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September 12, 2010

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Late Toffees show stuns United

EVERTON scored twice in stoppage time to snatch an unlikely 3-3 home English Premier League draw with Manchester United yesterday in a game that Wayne Rooney missed to spare him from potential crowd abuse.

United manager Alex Ferguson said he had left out his top striker so he would not be subjected to abuse from supporters of his former club following newspaper allegations about his private life.

It looked to be a fair decision as United cruised towards a 3-1 win after goals by Darren Fletcher, Nemanja Vidic and Dimitar Berbatov had more than canceled out Steven Pienaar's opener.

However, in a breathless finale, Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta both scored in injury time and Everton looked set for a possible shock winner when the referee controversially blew for full time while the team was in full flight.

"It's quite unreal but (with) the chances we missed it was probably a fair result," Cahill told Sky Sports.

Everton took the lead on the break in the 39th minute after Tim Howard had done well to block a Ryan Giggs effort seconds earlier.

The lead lasted four minutes as Nani crossed for Fletcher to tuck in the equalizer with a neat volley. Another Nani cross found an unmarked Vidic to head United into the lead two minutes into the second half while it seemed to have settled the game with a superb third in the 66th.

Paul Scholes picked out Berbatov with a long ball and the Bulgarian striker calmly stroked a low, 18-meter shot beyond Howard with the outside of his boot.

United missed two good chances for a fourth and paid a heavy price as Everton pulled one back when Cahill rose to head in a Leighton Baines cross in the first minute of added time.

Roared on by the home fans, it poured forward and when Cahill again got his head to a Baines cross, Arteta kept his nerve to drive in the equalizer from just inside the box.

"We were in a comfortable position but we've thrown it away," said Ferguson.

Champion Chelsea, the only Premier League side with a 100 percent record after three matches, was at West Ham United later, with Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur also in action.

In Germany, a goal by Isaac Vorsah and an own goal by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer helped Hoffenheim beat Schalke 2-0 on Friday for its third straight victory in the new Bundesliga season.

Schalke finished runner-up last season but Felix Magath's team has started the season with three straight defeats and is still without a point despite several new signings.

One of them, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, had a second-half shot palmed against the crossbar by Hoffenheim goalkeeper Tom Starke.

Hoffenheim tops the standings with nine points.


 

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