Everton did get off the mark, though, beginning life in their new waterfront home at Bramley-Moore Dock in Liverpool with a 2-0 win over Brighton, thanks to an impressive display by new boy Jack Grealish.
United were looking to follow up a mostly encouraging display in defeat to Arsenal in the opening round last weekend and missed a chance to take a first-half lead against Fulham when Bruno Fernandes blazed a penalty over the crossbar, moments after stumbling into the referee.
It needed an own-goal by Fulham striker Rodrigo Muniz, who deflected in a header at a corner from United's Leny Yoro, to give United the lead in the 58th.
Ruben Amorim's team couldn't hold on as substitute Emile Smith Rowe poked home a cross from Alex Iwobi for the 73rd-minute equaliser.
It means no United player has yet to score a goal this season following an off-season when the club spent around Stg 200million ($A415 million) on revamping their attack with the additions of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko.
In his first start for Everton, Grealish showed glimpses of the player who once was the poster boy of English soccer at Manchester City.
The England forward, who's on loan from City, dribbled into the area and crossed for fellow winger Iliman Ndiaye to volley home the first goal of a new era for Everton following the team's emotional departure from Goodison Park, their long-time home.
Coincidentally, Ndiaye also scored the last goal at Goodison in May.
By providing a lay-off for James Garner to drive home Everton's second goal from outside the area, Grealish grabbed a second assist of the game — as many as he managed in total across the past two Premier League seasons at City.
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved a penalty from Danny Welbeck to the delight of the home fans among the 51,759 inside their new stadium that was built in the hope of taking an underachieving club in recent years to a new level.
It was Everton's first win of the season, after a 1-0 loss at Leeds in the opening round.
Crystal Palace fans weren't afraid to make their feelings known about Nottingham Forest during the teams' 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park.
Palace, the FA Cup winners last season, were demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League last month for breaching UEFA rules on club ownership, in a saga the club believes was influenced by Forest and owner Evangelos Marinakis, who benefited by being promoted to the Europa League at Palace's expense.
A spicy pre-match banner took a pop at Marinakis, as did some abusive chants from Palace's supporters that also targeted UEFA.
Ismaila Sarr gave Palace a 37th-minute lead before Callum Hudson-Odoi equalised in the 57th for Forest, whose manager Nuno Espirito Santo was in the dugout for the match despite concerns about his job amid rising tensions with Marinakis over the summer.
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