In a game dominated by both erratic and impressive goalkeeping moments, none of the two sides could conjure up a winner.
Man United therefore miss the chance to close the gap to fourth-placed Chelsea and are now level on points with sixth-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers, who defeated Tottenham Hotspurs 3-2 in Sunday’s other league game.
David De Gea endured a heart-in-mouth moment as early as the 3rd minute when his attempted clearance was charged down by Dominic Calvert-Lewin, bouncing into the net for a bizarre opener for the hosts.
The Spanish goalkeeper atoned for his error just two minutes later when he dived low to save Calvert-Lewin’s shot after the Englishman charged in on goal.
United threatened to equalise and Nemanja Matic struck the Everton bar with a thunderous strike in the 7th minute before the Serbian stung the Jordan Pickford’s arms with another effort four minutes later.
Impressive winter signing Bruno Fernandes levelled for the visitors with a long range effort which beat Pickford at his near post in the 31st minute.
After the break, Gylfi Sigurdsson struck the Man United post with a wonderful free-kick that had De Gea beaten in the 57th minute.
Pickford came to Everton’s rescue in stoppage time when he produced a stunning double save; first blocking Fernandes’ effort with his fist before flying across his goal to keep out substitute Odion Ighalo’s goal-bound follow-up.
There was late drama when Calvert-Lewin squeezed in an effort inside De Gea’s left post but Sigurdsson was deemed to be in an offside position, blocking the view of the goalkeeper and the goal was chopped off.
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti went too far with his protests for the disallowed goal after the final whistle and was sent off by the referee.