Everton hauled back Manchester United early in the second half at Old Trafford and then did it all over again after falling behind for a second time.

A hard-won point leaves Carlo Ancelotti's side sixth in the Premier League table, three points outside the top four, with 17 games remaining.

Here, evertonfc,com identifies some of the things we learned from a topsy-turvy Saturday night in Manchester.

Pay Your Money, Take Your Chances

Everton had three shots on target at Old Trafford and every one of them ended up in the back of the net.

There were three different goalscorers and 10 players have netted for Everton in the Premier League this season.

The direct comparison with last term makes for stark reading.

Carlo Ancelotti oversaw 20 Premier League matches in 2019/20 following his appointment halfway through the campaign.

Of Everton’s 24 goals in that period, 15 – or 62.5 per cent – were scored by either Richarlison or Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Striker Calvert-Lewin remains a critical source of goals and the overwhelming majority of teams with aspirations of fighting towards the top of the table boast one out-and-out scorer.

Calvert-Lewin has 13 in the league following his coolly-dispatched equaliser on Saturday.

The 23-year-old is responsible for 38 per cent of Everton’s 34 goals from 21 league matches this term.

Abdoulaye Doucoure became the sixth of Ancelotti’s players to register more than once this season when he tapped home Everton’s first.

For James Rodriguez, it was Premier League goal number five and a first away from Goodison Park.

It is significant, too, that when Calvert-Lewin began a period without scoring – counter-intuitively, that was perhaps when we discovered what a first-rate all rounder the Englishman has become – Everton won four successive matches in December.

Everton added Doucoure in the summer as a box-to-box runner – the sort who seems to be going out of fashion in today’s game – and his intelligent movement carries him into dangerous positions.

Both Premier League goals this term – the other one came at Fulham – were the product of arriving in the right place, at the right time.

James, meanwhile, is billed as the Assists King by Ancelotti, but he’s a crack shot, too.

His terrific right-foot swat against Leicester City last month was followed by an effort here that was as technically sound as anything you could hope to witness.

Gylfi Sigurdsson played only the final 21 minutes in Manchester but three days earlier was on target at Leeds United.

The Icelander’s three league strikes this term are worth six points to Everton, the difference between sixth and 10^th.

Confidence is talked about more than any other quality in football and yet it is just about the only thing left for which we have no measurement.

It is safe to say, regardless, that knowing your team contains goals from multiple avenues represents a precious source of belief.

The Numbers Game

There would be changes to Everton’s team for this meeting with Manchester United, vowed Carlo Ancelotti, and the manager was true to his word.

It is testament to the developing squad depth at Goodison Park that Ancelotti is able to follow his instincts and rotate players during months of relentless football.

The reasons Ancelotti offers for routinely shuffling his pack are twofold.

He wants to minimise injuries – avoiding them altogether is as good as impossible and there’s not a team in the Premier League that’s not suffered to some extent.

And Ancelotti is keen to spread playing opportunities which, by extension, suggests faith in his squad.

Tom Davies, James Rodriguez and Michael Keane were the three men reintroduced following Wednesday’s win at Leeds United.

James’ standout contribution came with his 52^nd-minute strike to complete Everton’s recovery from 2-0 down.

When Abdoulaye Doucoure’s pass arrived with the Colombian he still had an awful lot to do; you fancied him nonetheless.

The first touch was impeccable, bringing a fast-travelling ball under his spell and setting up the shooting opportunity.

David De Gea had no chance with the subsequent strike, blasted into the bottom corner.

It was another vote of confidence in his group when Ancelotti removed James with 21 minutes remaining, opting to play it safe with a tight calf rather than chance the South American’s fitness in the hope he had another trick up his sleeve.

Keane we know all about. He is in fabulous nick and evidently benefitting from Ancelotti’s management.

Playing back at his first club, the centre-back made a match-high five clearances, blocked two shots and won three tackles – notably stopping one second-half bolt into the box from Marcus Rashford by calmly pinching the ball off the striker’s toe.

Davies, meanwhile, is growing into a mature and reliable midfielder for Ancelotti.

The 22-year-old is playing in an Everton team with a clear purpose and profiting from his own defined role.

His pass for Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the run up to Everton’s first goal was immaculate and illustrative of a player high on confidence.

Davies’ passing accuracy of 90.3 per cent was second only to Ben Godfrey among Everton’s starters.

He was on target with three out of four long balls, too.

The Goodison Park Academy graduate was disciplined as the deepest player in Everton’s midfield diamond.

Davies completed four clearances and two interceptions and blocked one shot.

