Ole Gunnar Solskjaer knows Manchester United cannot afford slip-up against West Bromwich Albion

Victory at the Baggies vital for Red Devils after disappointment of missing out on three points against Everton last time out in Premier League

MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: David de Gea 5. Quiet first half bar Richarlison benefitting from a Lindelof mix up. The second half is when it all went wrong. Should have done better for Doucoure’s goal after a weak parry. Could do little about second but quickly lashed a ball over his full-backs near the end rather than trying to help see game out. Could he have come out more for Everton’s third? Getty Images

Aaron Wan-Bissaka 7. Played Calvert-Lewin onside early on but had a fruitful first half where he found much space to get forward and cross. Passed to Fernandes to score his wonder goal. Hesitation cost him possession in second and the whole defence could have done better on all three goals. Reuters

Victor Lindelof 6. Early charge forward and keen to carry the ball into the Everton half as United dominated against a team who’d won their previous four away games – though didn’t create too many chances. Made a mess on the turn to allow Richarlison – who he’d previously dominated - a shot after 41 minutes and struggled with pace of Everton’s forwards in a woeful start to second half. EPA

Harry Maguire 6. Fine against Calvert-Lewin in first half but then weak on Everton’s first goal and found wanting on Everton’s second as his defence failed to clear their lines and gave James Rodriguez space to shoot. Fell to ground and lost possession late on as United hearts went in mouths. PA Images

Luke Shaw 7. Fine on Calvert-Lewin and, like Wan-Bissaka, could get forward because of Everton’s narrow diamond formation. Brilliant combination with Cavani after 46 minutes before he shot on target. Set up McTominay’s goal. Booked. EPA

Scott McTominay 7. Strong tackles to break up spirited Everton start. Pushed forward and scored – again at Old Trafford – with a header which looked to be United’s winner … until heartbreak seconds from time. AFP

Paul Pogba 6. January’s player of the month at the club and started after being rested midweek but went off after 39 minutes injured and clutching his thigh. Unfortunate. AP

Mason Greenwood 8. Super ball from deep to Shaw in an early attack which went nowhere but exposed Everton’s lack of width. Crossed well and United’s liveliest player in the first half, passing short and long with both feet, crossing and taking players on. AP

Bruno Fernandes 7. Floored by early Davies tackle and barely touched the ball in the first 25 minutes as Everton’s formation choked him. More involved after the opening goal, then he produced the moment of the match, ignoring a Fred pass, then receiving the ball back from Wan-Bissaka and nonchalantly shooting into the roof of the goal. Spectacular. PA Images

Marcus Rashford 6. Perfect cross with beautiful technique for Cavani’s opener. Confident going forward and combined well with well balanced attack around him. Had two chances to get the fourth. Needs to be more clinical. Getty Images

Edinson Cavani 8. Scored in both wins v Everton this season and took 24 minutes to do the same, pausing to time his movement and waiting to head in Rashford’s cross. Intelligent in movement and with simple passes. Shame he wasn’t at the end of some of the chances created. AP

SUB: Fred 6. On for injured Pogba after 41minutes to resume partnership with McTominay. Weak shot wide almost immediately. Poor over hit cross ended a fine 63rd minute attack. Needed to provide more cover. Getty Images

SUB: Axel Tuanzebe NA. On for Greenwood in 92nd minute to win a minute in time added on. Booked and gave a foul away which led to late equaliser. It could not have gone worse for the defender. Reuters

EVERTON RATINGS: Robin Olsen, 5 - A mixed evening for the Swede who thwarted Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford with smart saves, but was beaten emphatically by Edinson Cavani’s powerful header and a Bruno Fernandes screamer, while the less said about United’s third the better. EPA

Mason Holgate, 5 - It’s never an easy job defending at Old Trafford and proved to be the case for Holgate who showed some early nerves with a sliced clearance that dropped kindly for Cavani, while Marcus Rashford always had his number on a tough night for full-back. AFP

Michael Keane, 6 - Started brightly with important interventions to keep Victor Lindelof and Cavani at bay. He was taken out of the game by Rashford’s superb delivery as United went in front, but his clipped ball into the box set up Dominic Calvert-Lewin to make it 3-3. EPA

Ben Godfrey, 5 - It took a brave header from the young defender to prevent Cavani’s chipped cross from reaching Fernandes, who caught him in the face for his troubles. Like his teammates he struggled to deal with the energy of Rashford and the menace of Cavani. AFP

