Man Utd blow lead twice against Everton

LONDON: Manchester United missed out on a share of top spot in the Premier League after twice throwing away leads in a 3-3 draw with Everton on Saturday.

United looked set to move level on points with leaders Manchester City until Dominic Calvert-Lewin snatched a point for Everton in the 95th minute at Old Trafford.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men continued their goalscoring form from a 9-0 thrashing of Southampton in midweek as Edinson Cavani’s header and a sumptuous lob from Bruno Fernandes gave them a 2-0 halftime lead.

But the defensive problems that have blighted United’s chances of a first league title in eight years were exploited by Carlo Ancelotti’s men after halftime.

“Going forward we were very good, but we need to stop conceding easy goals,” said Solskjaer, who claimed expectations of a title challenge were asking too much of a side that finished 33 points behind champions Liverpool last season.

“We’re not talking about winning titles,” added the Norwegian. “This team has come a long way.”

Two goals in seven minutes from Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Rodriguez early in the second-half brought Everton level.

Scott McTominay’s header restored the Red Devils’ lead 20 minutes from time, but they could not hold on as Calvert-Lewin slotted home after a hopeful free-kick into the box with virtually the last kick of the game.

A point aids Everton’s bid for Champions League qualification as they close to within three points of fourthplaced Liverpool, who host City on Sunday.

West Ham remain fifth, but did little to aid their chances of a top-four finish with a 0-0 draw at struggling Fulham.

Scott Parker’s Fulham are still without a win in 12 games, but could easily have shaded a game of few clear-cut chances when Ademola Lookman’s freekick flew just wide.

However, the result was overshadowed by a controversial refereeing decision by Mike Dean deep into stoppage time when West Ham’s Tomas Soucek was sentoff after a VAR review for an unintentional clash with Aleksandar Mitrovic.

“I’m actually quite embarrassed for Mike that he would have made that decision,” said West Ham boss David Moyes.

Fulham are still eight points adrift of safety after Burnley came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Brighton.

Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s equaliser made amends for an earlier mistake when he let Lewis Dunk’s header squeeze past him on the line for Brighton’s opener.

A six-game unbeaten run has allowed Brighton to open up a 10-point gap on the bottom three.