First away game for the little fella

Man Utd 1 - 1 Everton

With close family friends living just up the road who have season tickets for Manchester United, I usually jump in the car with them for the trip to Old Trafford. However, I usually bring just myself. This time I experimented with bringing my almost 5-year-old son along to see how much he would enjoy a raucous Evertonian away support.

While this seemed a good idea when I ordered tickets, as the game got closer, I became increasingly nervous about it. He hasn't been to a match since he was a little older 2-year-old against Lincoln City in the FA Cup. He seemed to enjoy that experience then, in that he clapped and cheered when others did, though if not for a tablet device and child headphones, I'm not so sure how well he would have coped. Now he is older and more streetwise, he'll quickly tell me if he isn't enjoying it. It's one thing if he finds it a bit much at Goodison Park. We're seated most of the game and, if absolutely essential, it's not a big problem to call it a day and go home. When we're away at Old Trafford, however, and depending on a lift home, it's another story.

He slept most of the way there while we chewed the fat with my friends as we headed up the M56 in what became increasingly heavy rain as we approached Manchester. Yes, typically. Despite it benefiting Everton, we were all rocked in the car by the news that Cristiano Ronaldo was not starting the game. Anthony Gordon replaced the injured Alex Iwobi in Everton's only change. We parked on the street, about a 20-minute walk from the stadium as the rain tumbled down. We walked past Lancashire Cricket Ground. “Are we there yet, Daddy?” I was asked plenty of times. We were there about 10 minutes before kick-off. Just enough time to get some food and get to our seats.

As is almost always the norm at away games, everyone was stood up throughout. My son had quite the shock when he realised he couldn't see anything if he stayed seated so had to stand on his seat. This he didn't like as the seat wouldn't balance very well. Another thing he really didn't like was how much everyone was shouting. This probably wasn't helped by one fella in front of me, who swore and shouted incessantly throughout.

It's football and it's an away game. I get it, I don't expect everyone to behave like saints. I certainly swear from time to time at the game. Some songs contain swear words. However shouting ‘F' and ‘C' words continuously, and not even for any apparent reason as far as I can tell, is a bit much, particularly when there's children around.

My son found it a bit too much and, after maybe 10 minutes of the game, he resorted to staying in his seat and playing games on my phone. Though disappointed, he struggled with it; I could at least then take in more of the game.

Just as well it was a good one then as, despite being depleted in numbers, Everton battled admirably throughout. All the midfielders, including our wingers, battled manfully, and our defenders were up for the fight in defence. We dared to get excited when Salomon Rondon got behind the defence only to hesitate and have his effort charged down, though the flag had earlier gone up for offside. At the other end, Anthony Martial headed an effort wide at the back post when maybe he should have done better, and Edinson Cavani also headed at goal though this time Jordan Pickford was down smartly to save, though perhaps the Uruguayan should have scored.

There was a real flashpoint when Scott McTominay tried to unnecessarily drag up a sprawled Lucas Digne from the turf. Good on our lads for having none of it and getting stuck into the Manchester United players with more or less everyone involved from both teams. Other than trying to get under the skin of the opposition, I don't get what Scott McTominay was doing and what his problem was.

Everton continued to battle, our supporters vocally backing them all the way. Abdoulaye Doucoure and Allan in the middle both did particularly well in the first half. Demarai Gray at one point ran the ball a fair distance and drove at goal though David de Gea beat it away well. Everton had plenty of play in and around the penalty area though couldn't quite break through to hurt Manchester United.

Manchester United were not really hurting Everton either by this stage and a half-time stalemate looked likely. By this point, I'd managed to convince my son to get up and watch a bit of the game. It turned out to be bad timing as, with what felt like out of nowhere, Bruno Fernandes found Anthony Martial inside the penalty area who finished ferociously to give Manchester United a half-time lead. It felt pretty gutting given how well Everton had competed. Plenty of work for Rafa to do at the break to keep the players focused with a plan of how to get level.

I had work to do myself at half-time in convincing my son to give it more of a go in the second half. In the end, we compromised on watching 15 minutes until the hour mark, and if he still didn't like it, he could have my phone back.

Somehow this worked, and he was all of a sudden much more interested and asking questions about what was happening. “Why do so many people come and watch, Daddy?” has asked. He couldn't understand it, though for comparison, he's more experienced with watching his local cricket club play in front of 50 people or so.

I was very pleased he saw the goal, particularly given the excellence of it. Allan cleared from a corner kick and it was at least in the area of the park where Demarai was positioned, but with Fred and a couple of other defenders around him, you didn't see much opportunity.

