as Everton countered from a United corner, with Townsend driving a low shot into the corner from Doucoure’s lay-off.
Ronaldo had been on the field for eight minutes by then but had little influence on the match.
Everton even thought they had a winner four minutes from time but VAR intervened to rule out Yerry Mina’s tap-in for offside when Tom Davies should have gone for goal himself.
Toffees goal hero Townsend was quick to deny he was at the wind-up with his celebration.
He said: “I was not imitating, it’s just a mark of respect to a guy who influenced my career.
“I spent many hours on the training pitch and in the video room trying to analyse his freekicks and his step-overs.
“So it was a mark of respect to one of my idols. I probably didn’t do the celebration justice and didn’t execute it properly.”
Everton boss Rafa Benitez admitted he was wary of the changes Solskjaer could make off the bench with Ronaldo, Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho all being introduced in the second half.
He said: “We played a very good team and we have done well, it’s not easy to get a result at Old Trafford.
“The fans will be pleased with the team spirit, we’re doing well.
“But I was a little bit worried as the game went on because they had players on the bench who could make a difference.”