Manchester United were held to a dramatic 2-2 draw by Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday, despite taking the lead twice. Michael Carrick named the same starting XI that defeated Ipswich Town 5-2 the previous weekend, with United making a bright start as Bruno Fernandes came close early on, hitting the crossbar.

United continued to create chances throughout the first half, but Everton remained dangerous, and the visitors couldn't find a breakthrough before the interval. The deadlock was finally broken just 53 seconds after the restart when Bryan Mbeumo produced an excellent run before finishing to put United ahead.

The goal opened the game up, with United searching for a second while Everton began committing more players forward. Their pressure eventually paid off when Tyrique George unleashed a powerful strike beyond Senne Lammens with fewer than 10 minutes remaining.

United looked to have secured all three points shortly afterwards. Luke Shaw delivered a superb cross into the box, allowing Benjamin Šeško to finish and restore United's advantage with just minutes left.

However, Everton had the final say. Deep into stoppage time, Ainsley Maitland-Niles produced a stunning strike to rescue a point for the hosts, leaving United frustrated after twice surrendering their lead in an entertaining 2-2 finish.

Manchester United made a great start to the game, with Bruno Fernandes going close with an audacious volley that crashed off the crossbar eight minutes into the game. 

United dominated much of the early proceedings, but allowed Everton to grow into the game as the half went on, as Thierno Barry missed a good headed opportunity towards the end of the opening 45 minutes to give Everton the lead.

It was the same story in the second half, as Mbeumo gave Carrick’s side the lead less than a minute after play got underway with a great low curling effort after cutting in off the right.

From then, United didn’t produce another shot on target until Šeško’s header beat Jordan Pickford in the 88th minute, a worrying statistic for Carrick’s side.

Despite it looking obvious that Manchester United needed left-back reinforcement in the summer, United opted not to sign one, with the club believing they had sufficient depth, with Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui able to play there, while Patrick Dorgu’s main position in the side remains unclear.

One thing that has gone slightly under the radar, however, is the chemistry on the left side of the pitch between Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw, with the pair having played 216 matches together at United, as most of United’s attacking threat came from that side of the pitch.

Rashford, who was United's best player on the pitch, looked very dangerous all game, almost providing a sensational assist to Matheus Cunha after a mazy dribbling run into the box. Shaw, on the other hand, made a couple of vital blocks to keep Everton at bay and was on hand to whip in a fantastic cross to Benjamin Šeško to score what many thought was the winning goal.

When the Premier League fixtures were announced, Manchester United fans were very happy with their start to the new season, with many seeing it as a real chance to build early momentum.

Instead, United now sit in 11th after one loss, one win, and one draw, with the fixtures only getting more congested as the side’s Champions League campaign gets underway on Thursday against Sabah before the Manchester derby just three days later.

While it’s still very much early days in United’s 2026/27 campaign, you can’t help but feel slightly underwhelmed by the side’s start to the new season.

Michael Carrick used all five available substitutions against Everton, making his first changes in the 70th minute, as Šeško replaced Cunha and Patrick Dorgu replaced Rashford. 

The striker substitution was the right one to make, as the Brazilian failed to make any real impact on the game, and the Slovenian went on to score United's second of the game, but the Rashford change left many puzzled, as the 28-year-old was undoubtedly the most dangerous player on the pitch.

While the midfield pairing of Kobbie Mainoo and Youri Tielemans looked solid, the second half made it clear they needed help as Everton started to get more on the front foot.

Carrick didn't make a substitution in the centre of the park until two minutes after Everton's equaliser, taking off Kobbie Mainoo in favour of Andrey Santos, which proved to be too little too late.

While it’s quite worrying that United’s last shot on target before Šeško’s goal was the opening goal of the game in the 46th minute, United do have plenty of different goal-scoring threats across the front line.

Matheus Cunha, while naturally more of a left-winger, deputised as a centre-forward, dropping deeper to link the play, while Rashford, despite not scoring, once again looked extremely dangerous off the left wing, constantly looking to get to the byline and play the ball across goal.

Mbeumo, on the other hand, was always looking to pick the ball up wide, cut in, and create something off his preferred left foot, as seen by the opening goal of the game.

Šeško offers a completely different striker profile from Cunha, with his physicality and stature making him a major aerial threat, as shown by his header after a brilliant Shaw cross to head home United's second.