David De Gea’s error for Manchester United was cancelled out by Everton’s Jordan Pickford as goalkeeping mistakes dominated in a disappointing but controversial 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s 13th league goal of the season after just three minutes came courtesy of a rebounded De Gea clearance while Bruno Fernandes’ superb start to life at Old Trafford was given a helping hand by the England number one.

Neither goalkeeper covered themselves in glory, which was indicative of a match in which January signing Fernandes stood out as the dominant creative force by scoring for the third successive match and being at the heart of his side’s best work.

But even his considerable efforts could not secure back-to-back away league victories for the first time in 13 months and had it not been for VAR they would have suffered a controversial added-time defeat.

A seated Gylfi Sigurdsson was ruled to have been offside when Calvert-Lewin’s shot deflected in off Harry Maguire, leading to Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti being shown a red card for his protests to referee Chris Kavanagh after the final whistle.

While Calvert-Lewin has added goals in the current campaign, the third-minute opener was more about De Gea delaying long enough for him to get in a block the ball into an empty net.

But if there is one goalkeeper who has been under more scrutiny over the last few months it is Pickford and, after a clean-through Calvert-Lewin had been denied a second by De Gea, the focus shifted to the England number one.

Djibril Sidibe, a replacement for the injured Seamus Coleman, had given the ball away to Nemanja Matic playing out from a goal kick and when it was quickly moved forward Fernandes unleashed a low shot which was dipping but should have been saved.

United struggled in the second half, but when Fernandes did find a way through Pickford produced his best with a double save from him and Ighalo, while De Gea and VAR did similarly to stop Sigurdsson and Calvert-Lewin.