Koeman: Everton much better than last week

Everton drew 1-1 at home against Manchester United in a balanced game that both sides had chances to win. A late first half goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic was canceled out by a penalty from Leighton Baines in the dying minutes.

After the game, manager Ronald Koeman was encouraged by the fighting spirit he saw.

"I am happy about that because we had a good start in the game and we made it difficult for them.

"It starts with the strikers and that is what we need. They can make it much more comfortable for the midfielders, for the defenders. That was much more positive today.

"We can play better but it is a difficult situation at the moment.

"But we needed to improve and that was much better today than last week. We played really very compact and it was difficult for the opponent to create any big chances.

"It starts by making difficult to your opponent when they have the ball. That was the big difference from last week."

Koeman said he felt the dearth of creativity came from a lack of confidence throughout the squad.

"We can play better, have better movements on the ball.

"You saw a lack of confidence on the ball. That is all about the last few results but we will get that back if we show the fighting spirit.

"Of course it was disappointing to get a 1-0 down before half time. I think we did not deserve to lose.

"We showed commitment and qualities and the three subs had a big impact in the game and we were the most dangerous team in the second half. De Gea made two fantastic saves.”

Referee Michael Oliver came under criticism from both quarters for leniency, but Koeman refused to criticize him.

"It is difficult. Maybe if the referee watches it back, it will be a red card.

"We have always discussions if it is red or yellow, a penalty or not but finally I think it is a fair result 1-1 because both teams did not deserve to lose the game.”