5 Apr 2017

Manchester United held at home again

9:51 am on 5 April 2017

Manchester United suffered another blow to their hopes of finishing in the top four in the English Premier League when they were held 1-1 at home by Everton.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Phil Jagielka put Everton in front midway through the first half and United needed an injury-time penalty from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to salvage a share of the points.

The result leaves United still fifth but four points behind neighbours Manchester City in fourth.

The top four qualify for Europe next season.

Sunderland's plight looks increasingly desperate, their 2-0 defeat at champions Leicester leaving them eight points off safety with just seven matches to go.

Watford moved up to ninth after beating West Brom 2-0 while Burnley look virtually safe after their 1-0 win over Stoke helped them climb to 12th.

United are now unbeaten in 20 league matches but their seventh 1-1 home draw means they missed the chance to close the gap on the top four.

Jagielka showed great agility to flick home a loopy header from Gareth Barry on 22 minutes to put Everton in front.

Ibrahimovic had the ball in the net in the second half but it was ruled out for offside and their offensive problems at home haunted them once more.

Jose Mourinho's side had plenty of pressure in the second half and it finally told when Ashley Williams handled a Luke Shaw shot and Ibrahimovic made no mistake from the spot.

Islam Slimani and Jamie Vardy scored the goals as Leicester beat Sunderland 2-0 to make it six wins out of six in all competitions since the sacking of Claudio Ranieri.

George Boyd scored the only goal as Burnley broke a six-match drought with a 1-0 win over Stoke.

M'Baye Niang and Troy Deeney put Watford in control over West Brom and though Miguel Britos was sent off on 65 minutes, the hosts held on for a 2-0 win.

-AAP