Everton 3 Manchester United 3: Never-say-die Toffees storm back in injury time

Everton scored twice in stoppage time to snatch a dramatic 3-3 draw at home to Manchester United, who left Wayne Rooney out of their squad after a week of allegations about his private life.Rooney did not even travel to Goodison Park as manager Sir Alex Ferguson, on the occasion of his 700th Premier League match, claimed he wanted to protect the 24-year-old from abuse from the fans with whom he used to be a favourite.The disruption appeared to affect his team-mates early on as they fell behind to a Steven Pienaar goal but Darren Fletcher, Nemanja Vidic and Dimitar Berbatov put United well ahead before the Toffees' stunning late comeback through Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta.Ferguson has overseen plenty of player controversies during his lengthy tenure at Old Trafford, dealing with the likes of David Beckham's celebrity lifestyle and Roy Keane's unique brand of criticism. Boys' own stuff: Mikel Arteta lets fly deep into injury time to fire Everton level However, leaving out a player to protect him from opposition fans is unprecedented and surely unlikely to be repeated.Whether it affected the overallresult is open to debate but when the England international nextappears, likely to be in Tuesday's Champions League clash againstRangers he will get nothing less than a rousing Old Trafford reception.Rooney's absence seemed to affectUnited more than they expected as, for the first 15 minutes, they foundthemselves under constant pressure.Arteta's sixth-minute free-kick wastipped over by Edwin van der Sar, although referee Martin Atkinson didnot spot the goalkeeper's touch.The Spaniard had another shotdeflected behind by Jonny Evans, Pienaar saw his shot from theSpaniard's corner blocked and Leon Osman blazed over all in the samepassage of play. Star man: Dimitar Berbatov shone in the absense of Wayne Rooney, scoring a fine third thanks to a sublime ball from Paul Scholes Ferguson was less than happy and was soon prowling his technical area barking orders at the players.John O'Shea's response was ablistering drive from the left angle of the penalty area which grazedthe outside of Tim Howard's left-hand post.Everton's pressure, albeit slightlyless intense, continued while Nani was off the field having a cut liptended with Cahill, Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines all failed totrouble the goalkeeper with half-chances.There was always the danger theirfailure to capitalise on possession would leave the way open for Unitedto nick a goal and they almost did in the 34th minute. Towering: Nemanja Vidic connects with Nani's cross to give United the leadTony Hibbert's foul on Ryan Giggs,despite winning the ball, saw Nani roll the free-kick to Paul Scholesand his powerful drive took a big deflection off Cahill but Howard,diving in the opposite direction, somehow diverted the ball over withhis foot.Four minutes later the American goalkeeper stuck up a hand to palm away Giggs' close-range shot after United counter-attacked.But the visitors were caught coldthemselves when Patrice Evra missed an ambitious overhead-kickclearance to put Arteta charging through on goal and although he shotstraight at Van der Sar,Leon Osman turned the rebound to Pienaar at the far post who rolled home.Two minutes before half-time,however, Nani's cross was diverted home by Fletcher and Berbatov'svolley almost put them ahead in added time. Level pegging: Darren Fletcher restores parity at Goodison It was apparent at the start of thesecond half Everton were in for a tougher test and it took just threeminutes for that to become a reality.Nani's corner from Berbatov'sdeflected shot was only half-cleared and when Scholes returned the ballto the Portugal international wide on the right he swung over a crossfor an unmarked Vidic to head in from five yards.It at least provoked a reaction from Everton and Pienaar's curling 20-yard shot was held by Van der Sar at the second attempt.But United were where they like tobe, in control and able to counter-attack, and one rapid foray forwardsaw Howard deny Nani low to his right. Off the mark: Steven Pienaar scored Everton's second goal of the League campaignHe got nowhere near the next one in the 66th minute, which owed everything to the brilliance of Scholes and Berbatov.The former England international'sraking pass picked out the Bulgarian wide on the right and his firsttouch brilliantly took him clear of Sylvain Distin.With acres of space to run into thelanguid striker took five or six paces before lashing an early shotinto the bottom corner, taking Howard by surprise.Baines curled a free-kick into theside-netting and as Osman hit a woefully-weak shot at Van der Sar asthe hosts tried to find a way back but, as has been the case in theirprevious matches, they lacked a cutting edge.However, in a dramatic finish Cahill headed home in injury-time before Arteta's deflected strike snatched an unlikely point. Wayne Rooney dropped by Manchester United for trip to Everton Everton v Manchester United: The action as it happenedSir Alex ready for 700th Premier League match - he's in a league of his ownEVERTON FC

Source: Daily_Mail