Yet he battled, shielded the ball, thought quickly and moved away from them and looked up for support and who else would it be but Abdoulaye Doucouré who had sprinted up the pitch to help out Demarai. He took a few touches and the key moment was his brilliant drop of the shoulder which took a couple of players out. He looked up and who else but Andros Townsend had sprinted up the pitch on the opposite flank. He was in space. The weight of Abdoulaye's pass was perfect. Andros took a touch and fired past David de Gea, sending us into raptures. My son joined in the cheering which was quite a special moment for me. From then on in he was mostly hooked.

It was very absorbing mind. By this point, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho had entered the arena and Everton still had plenty to do. But Everton didn't lose their bottle. They didn't cave in the fight. Rafa Benitez made a good substitution, replacing the tiring Anthony Gordon, who did very well, with another local lad, Tom Davies.

And it was Tom Davies who could, probably should have won Everton the game late on. A corner kick, Everton's only one of the game, was cleared. Ben Godfrey kept it alive and it was fed back in to Tom Davies in loads of space. He took a touch and it looked for all the world like he would shoot. Instead, he squared it across goal for Yerry Mina who easily tapped in. The offside flag stayed down and the players celebrated. Everton ahead, my son celebrating, though you could only do so cautiously. We were well in line with the play and it looked offside, and alas it turned out to be.

How gutting. Though goals aren't really Tom's forte, when you're in that position, you really should have a crack. That said, it was a very clever ball also, and Yerry really should have kept himself onside. It really is one that got away.

We also survived an even later scare when a beautiful backheel from Cristiano Ronaldo freed fellow substitute Jadon Sancho, though his scuffed effort was comfortably saved by Jordan Pickford. That was pretty much it. Michael Oliver blew for full-time, and an honourable mention for him; he officiated superbly in my view. The best referee in the league for me. He lets teams get stuck in but keeps good control. He hasn't always been good in my opinion, not least when he disallowed a clean Sylvan Distin header at Anfield before booking Victor Anichebe for asking why, and then apologising to Steven Gerrard when the Liverpool captain called him a “shithouse”; but credit where it's due, he has massively improved.

At full-time, we escaped quickly and marched back to the car, my son on my stiff shoulders for most of the way. On the journey back, myself and my Manchester United friends all felt it was a game that got away for our respective clubs. Given we were literally a few inches away from actually winning, I couldn't really agree with them; I felt we should have won, but I guess begrudgingly accepting a draw at Old Trafford shows very good signs of progress. Meanwhile, my son entertained with a sing-song.

Onto the next one, and now my son has had a taste for it. I'm now really looking forward to taking him back to Goodison Park.

Player ratings

Jordan Pickford: Had a good game. He couldn't do anything with the goal and saved well when called upon. Distributed pretty well also. 7

Lucas Digne: He was excellent defensively, notably so in the first half down in front of us. He really dug in. 8

Yerry Mina: Also excellent. Stood firm throughout. I just wish he'd have held his line and he could have been celebrating a winning goal at Old Trafford. 8

Michael Keane: Probably the pick of the two centre-backs for me. Mopped up and read the game well. 8

Ben Godfrey: That was much more like it from Ben, the best he's played this season. Much more like last term. Hopefully he's now well on the mend from Covid and getting back to his best. 7

Allan: He was excellent in the first half. He tired in the second but the effort was still there throughout. 7

Abdoulaye Doucouré: Another superb display from Abdoulaye who covered every blade of grass. Magnificent. 8

Anthony Gordon: He's a good player. Not quick, but very technically good. He uses his body well to good effect and has a good brain on him. He reminds me of Adam Lallana a good few years back — very technically good but without pace. Lucas Digne seemed to enjoy combining with him. 7

Andros Townsend: Full of industry and good use of the ball when he had it. He took his goal well, and you always felt he would score from there. You wish the Tom Davies chance would have fallen to him instead but what can you do? A great effort again. 8

Demarai Gray: Probably the one player we had who had a real cutting edge and wouldn't look out of place at one of the top teams. His strength, composure and skill for our goal was outstanding, and he was a constant threat throughout. Quite brilliant. He and Andros have already far surpassed my expectations. My Man of the Match. 8

Salomon Rondon: I think he's getting better. After so long without playing it was always going to take time for Salomon, and nobody was expecting him to start so many games so quickly. He's now completed two back-to-back 90 minutes in Premier League games. He showed some good flicks and kept on going. All-in-all, we can't really complain. 6

Tom Davies (for Anthony Gordon): He got into the game quickly, just such a shame his most telling impact didn't result in a goal. Keep going, Tom. 6

Lewis Dobbin (for Demarai Gray): Came on to help run down the clock. Not on long enough to judge. He's been off the substitutes bench twice in a row now so Rafa must see something in him.

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