Ashley Young reacts to Everton controversy v Man Utd on social media
Ashley Young was involved in a major flashpoint as Everton played out a contentious 2-2 draw against Manchester United on Saturday.
Everton were leading 2-0 thanks to first-half goals from Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure at Goodison Park and looked to be on course for another three points under David Moyes.
However, two goals in the space of eight second-half minutes from Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte had the Red Devils level massively against the run of play.
More drama was to come when Young was awarded a penalty by referee Andy Madley late on after being felled by a combination of Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt.
But Madley opted to overturn his decision after consulting the pitch-side monitor at Goodison Park.
Young quotes Jose Mourinho after Everton v Man Utd incident
There was plenty of contention about Madley’s decision to reverse his on-field ruling, with some on social media questioning whether he was shown the correct angle of the alleged offence.
Everton veteran Young himself seemed to allude to that fact as he reacted to the controversy with a social media post on his official Instagram account after the game.
The 39-year-old also made reference to a famous Jose Mourinho quote where he avoided speaking for fear of being punished by the Football Association.
Young wrote: “A point’s a point, onwards and upwards! Decisions, Angles “I prefer not to speak, if I speak I am in big trouble“ UTFT.”
Everton still on an upward trajectory under Moyes
There was a feeling that this was a big opportunity missed for Everton especially given they controlled large parts of Saturday’s game against Man United.
The Red Devils had been outfought and outthought for the majority of the contest at Goodison Park and the truth is Everton were extremely good value for the three points.
| Stat | Goals | Shots | Possesion |
| Everton | 2 | 9 | 38 per cent |
| Manchester United | 2 | 9 | 62 per cent |
But the fact that just a little over a month after Moyes returned to Merseyside we’re talking about Everton feeling hard done against Man United is a really good sign of the progress they have made.
They have now taken 14 points from their past six Premier League games and previous fears of the drop before the move to Bramley Moore Dock have been quickly eradicated.
Everton know they can look up the table rather than glance nervously at those below and the future really does feel bright ahead of the move to a new stadium. Credit to Moyes for bringing a real feelgood factor back to Everton in such a short space of time.