Premier League: Manchester United 1 Everton 1
JOSE Mourinho says some of his Manchester United players are troubled by a lack of confidence after their 1-1 draw against Everton saw them drop more Premier League points at Old Trafford.
Phil Jagielka gave Everton the lead midway through the first half but United's pressure eventually paid off in added time when Zlatan Ibrahimovic converted a penalty.
The result extended United's unbeaten run in the Premier League to 20 games but it was their ninth stalemate at home this season – the most in the top flight.
United have won just once at home in the league in 2017, with the likes of West Brom, Bournemouth and Hull each taking a point away from the Theatre of Dreams since the turn of the year.
And Mourinho was left frustrated, despite Ibrahimovic's late intervention, with United languishing four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City with nine games to play.
Mourinho, speaking to BT Sport 1, said: "The performance was not very good.
"The spirit in the second half was phenomenal, but with some players really in trouble – some by the physical point of view, some others clearly with the confidence levels low.
"It was deja vu in many things, but I have to admit we played better football than in some other matches. We had a few chances. We hit the post as always. The opponent goalkeeper played very well as always."
The Portuguese refused to criticise the officials for disallowing an Ibrahimovic header in the second half, with replays proving inconclusive as to whether the Swede was offside.
Mourinho added: "With the VAR (video assistant referees) we win this game 2-1 because it is not offside.
"It is a difficult one for the linesman, I am not critical of him at all, I just say when the VAR comes it will help everyone, especially them."
The Toffees took the lead midway through the first half through Jagielka, who hooked home Ashley Williams' flick-on from a Kevin Mirallas corner.
United almost levelled from Daley Blind's free-kick but Joel Robles did well to keep it out and then watched on as Ander Herrera hit the bar from the rebound.
Substitute Paul Pogba also struck the crossbar with a header from Ashley Young's free-kick but Ibrahimovic's penalty – after a handball which saw Williams sent off – salvaged a point.
"I think we deserved a little bit more," said Ibrahimovic. "We conceded our goal by a mistake, their goal came out of nothing.
"We cannot afford these mistakes, they are very important points, especially when the table is like it is.
"At the end we equalised. We were attacking for most of the game, we had good chances, but we have to do more."
Everton fell to a 3-1 defeat in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool on Saturday but Toffees boss Ronald Koeman was satisfied with his side's response despite the "painful" end to the game.
Koeman said: "I'm pleased. I was proud of the team (after the Liverpool game) and I'm still proud.
"Our defending was terrific, it was really painful how we don't win the game. Yes, it was a penalty, but one minute before the end of the game it is always really painful.
"I was really confident in our defending, but (we needed to be) a little bit more clever maybe in the final pass because we got a lot of space."
Leicester 2 Sunderland 0
DAVID Moyes endured more misery at Sunderland slid closer to relegation from the Premier League after a 2-0 defeat at resurgent Leicester.
Moyes is facing a Football Association charge following his ill-advised comments to a BBC reporter and now seems certain to be looking at Championship football next season.
Islam Slimani and Jamie Vardy scored second half goals to power the Foxes into the top 10 and give boss Craig Shakespeare his sixth straight win.
Slimani had only been on the field for seven minutes when he nodded home a Marc Albrighton cross, before Vardy found the top corner 12 minutes from time.
The manner of their defeat meant Sunderland have now failed to score in their last five games and languish eight points from safety.
Watford 2 West Brom 0
TROY Deeney scored his 100th league goal for Watford as the 10-man Hornets climbed to ninth with a 2-0 win over West Brom.
M'Baye Niang's stunning early strike put Watford in front at Vicarage Road before Deeney doubled his side's advantage with a scruffy finish soon after half-time.
Hornets defender Miguel Britos was shown a second yellow card for bringing down Salomon Rondon with 25 minutes left but the hosts held on to register back-to-back league victories for only the third time this season.
The result means Watford sit seven points behind eighth-placed West Brom in the table, although the Baggies have played one game fewer.
Burnley 1 Stoke 0
BURNLEY took a huge step towards securing top-flight survival as they ended an eight-match winless streak with a gritty 1-0 triumph over Stoke.
George Boyd's first-time finish in the 58th minute proved enough for the Clarets, but Marko Arnautovic spurned a series of fine chances for the visitors.
