Neville slams Santos, Dorgu and Yoro after defensive errors gift Everton stoppage-time equaliser

Manchester United were held to a 2-2 Premier League draw at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday after a sequence of defensive errors allowed Ainsley Maitland-Niles to strike in the 95th minute, prompting a sharp public rebuke from club legend Gary Neville.

Neville, analysing the goal in his post-match punditry role, said he was “screaming” as he watched Patrick Dorgu, Andrey Santos and Leny Yoro each contribute to the breakdown that gifted Everton their equaliser. United had led and looked set to take all three points before the late collapse.

The former United right-back was unsparing in his breakdown of the goal. Dorgu stepped out of the defensive line to press in isolation, leaving a significant gap behind him, while Santos failed to shift across and cover. Everton exploited the space immediately, breaking down the left before Maitland-Niles finished with a strike Neville acknowledged was unstoppable — though he was clear the move should never have developed.

“Dorgu for some reason chases out and presses, isolated press,” Neville said. “Santos then doesn’t go over behind him and stays back and it gets played past Dorgu. It’s a massive mistake. It just strikes me with a lot of lack of communication.”

Neville also highlighted the positioning of Yoro, who came on at right-back after Diogo Dalot went off, describing him as “narrow and tucked in and deep” in a way that further compressed United’s defensive shape at a critical moment.

The broader concern Neville raised was one of consistency. United have now conceded two goals in each of their three Premier League fixtures against sides expected to occupy the bottom half of the table this season. At their current rate, Neville noted, United would concede 76 goals across the campaign — a figure he acknowledged they are unlikely to reach, but one he used to underline the scale of the defensive problem facing caretaker manager Michael Carrick.

“From a United perspective, you can’t concede two goals a game,” Neville said. “Manchester United needed to win today, but secondly, they couldn’t concede goals. And there may be some people that lazily could say, ‘oh there were two spectacular goals’ — but that last goal was a really bad one.”

The draw leaves United having dropped points in a fixture they were widely expected to win, with Everton — limited throughout — escaping with a share of the spoils thanks largely to United’s own disorganisation at the back.