Everton 3-3 Manchester United

Everton scored twice in stoppage time to snatch a dramatic 3-3 draw at home to Manchester United.

After a turbulent week, Wayne Rooney did not even travel to Goodison Park as manager Sir Alex Ferguson, on the occasion of his 700th Premier League match, said he wanted to protect the 24-year-old from abuse from the fans with whom he used to be a favourite.

The disruption appeared to affect his team-mates early on as they fell behind to a Steven Pienaar goal but Darren Fletcher, Nemanja Vidic and Dimitar Berbatov put United well ahead before the Toffees' stunning late comeback through Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta.

Rooney's absence seemed to affect United more than they expected as, for the first 15 minutes, they found themselves under constant pressure.

First Arteta's sixth-minute free-kick clipped the top of the bar.

The Spaniard had another shot deflected behind by Jonny Evans, Pienaar saw his shot from the Spaniard's corner blocked and Leon Osman blazed over all in the same passage of play.

Ferguson was less than happy and was soon prowling his technical area barking orders at the players.

John O'Shea's response was a blistering drive from the left angle of the penalty area which grazed the outside of Tim Howard's left-hand post.

Everton's pressure, albeit slightly less intense, continued while Nani was off the field having a cut lip tended with Cahill, Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines all failed to trouble the goalkeeper with half-chances.

There was always the danger their failure to capitalise on possession would leave the way open for United to nick a goal and they almost did in the 34th minute.

Tony Hibbert's foul on Ryan Giggs, despite winning the ball, saw Nani roll the free-kick to Paul Scholes and his powerful drive took a big deflection off Cahill but Howard, diving in the opposite direction, somehow diverted the ball over with his foot.

Four minutes later the American goalkeeper stuck up a hand to palm away Giggs' close-range shot after United counter-attacked.

But the visitors were caught cold themselves when Patrice Evra missed an ambitious overhead-kick clearance to put Arteta charging through on goal and although he shot straight at Edwin Van der Sar,

Osman turned the rebound to Pienaar at the far post who rolled home.

Two minutes before half-time, however, Nani's cross was diverted home by Fletcher and Berbatov's volley almost put them ahead in added time.

It was apparent at the start of the second half Everton were in for a tougher test and it took just three minutes for that to become a reality.

Nani's corner from Berbatov's deflected shot was only half-cleared and when Scholes returned the ball to the Portugal international wide on the right he swung over a cross for an unmarked Vidic to head in from five yards.

It at least provoked a reaction from Everton and Pienaar's curling 20-yard shot was held by Van der Sar at the second attempt.

But United were where they like to be, in control and able to counter-attack, and one rapid foray forward saw Howard deny Nani low to his right.

He got nowhere near the next one in the 66th minute, which owed everything to the brilliance of Scholes and Berbatov.

The former England international's raking pass picked out the Bulgarian wide on the right and his first touch brilliantly took him clear of Sylvain Distin.

With acres of space to run into the striker took five or six paces before lashing an early shot into the bottom corner, taking Howard by surprise.

Baines curled a free-kick into the side-netting and as Osman hit a woefully-weak shot at Van der Sar as the hosts tried to find a way back but, as has been the case in their previous matches, they lacked a cutting edge.

However, in a dramatic finish Cahill headed home in injury-time before Arteta's deflected strike snatched an unlikely point.

Manchester United 3-0 Newcastle United

Dimitar Berbatov sent Manchester United on their way to a comfortable win over Newcastle United as the Red Devils began their Barclays Premier League campaign in style.

Berbatov took full advantage of a probing through-ball from Paul Scholes to break the Magpies defences in the 33rd minute.

The Bulgarian might have had more but once Darren Fletcher had doubled the hosts' lead before the break, it was left to substitute Ryan Giggs to add the gloss with an excellent late volley, maintaining his record of scoring in every Premier League season to date.

Newcastle made a confident start, with highly-rated striker Andy Carroll well to the fore.

Nemanja Vidic accidentally caught Magpies skipper Kevin Nolan on the back of his head as the pair challenged for an aerial ball.

John O'Shea was unable to steer a header into Berbatov's path after some impressive approach play involving Darren Fletcher and Wayne Rooney.

A neat backheeled return pass from Nani offered Rooney the chance to curl a shot goalwards but his effort was off target.

In between, Wayne Routledge had been forced to use his right foot to try and pick out Andy Carroll at the far post when his left might have brought some reward.

Carroll did get on the end of Joey Barton's corner though and, after losing Vidic, he should really have done much better than head tamely wide.

