AN EVENTFUL afternoon on Merseyside saw Everton and Manchester United pick up a point each, after goals in the first half meant that neither gained a real advantage in the race for European qualification.

United sit in fifth — but they are far from sitting comfortably after today — while Everton could really have done with a win to help them gain ground on their rivals.

The Toffees thought that they had won the game late on when Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s effort deflected in off Harry Maguire, wrong-footing David de Gea. But Gylfi Sigurdsson was sat in an offside position in front of the goalkeeper and the effort was disallowed as a result.

Both keepers will be disappointed in the part they played in the goals. A De Gea error led to Calvert-Lewin’s opener and, from the Everton striker’s point of view, it was more of a block than a shot.

Meanwhile Jordan Pickford has been far from convincing for Everton this season and questions could be asked of the England goalkeeper on the United equaliser.

Djibril Sidibe’s wayward pass fell to Nemanja Matic who fed Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese took a pot shot from distance, as is his wont, and the fade on the strike was enough to see it go through Pickford.

Tensions boiled over when a strong tackle by Maguire on Richarlison upset some of the Everton players and many in the crowd. 

Luke Shaw was the next player in red to touch the ball and Calvert-Lewin released his team’s collective anger with a lunging tackle which deserved a yellow card. It was enough for the VAR to double-check for a possible red, but a booking sufficed.

A skirmish followed involving Shaw and Tom Davies who had arrived late and added something extra while the left-back was on the ground.

Nemanja Matic waded in like a bouncer to deal with the situation before Duncan Ferguson wandered over to stop Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti becoming too involved.

Yellow cards were issued to Shaw and Davies, but the game remained at boiling point.

Both goalkeepers were in the thick of the action again in the second half, this time making positive contributions. Pickford made a brilliant double save from Fernandes and Odion Ighalo and De Gea saved well from Sigurdsson in the move shortly before the offside incident.

United seemed more pleased with the draw than Everton and Ancelotti was shown a red card for his protests against the disallowed goal at the end. When asked if he had been sent off before, he joked: “It was not the first time, and it probably will not be the last!”

Both teams have work to do if they are to qualify for Europe next season, but Solskjaer credited his team’s fighting spirit.

“You’ve got to keep your cool and try to keep composed,” said the Norwegian. 

“You probably won’t see me up and down [the touchline] anyway, but I thought it was a good game like English football should be: tackles, challenges, argy-bargy and drama at the end.”