Lucas Digne, 6 - Failed to stop Rashford’s cross for the opener and struggled with Mason Greenwood's pace in spells, but his teasing cross from the left was instrumental in the build-up to the equaliser, while he clattered the side of the post late on. Reuters

Abdoulaye Doucoure, 7 - Kept his side in the game at both ends, first smashing Paul Pogba’s perilous header away to safety with Scott McTominay lurking, before tapping into an empty net after David de Gea could only parry Calvert-Lewin’s strike. Reuters

Tom Davies, 5 - The 22-year-old became the latest man to rile Fernandes when he clattered into United’s talisman from behind. He started well, but ultimately couldn’t contain a fired up Fernandes who sold him the wrong way before unleashing a beautiful strike for 2-0. EPA

Andre Gomes, 6 - Like Davies, it was an impressive start from the Portugal international who snuffed out a string of passes intended for his compatriot Fernandes and Cavani in the early exchanges, but that task became increasingly more difficult. Reuters

James Rodriguez, 6 - Talk about a game of two halves! Once again guilty of fizzling into the background in a carless first half, he started the second superbly and produced a wonderful touch before hammering past De Gea into the bottom corner to level the game. AFP

Richarlison, 7 - The Brazilian always looked lively and was constantly a threat when Everton were able to switch the play to the left. Frustratingly his teammates didn’t look to pick him out enough, despite a series of bursting runs in the channel. EPA

Dominic Calvert-Lewin, 8 - You just can’t stop him! The forward dragged his side back into the game when his effort from a tight angle was fumbled straight to Abdoulaye Doucoure by De Gea, and he was on-hand again to stab home a dramatic equaliser for his 17th of the season. AFP

SUB: Gylfi Sigurdsson, 7 - Brought on to replace James Rodriguez just shy of the hour-mark as Carlo Ancelotti searched for an unlikely winner, only for his side to fall behind a couple of minutes later, although he asked a couple of questions with calculated set-pieces. Reuters

SUB: Alex Iwobi, NR - Replaced Tom Davies for the final quarter-of-an-hour, but he had little impact and failed to trouble Shaw. EPA

SUB: Josh King, NR - The former Red Devil replaced Doucoure as the Toffees made one last attempt to unstick their opponents. He imposed himself well and drew the foul that led to a last-gasp leveller. EPA

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer knows Manchester United have to get back to winning ways in the Premier League at West Bromwich Albion and kick on heading into a crucial stage of the season.

An impressive festive period saw the Red Devils enter the halfway point of a season top of the standings for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired as champion in 2012/13.

United were top until City thrashed West Brom on January 26, with Solskjaer's men wasting the chance to return to the summit when falling to a shock 2-1 home loss to rock-bottom Sheffield United the following night.

Pep Guardiola's men have kept their foot down since then and now sit five points clear with a game in hand after second-placed United drew with Arsenal and Everton either side of the 9-0 annihilation of nine-man Southampton.

Tuesday's 1-0 extra-time win against West Ham in the FA Cup fifth round provided a welcome shot in the arm but Solskjaer knows they cannot afford any slip ups against Sam Allardyce's Baggies on Sunday.

"Of course it's an important game for us this weekend," the United manager, who saw Leicester City jump into second place on Saturday after their 3-1 win over Liverpool, said.

"It's an important spell. It's time now that every game you tick one off and there's less and less possibility to catch up on points on the teams in front of you.

"That's what we want to do. That's what we're here to do. Sunday's a big one for us in that respect to get back on winning ways.

"The two points dropped against Everton was disappointing when it's the last kick of the game.

"But we bounced back really well in the cup against West Ham. We're through, we're in the quarters and that was a good step in the right direction again, another clean sheet."

Tuesday's win over the Hammers helped shake off the disappointment of Dominic Calvert-Lewin securing Everton a 3-3 league draw with the last kick of the ball last Saturday.

An FA Cup quarter-final trip to Leicester is the reward for United, who are still in with a shot at Premier League glory and start their Europa League campaign this week against Real Sociedad in the last-32.

Asked what he sees as a successful season for United and at which point his success has to be measured in trophies, Solskjaer said: "You always go into every season trying to improve.

"If you improve, that's a step forward. Is it a big enough step forward? We'll have to see at the end.

"If we end up with trophies. We're still in competitions. We lost in the semis of the Carabao Cup [to Man City], we're in the quarters of the FA Cup, we're still in Europe and we're second in the league.

"At the moment it looks like we've improved but we're going into the deciding period of the season so it's now that we have to kick on."

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Manchester United 1 West Ham 0: FA Cup player ratings