Nani's shot was deflected wide as the game began to open out and Smith flung himself in the way of John O'Shea's piledriver after the Irishman had been invited to shoot by Antonio Valencia.

Smith sent Paul Scholes flying as the veteran midfielder tried to carve out another opportunity, but Nani's free-kick was a disappointing one, straight into the Newcastle wall.

Carroll brought a decent low save out of Edwin van der Sar, then Barton chopped down Nani to earn the game's first booking.

An intricate free-kick move ended up with the ball at Rooney's feet, although the striker's wait for his first goal since March continued as he dragged his shot wide.

Michael Williamson rescued himself with an excellent tackle to rob Nani after he had been played into trouble by Fabricio Coloccini.

Rooney must have been thinking he would never score again when Berbatov's nod-back offered him the chance to strike a close-range volley, albeit with the ball bouncing behind him, but he skied it harmlessly over.

Berbatov soon showed him how it was done after Valencia chased back unselfishly to set an attack in motion that ended with Enrique nudging Scholes' pass on to the Bulgarian, who steadied himself and then drilled into the far corner from an acute angle.

Nani gifted Barton possession on the edge of the United box but the midfielder went for goal himself rather than attempt to pick out better placed team-mates and Van der Sar made a comfortable save.

It proved to be a costly error as four minutes before the break, United grabbed their second

Nani sent Patrice Evra racing into the box and although Rooney could not control the Frenchman's low cross, he did prod the ball into the path of Darren Fletcher, who turned Coloccini on the edge of the six-yard box and found the net with a smart finish.

Harper came out to collect Nani's cross at the feet of Rooney as the hosts began the second period looking for more goals.

Nani was eager to make an impression personally and his quick feet allowed him to get away from Williamson but he ran down a cul-de-sac and Enrique drew a free-kick in the winger's desperation not to lose possession.

Scholes could easily have had a penalty when he fell under Coloccini's challenge just inside the box then Rooney opted to try and find Berbatov rather than go for goal on his own, which hinted at a lack of confidence as he picked out Perch instead.

There was nothing wrong with his first-time lay-off of a fierce Scholes pass that put Berbatov clean through.

The Bulgarian beat an advancing Harper, but also the far post.

Another sublime pass from Scholes, this time over the top of Newcastle's static defence, set up Berbatov but the striker's acrobatic volley ended up nearer the corner flag than the goal.

Giggs then found Berbatov with a brilliantly disguised pass, although Harper got in the way of an improvised cross before Hernandez and Valencia could pounce.

Newcastle had enough possession to remain interested without pressurising Van der Sar, as Shola Ameobi proved as he sent a far-post header wide.

United were dominant and with six minutes remaining, Scholes picked out substitute Giggs who found the far right corner with his first-time volley.

Chelsea boss Ancelotti slams Man Utd players for crowding ref

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti blasted Manchester United's players for crowding the ref throughout last night's 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge.

Ancelotti was particularly unhappy with the way United players appeared to try to get one of his players sent off.

In a stormy second half, United midfielder Darren Fletcher waved an imaginary card in an apparent attempt to get Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho dismissed.

Ancelotti said: "The Manchester players protested a lot. I don't know why. I don't like this. At the end of a very difficult match, all the players worked very hard - and sometimes it can happen."

Ancelotti admitted Drogba might have been offside for Chelsea's goal but said: "It was very difficult for the linesman to see. There was a lot of concentration of players in the box.

"We are in good position in the Premiership and in the Champions League. The players have done very well. We have to continue, because there will be other strong matches like today."

Man Utd's Fletcher: Beating Chelsea important psychologically

Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher admits they would gain a mental edge on Chelsea if they can win in London this weekend.

United are trailing behind Premiership leaders Chelsea in the current standings.

"There's a long way to go yet in the title race, but Sunday's game could be important psychologically," he told MUTV. "We'll just concentrate on ourselves - we know we're capable of going there and winning. It won't be easy, but we'll go there with a game plan and the manager will have a lot of options for the side he wants to pick and we'll try and get a result."

After years of duking it out for top honours at home and abroad, United and Chelsea have few secrets. Nevertheless, Fletcher insists the reigning champions are capable of inflicting a rare home defeat on the Blues.

"They're a top side," he said. "We've both been challenging for the title over the last five or six years and there's great respect between the two sides. We know what to expect, it'll be a great challenge for us at Stamford Bridge. They've got a great record there, but it's up to us to go there and try and get the win."