In what ended up being a thrilling climax to the game on Sunday afternoon, Manchester United walked away from Goodison Park with a precious point.
The Red Devils looked as though they had lost it in the dying moments, but had VAR to thank for avoiding defeat. But whilst the technology may have had a huge helping hand in ensuring Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s left their match against Everton with a point, the Manchester side should really be bowing down to one man in particular: Harry Maguire.
Whilst Bruno Fernandes scored the equalising goal, and was a constant menace (he had six total shots and completed 100% of his dribbles), it was Maguire who made sure United weren’t blown away like they were last season.
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The two sides’ previous encounter on Merseyside saw United get hammered 4-0, with Solskjaer admitting after the match that the performance wasn’t worthy of a Red Devils side, apologising to the fans. But on Sunday, Maguire’s monstrous display at the back made certain there was going to be no repeat of that debacle.
As per Sofascore, he registered a quite ridiculous 15 clearances (two more than the rest of his entire team combined), two interceptions and one block. And that’s not to mention his total of five aerial duels won – including a couple of strong defensive headers when Everton were beginning to turn up the pressure with a series of corners in the latter stages of the game.
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Ultimately, the former Leicester centre-back’s ability to marshal the back-line and lead by example is what gave United their solitary point. Had he not been on top-form, then it may be a fair suggestion that Solskjaer’s men would have been heading back to Old Trafford with a defeat to their name.
Instead, Maguire’s imperious performance held things together, even when his goalkeeper was making rookie mistakes like the one for Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal. So whilst Fernandes may once again grab the head-lines for his long-range effort, perhaps United should really be thanking their club captain for their result at the weekend.
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