Manchester United is still searching for its first win of the season in the Premier League after squandering the lead in a 1-1 draw at Fulham on Sunday.
Everton did get off the mark, though, beginning life in its new waterfront home at Bramley-Moore Dock with a 2-0 win over Brighton thanks to an impressive display by Jack Grealish.
United was looking to follow up a mostly encouraging display in defeat to Arsenal in the opening round last weekend and missed a chance to take a first-half lead against Fulham when Bruno Fernandes blazed a penalty over the crossbar, moments after stumbling into the referee.
It needed an own-goal by Fulham striker Rodrigo Muniz, who deflected in a header at a corner from United’s Leny Yoro, to give United the lead in the 58th.
Ruben Amorim’s team couldn’t hold on as substitute Emile Smith Rowe poked home a cross from Alex Iwobi for the 73rd-minute equalizer.
It means a United player has yet to score a goal this season following an offseason when the club spent around 200 million pounds ($270 million) on revamping its attack with the additions of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko. Sesko was a second-half substitute for the second straight match.
In his first start for Everton, Grealish showed glimpses of the player who once was the poster boy of English soccer.
The England forward, who is on loan from Manchester City in a bid to resurrect his career, dribbled into the area and crossed for fellow winger Iliman Ndiaye to volley home the first goal of a new era for Everton following the team’s emotional departure from Goodison Park, its long-time home. Coincidentally, Ndiaye also scored the last goal at Goodison in May.
By providing a layoff for James Garner to drive home Everton’s second goal from outside the area, Grealish grabbed a second assist of the game — as many as he managed in total across the past two Premier League seasons at City.
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved a penalty from Danny Welbeck to the delight of the home fans among the 51,759 inside their new stadium that was built in the hope of taking an underachieving club in recent years to a new level. Not for the first time, Pickford was seen checking his water bottle ahead of a penalty kick because he keeps the name of potential opposition penalty-takers on the drinking vessel and where they might hit their attempt.
It was Everton’s first win of the season, after a 1-0 loss at Leeds in the opening round.
Crystal Palace fans weren’t afraid to make their feelings known about Nottingham Forest during the teams’ 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park.
Palace, the FA Cup winner last season, was demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League last month for breaching UEFA rules on club ownership, in a saga the club believes was influenced by Forest and owner Evangelos Marinakis, who benefited by being promoted to the Europa League at Palace’s expense.
A spicy pre-match banner took a pop at Marinakis, as did some abusive chants from Palace’s notoriously boisterous supporters that also targeted UEFA.
Ismaila Sarr gave Palace a 37th-minute lead before Callum Hudson-Odoi equalized in the 57th for Forest, whose manager Nuno Espirito Santo was in the dugout for the match despite concerns about his job amid rising tensions with Marinakis over the summer. (SportsNet)
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