Solskjaer surrenders! Gloomy Ole writes Manchester United title hopes

Harry Maguire looked to referee Jon Moss to confirm that Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s last equalizer would stand, and of course there was no more time left on the clock, before he went into the box. the cold night air. Manchester United started again and Moss blew the final whistle.

Maguire’s feeling will have been shared by everyone connected to United. This was a painful pull that felt like a loss.

But was it a fatal blow to United ‘s hopes of winning the Premier League? Not yet. Curtains for a club that has fought so many title battles to the last one? Seriously.

So it was strange to hear Ole Gunnar Solskjaer effectively turn off his team’s chances shortly thereafter.

The United manager has been trying to manage expectations around Old Trafford for the past few weeks and that is probably easy to understand. But this was completely lower.

‘We’re not talking about winning titles,’ Solskjaer said. ‘We have come a long way with this team and we should not be seen as title contenders.’

Why not? Manchester City are the favorites but United are the closest opponents in these weirdest seasons who have opened up so many chances.

We are only in February and no one is winning the title now, as Solskjaer said. If United had held on for another few seconds, they would have surpassed City having played two more games.

The manager has been in charge for more than two years and has named a game day squad against Everton that cost him nearly £ 600million. If United are not title contestants by this time maybe they should be.

They are clearly making progress under Solskjaer and if there is still the slightest hope of challenging the title a little earlier than expected, why not take it? There are no promises that City will be weaker next season and certainly not Liverpool.

Roy Keane has already said his former club is ‘scared’ of putting up a title challenge, and Sportsmail pundit Jamie Redknapp also believes United should have more condemnation.

‘You’re not going to get a better chance,’ Redknapp said. ‘This United team should believe. This is the year that nothing is possible. They’re not kids, are they? They are full of experience. He should tell this team: believe that you can do it. City are the best team by far but they may still have a blip. ‘

United have an attack to match any in the Premier League and were brilliant going forward on the 63rd anniversary of the Munich Air Crash.

Marcus Rashford handed a stunning cross to Edinson Cavani to open the scoring and Bruno Fernandes delivered an even better view to make it 2-0.

But they were sad in defense with Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Rodriguez twice in place four minutes after half-time. Scott McTominay put United back in front of him but Calvert-Lewin equalized in the 95th minute.

He came from a free kick admitted by United substitute Axel Tuanzebe, who revealed he has been charged with racist abuse for the second time in recent weeks.

David de Gea has been criticized for a weak attempt to block Calvert-Lewin after pushing the ball to Doucoure for Everton’s first.

Dean Henderson is likely to be in for an FA Cup tie on Tuesday night against West Ham and, not for the first time, Solskjaer was asked about De Gea’s position, replying: ‘All players must to earn his place. We are a competitive squad and that applies to everyone on the team. ‘

Everton will face Tottenham in the cup at Goodison Park on Wednesday and Carlo Ancelotti was delighted with another excellent away goal. ‘Wow! What a game, unbelievable! A real feeling, ‘said the Italian, who received a bear trophy from his assistant Duncan Ferguson after the late equalizer.