Point Proven

Everton celebrated their last-ditch equaliser with some gusto. Of course they did.

There’s not much that feels better in football than altering the outcome of a game with virtually its last kick.

It was noticeable, however, that the post-match talk was devoid of any triumphalism.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin was still catching his breath when he stood in front of a television camera and admitted he thought Everton sold themselves short in the opening 45 minutes.

“It’s frustrating that we went two goals down,” said Calvert-Lewin.

“For me, we’re capable of achieving so much more and I feel every team we come up against, we can compete and we can beat them.”

Tom Davies struck a similar note, indicating Everton didn’t pass the ball as efficiently as they wanted prior to half-time.

Carlo Ancelotti called him team’s first-half performance “shy”.

Clearly, within the confines of their dressing room, Everton are setting very high standards.

A point against one of the country’s best teams is regarded as okay and it was similar following the draw with Leicester City 11 days ago.

Everton have met seven of their fellow top-10 teams in the current standings and taken points from six of them.

Ancelotti and his players won’t look past a fast-improving Fulham, who visit Goodison Park for Everton’s next Premier League fixture.

But they face Manchester City and Liverpool before the month is out and the mood music following United suggests Everton will expect to give as good as they get in both matches.

“When we don’t lay a glove and let teams get away from us it’s frustrating," conitnued Calvert-Lewin,  "but we showed our confidence to get back in the game.

“That’s what we’re about and what we need to show more of."

Dynamic Doucoure

Carlo Ancelotti said Everton would come up with something different in a bid to overcome Manchester United after getting nothing from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team in two previous games this season.

Among the tweaks was a switch to a wider role for Abdoulaye Doucoure, operating on the right of a midfield diamond.

Frenchman Doucoure sat deep when United had possession, providing an extra buffer against United’s left-sided duo of Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford.

Ancelotti confessed post-match his team had been too “shy” in the opening 45 minutes, reasoning Everton didn’t go forwards with conviction.

Doucoure naturally strides into advanced positions and he linked-up with Holgate to progress before the break.

The former Watford man was more assertive after the restart, however. He was the furthest Everton player forward when Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s jabbed delivery was pawed at by David De Gea.

Doucoure didn’t celebrate a great deal after turning home the rebound.

Three minutes later, though, Doucoure was momentarily lost in his own joyous world.

Stood close to the right touchline, Doucoure clenched both fists tight to his chest and flashed a beaming smile at the freezing night.

He had just dished up the cross for James Rodriguez to score Everton’s equaliser but Doucoure’s involvement ran deeper than his delivery.

Collecting a short pass from James in the middle of the pitch, Doucoure found Lucas Digne to his left and immediately set off upfield.

He sized up a crowded penalty box and duly pulled away to the right, where Victor Lindelof steered his clearing header.

It was wonderful anticipation from Doucoure and underlined why Ancelotti rates his indefatigable midfielder as such an intelligent footballer.

All night Doucoure recognised when another body was needed to prevent Everton being outnumbered centrally and came infield to help out.

He was comfortable moving inside to provide an extra passing option, too, and brave enough to join attacks, knowing those long legs would speedily transport him back into defence if required.

Docuoure added his name to those of Robert Warzycha, Peter Beardsley and Marouane Felliani as an Everton player to score one goal and assist another at Old Trafford.

Of Doucoure’s 19 successful passes, 11 were directed forwards.

He was sacrificed for Joshua King with nine minutes remaining after carrying out an unfamiliar assignment very well indeed – and was a worthy recipient of the man-of-the-match prize awarded by Evertonians.

Who Cares Where?

Seven wins and two draws from 11 away matches is a startlingly good return and Everton boast one of the Premier League's finest records on the road.

This result, however, is notable for much more than where the match took place.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side were facing opponents who have twice got the better of them this season.

United were collecting their Premier League points at a rate of two per game ahead of Saturday’s fixture.

They’d lost only once in their previous 16 league matches, winning 11 of those games.

The poor form at Old Trafford which dogged United’s early season endeavours is a distant memory, a recent loss to Sheffield United notwithstanding.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team reacted to that disappointment by sticking nine past Southampton on Tuesday and have won five and drawn one of their previous seven at home.

Everton, then, had to overcome one of the Premier League’s form horses and, as Ancelotti pointed out, refine their gameplan for tackling United following that pair of defeats before the turn of the year.

It added up to one of the tallest orders Everton have encountered this season and only grew in difficulty when staring at a two-goal deficit.

The job wasn't finished there either, Everton going right until the final second to grab a point which will be worth as much psychologically as materially.