Manchester United were dealt a sucker punch by Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin during the dying seconds of Saturday evening’s Premier League clash at Old Trafford.The England international notched his 12th league goal of the campaign with a close-range finish past David de Gea to earn his side a precious point at the end of an entertaining 3-3 draw.It was a hugely frustrating moment for everyone associated with Man Utd, who went 2-0 and then 3-2 up over the course of the evening.Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were cruising at half-time thanks to goals from Edinson Cavani and Bruno Fernandes.Cavani broke the deadlock from a superb Marcus Rashford cross, while Fernandes’ world-class effort from the edge of the box will be remembered for years to come.However, two goals in the space of three minutes suddenly put the Toffees back on levels terms.Abdoulaye Doucoure capitalised on some poor De Gea goalkeeping to reduce the deficit to one goal before James Rodriguez buried home from inside the box shortly afterwards.
Scott McTominay restored United’s one-goal advantage with a header in the 70th minute, but Calvert-Lewin ensured the visitors had the last laugh at the death.
United fans on social media were frustrated with the performance of De Gea, in particular.
The Spaniard, who was arguably the world’s best goalkeeper several years ago but has been largely inconsistent since 2018, conceded all three of the shots he faced against Everton.
He was undoubtedly at fault for Doucoure’s goal. Calvert-Lewin’s tame cross was parried straight into the French midfielder’s path.
He could do little about the second goal. Give James that time and space on his left foot and he will punish you.
As for the third goal, United fans were split over whether this was Harry Maguire’s fault or De Gea’s.
Maguire appeared to play Everton’s players onside from a free-kick but De Gea, who is currently valued by Transfermarkt to be worth £22.5 million, reacted far too slowly when the ball dropped to Calvert-Lewin.
“You want your goalkeeper to come out and eat the striker,” former United captain Gary Neville, speaking on Sky Sports, said after the match.
“It wasn’t a great night for the goalkeeper,” he added.
Meanwhile, Squawka revealed after the final whistle that De Gea now has the second-worst save percentage (60.9%) of any Premier League goalkeeper to have made 15+ appearances this season.
Only Wolves’ Rui Patricio (59.7%) has a worse save percentage at the time of writing.
That’s a pretty shocking statistic.
De Gea used to be such an extraordinary shot-stopper - perhaps the best in the world for a period, many would have argued - but, for one reason or another, his stats in that department have dipped dramatically in recent times.
And it seems quite a few United fans are losing patience with the 30-year-old…
Is it now time for Solskjaer to give Dean Henderson a run of games?