EVERTON CURRENT FORM -
Everton 3 Manchester United 3
SEPTEMBER 11: Barclays Premier League at Goodison Park.
Aston Villa 1 Everton 0
AUGUST 29: Barclays Premier League at Villa Park.
Everton 5 Huddersfield 1
AUGUST 25: Carling Cup second round at Goodison Park.
Everton 1 Wolves 1
AUGUST 21: Barclays Premier League at Goodison Park.
Blackburn 1 Everton 0
AUGUST 14: Barclays Premier League at Ewood Park.
EVERTON'S LAST GAME - EVERTON 3 MAN UTD 3
Howard, Hibbert (Coleman 69), Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Osman, Heitinga (Yakubu 69), Arteta, Pienaar, Fellaini, Cahill. Subs Not Used: Mucha, Bilyaletdinov, Beckford, Neville, Gueye.
Everton scored twice in stoppage time to snatch a dramatic 3-3 draw at home to Manchester United, who left Wayne Rooney out of their squad after a week of allegations about his private life.
Rooney did not even travel to Goodison Park as manager Sir Alex Ferguson, on the occasion of his 700th Premier League match, claimed he wanted to protect the 24-year-old from abuse from the fans with whom he used to be a favourite.
The disruption appeared to affect his team-mates early on as they fell behind to a Steven Pienaar goal but Darren Fletcher, Nemanja Vidic and Dimitar Berbatov put United well ahead before the Toffees' stunning late comeback through Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta.
Ferguson has overseen plenty of player controversies during his lengthy tenure at Old Trafford, dealing with the likes of David Beckham's celebrity lifestyle and Roy Keane's unique brand of criticism.
However, leaving out a player to protect him from opposition fans is unprecedented and surely unlikely to be repeated.
Whether it affected the overall result is open to debate but when the England international next appears, likely to be in Tuesday's Champions League clash against Rangers he will get nothing less than a rousing Old Trafford reception.