WHEN Manchester United are in town, it’s not rare for a manager to berate the referee, point forcefully at his watch and complain vociferously about the amount of injury time played.

But that it was David Moyes and not Sir Alex Ferguson turning crimson in anger said everything about a remarkable afternoon at Goodison in which Everton dragged themselves off the floor to surely kickstart their spluttering Premier League campaign.

The home fans had come to taunt Wayne Rooney. But with their former hero removed from the firing line, it was instead referee Martin Atkinson who became the focus of the ire at the final whistle and prompted Moyes to rush on to the field to remonstrate.

Four minutes earlier, Everton supporters had, in all honesty, been praying for the end, their team 3-1 down and seemingly heading to their worst start to a top-flight season in 16 years.

But, after Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta both struck to level the scores, the shrill of Atkinson’s final whistle was drowned out by the sheer uproar as Everton, with men over in attack and a groggy United reeling, poured forward in search of an unlikely winner.

To be fair, Phil Jagielka hadn’t realised the game was finished when, having stormed out of defence, he unleashed an angled shot that was saved by Edwin van der Sar.

And once his rancour has subsided, Moyes will hope the dramatic late brace has ensured a turnaround not only on Saturday, but for his team’s season as a whole.

It could be a case of history repeating. Two years ago, a home draw against United proved the catalyst for an autumn revival for Moyes’s then under-whelming side, while the February hammering of Ferguson’s men was further confirmation their inferiority complex against ‘top four’ sides has been banished.