Everything that really mattered unfolded in 30 seconds that will not trouble the history books but may not be forgotten by Frank Lampard.
Seamus Coleman burst his lungs to get forward. Demarai Gray cut inside. Dominic Calvert-Lewin bundled the ball in. The away end went wild. For the second time in a thrilling FA Cup match, Everton were level. And then they were not. VAR, once again, appeared to haunt Lampard just when it looked like he had a moment to savour.
On the final whistle he, with the players, went to applaud an away end filled with more than 9,000 Blues that backed his team to the end of this 3-1 defeat. They were poignant scenes as Lampard's position hangs in the balance. Yet while Calvert-Lewin's 'goal' did not count, maybe the moment did.
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It showed his players were still fighting for him. That might not be enough to save his job. But it must count for something. A side bereft of confidence and struggling for creativity turned up for a big game against in-form opposition and were competitive to the last seconds. In the end, however, they still could not overcome the three cruel factors that have characterised Lampard's reign: Injuries, VAR and bad luck.
This game turned on five brutal minutes. Alex Iwobi, whose renaissance is one of the brightest sparks of Lampard's time on Merseyside, carried the ball from the edge of his own box to the edge of Manchester United's, where he was brought down by the recovering Tyrell Malacia. The energy and desire he displayed in that run at the beginning of the second half epitomised Everton's first half performance - minus an opening 10 minutes in which Lampard's worst fears looked set to materialise as the home side tore apart his defence.
But the tackle that halted his run left Iwobi in torment. He was stretchered off with his face hidden by his shirt and with Lampard once again, as has been the case so often this season and last, watching as a key player was taken from him. Seconds after the restart Marcus Rashford, a constant threat, fired across the Everton goal and Conor Coady stretched out a leg only to find the back of the net.
Within minutes Everton had lost one of their most important players and had gone behind to a piece of misfortune. They could then have been overwhelmed by a rampant home side. Yet they were not. They fought and fought and thought they had their reward only for it to be ruled out for offside. A late Rashford penalty gave the hosts a margin of victory they did not deserve but the story of this game was not the scoreline. It was the fight shown for a travelling fanbase desperate for something to cheer and a manager desperate for something to help save his position.
It looked likely to be so different. After such a fragile display against Brighton and Hove Albion on Tuesday night the last thing Everton needed was to concede early. They did just that. After just three minutes Rashford got down the outside of Ben Godfrey, who had dispossessed him with a bold tackle moments earlier, and his ball trickled agonisingly across the face of goal and into the path of the sliding Antony. The Brazil international scored his side's first at Goodison Park in October and made no mistake from just yards out. For the rest of the opening 10 minutes Everton were blown away. Anthony Martial fired just wide after Jordan Pickford's ball forward was cut out and the home side's pace, flicks and turns showcased a confidence that suggested they could score when they wanted.
But rather than become a half in which Lampard's Everton career wilted under the lights of Old Trafford, it became a match in which his players responded. Just like at the Etihad Stadium a week earlier this side found reserves of fight and resilience and, for once, a piece of luck.
After Gray, shining in the same central role he took up against Manchester City, forced a corner out of David de Gea, Everton somehow found a lifeline. The ball in was cleared but pumped back into the hosts' box where Amadou Onana outmuscled Casemiro - just like he did in the build up to Iwobi's goal against the same opposition earlier this season. His ball to Neal Maupay looked a lost cause but the stretching striker somehow forced a tame cross that squirmed through de Gea's legs. Coady pounced and the FA Cup third round had a real cup tie. Maybe that was the luck Lampard needed. Maybe that was the turning point. But then there was an injury. And then there was the own goal. And then there was VAR.
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