They put you through it. My word, they put you through it.But that is Everton, and they steadfastly refuse to change.From despair to salvation and then back again, the picture at the end of Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United was of flailing limbs, both on the touchline, as players mobbed late, late equaliser-scorer Ainsley Maitland-Niles, and in the stands.Members of the club’s in-house commentary team embraced fans in front of them; manager David Moyes punched the air. Supporters stayed behind to serenade a threadbare squad that already seems close to breaking point just three games into their 2026-27 Premier League season.Everton’s staff and substitutes pour onto the pitch as Maitland-Niles scores (Peter Powell/Getty Images)Everton were defiant, after the sort of chaotic, turbulent week that they do best. Fortunately for Moyes and the club’s hierarchy, this team and their supporters wear defiance well too, because it feels likely they will need to tap into that spirit countless times over the coming months if they are to overcome the obvious challenges in front of them.There has been so much said and written about their agonising end to the summer transfer window; of the failure to sign adequate full-back cover, player departures and, more pertinently, the late collapse of a move for United States international Folarin Balogun that has left Moyes with just one recognised senior striker.The irony of today is that it was the contribution of the signing they did get over the line on Tuesday, Maitland-Niles, which ended up grabbing the headlines. And he may not have even made the pitch had midfielder James Garner not succumbed to cramp minutes after moving to right-back in place of Merlin Rohl.The clock read 95:10 when the 29-year-old, on as a 77th-minute substitute, made his telling intervention. His effort arrowed, like a missile, into the top corner of the south goal at Hill Dickinson Stadium before ’keeper Senne Lammens could move.Not bad for someone who scored only six times in 119 appearances for France’s Lyon over the previous three seasons. “Words can’t describe how I feel right now,” Maitland-Niles, seemingly still in disbelief, told the BBC post-match.