Everton 2-2 Man Utd: Gary Neville fearful that Manchester United's liability of conceding goals isn't going away
Man Utd twice led at Everton with goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, but Everton had an answer on both occasions; Ainsley Maitland-Niles struck in added time to rescue a 2-2 draw; Michael Carrick's side have conceded twice in each of their three outings
Sunday 6 September 2026 20:59, UK
Gary Neville is fearful that Manchester United's habit of conceding goals isn't going away after they shipped two goals for the third game running at Everton.
Michael Carrick insisted his side's start to the season was "not that bad" despite Everton's added-time equaliser in the 2-2 draw left them with just four points from three matches.
Six goals conceded is a big worry. according to Neville, who doesn't see how Carrick can fix it with his current personnel.
Neville said: "It puts a bit of pressure on Manchester United as they have Man City next week and a European game in midweek.
"Michael Carrick is trying to build a trust with his team and with the fans that he can repeat what he did last season.
"That game should have been won today. Everton weren't at it in the first half. They let Everton back into the game.
"They have a liability of conceding goals and it's not going away. That is my fear. Conceding goals will hunt them and chase them down the road. I'm not sure how Carrick will deal with it as he's already got his best back four on the pitch. Why did Shaw and Dalot go off with five minutes to go? Ruben Amorin and Erik ten Hag changed their back four too.
"You can't be changing your back four. There's not much behind the first choice. So you can't change it."
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It was Ainsley Maitland-Niles that scored a dream stoppage-time equaliser on his Everton debut, finding the net from 25 yards in spectacular fashion.
Neville admitted it was a fantastic strike but was left frustrated with United's lack of organisation in the build-up to the equaliser.
He added: "Manchester United are conceding two goals a game, you can't concede two goals a game. With the questions asked since the transfer window regarding the defence, United needed to win today and they couldn't concede goals. Lazy analysis will say they conceded two spectacular goals.
"The Maitland-Niles goal is a really bad one.
"Dorgu for some reason chases out and presses, an isolated press. It gets played past Dorgu - it's a massive mistake, a lack of communication. United had to change their back four during the match. Yoro coming on at right-back highlights the problem - he plays so narrow.
"A lot happens before the ball goes in the net. When you're playing away holding onto a result, you have to push up and don't do stupid things. They could have stopped the goal at source. I was screaming as it happened as they had to be organised, they weren't organised in the final few minutes.
"Teams think they have a chance against them. I played in a Man Utd team where teams, in the period between Peter Schmeichel and Edwin Van Der Sar, did feel they had a chance against us at Old Trafford and we weren't quite good enough defensively. Teams have the feeling that they can score. That's a horrible place to be at."
