Everton staged a dramatic injury-time comeback to claim a 3-3 draw at home to a Manchester United side missing Wayne Rooney.
If today’s encounter at Goodison Park was going to be about one man Sir Alex Ferguson ensured all eyes were back on the football as he omitted Wayne Rooney from his squad for the lunchtime kick-off.
And, standing in for the disgraced striker, football reminded us why the greatest game on earth will always outshine one of its cast.
Everton, starting and finishing the game strongest, rescued a draw from the jaws of defeat with two injury time goals from Tim Cahill and a sensational equaliser for Mikel Arteta in a thrilling 3-3 encounter.
Traditionalists will allude to this game of two halves and its familiar habit of turning up the most unfamiliar of outcomes.
But onlookers at Goodison Park today witnessed a match of three thirds in which Manchester United, bereft of their one marquee predator, should have had Everton dead and buried with half an hour to go.
David Moyes sent his team out to frustrate Manchester United, selecting a side devoid of strikers with Tim Cahill left to do the lone running in United’s third.
And in the opening exchanges Everton looked better off for their packing the middle as they easily outmuscled United’s comparatively diminutive midfield line.
Sir Alex Ferguson said before the game United’s first task was to ‘quieten the crowd’, but if the Goodison faithful were just starting to ease off after a raucous welcome, a gaffe by Patrice Evra got the rafters of this historic ground shaking after 39 minutes.
Mikel Arteta capitalised on a slip from the Frenchman to streak clear of United’s defence with only the keeper to beat.
The Spaniard’s shot was beaten away but fell kindly to Leon Osman who had the presence of mind to pick out Steven Pienaar for the South African to calmly slide past a recovering Van Der Sar.
Everton’s joy was short-lived though as, perhaps still in post goal Euphoria, Pienaar gave Nani too much time to pick out the cross which found Darren Fletcher for a simple equaliser, just three minutes before the break.
If the Blues had an excuse for their first half momentary lapse, there was none for the second as just two minutes after the restart Nani again found too much time and space, this time Leighton Baines at fault for a rare concentration lapse.
The Portugese midfielder struck his second inch perfect cross of the game, finding the rising Nemanja Vidic who powered a downwards header home in trademark fashion.
Deflated by the early sucker punch Everton succumbed to passage of masterful United play with Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Dimitar Berbatov, who looked sharp all afternoon, finding more and more space in between the Everton lines.
A string of play which should have seen United home and dry followed, but only the Bulgarian capitalised on his team’s dominance, Sylvain Distin got caught under a high Scholes pass, allowing Berbatov in behind to finish in his own classy ilk.
Alex Ferguson will have been pleased with his sides’ ability to weather an early storm and gradually establish dominance over a dogged Everton outfit.
But in uncharacteristic fashion United looked to be caught off guard when the Blues rallied for a final charge.
Tim Cahill will have been one of the most satisfied men in the stadium after he landed the winning blow in a 90 minute battle with Nemanja Vidic.
The Australian, who had been a thorn in the side of United’s defensive giant all game, rose majestically in the box to power home what seemed like scant consolation for Moyes and his team who had grafted solidly for the second half.
But the ‘never say die’ attitude instilled in the team by their hardy manager manifested itself in one last attack, and half cleared cross fell to Mikel Arteta who slammed a shot off the legs of Paul Scholes and into the Gwaldys Street net.
With a Goodison Park bouncing and Alex Ferguson aghast at his team having squandered three points, one moment of drama still remained.
As Everton turned attack into defence from a United corner referee Martin Atkinson blew his final whistle with Phil Jagielka facing with Edwin Van Der Sar after, one on one, after being set free by Arteta.
An incensed Moyes ran onto the pitch to confront the official who, according to the Scot had robbed the football loving public of the opportunity to see how the game should have played out.
Never the less Moyes will be heartened by his team’s gutsy display and buccaneering comeback which left Sir Alex without an explanation at the end of the game.
He said: “For most parts of the game I was pleased with the performance, I can’t complain about that.
“But we’ve just thrown it away, simple as that.”
The story was a familiar one for United who conceded late to drop points against Fulham last time out.
But for Moyes the six-goal thriller was just deserves after good performances against lesser opposition in the first few weeks of the season have gone unrewarded.
He said: “I think we’ve got a really good team, and I hope people saw that today.
“We’ve been playing well all season, we just haven’t had the results.”
The Man of the Match award went to Tim Howard who kept the Blues in it with vital saves at important stages.
His first half reaction save to a deflected Paul Scholes piledriver, a highlight of one of the games of the Premier League season so far.
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