Tottenham came back from two goals down to earn a point as they produced one of the close football results of the weekend in the Premier League. With goals from Marcus Rashford (44) and Jadon Sancho (7) in the first half, Erik ten Hag’s team looked on track to secure an eight-point lead in fourth place. However, Spurs, still reeling from their 6-1 demolition of Newcastle, which resulted in the dismissal of interim manager Cristian Stellini and the hiring of Ryan Mason, managed to get one back via Pedro Porro (56), and then forced a justifiable equalizer when Son converted Harry Kane’s low cross (79). The home team had plenty of opportunities to win all three points in the second half, but Manchester United will be disappointed with their own inability to take advantage of their early opportunities. Bruno Fernandes’ attempt, which appeared to have the best opportunity to score, hit the underside of the crossbar.
Mason promised in his program notes that he would field a team to “excite” Tottenham fans, but it ended up being more of the same as Manchester United, like Newcastle, rapidly revealed their obvious defensive weaknesses. Rashford was given room to pick up the ball in the middle of the pitch, then drove through two Spurs tackles before releasing Sancho, who took advantage of more shoddy defending to curl in a beautiful goal. At the other end, Spurs lacked the same cutting edge as United, and Richarlison was a prime example of this when he fired too close to David de Gea and then attempted a cutback when he was better positioned for a shot.
After 19 minutes, when Sancho’s deflected effort was saved off the line by Perisic after his first shot had been blocked by Cristian Romero inside the box, the visitors came dangerously close to scoring a second. As Spurs continued to struggle on the pitch and Fraser Foster, who was filling in for the injured Hugo Lloris, had to twice deny Rashford and parry an attempt from Fernandes, the home crowd began to express their displeasure with the club’s chairman Daniel Levy. Levy was also the target of a small ‘Levy Out’ banner in the stands.
Despite the tossing and turning of the first half, Spurs had their own opportunities, but De Gea was unbeatable. He first saved Perisic’s deflected header after a corner with one hand and then made the important block from Perisic immediately before United’s second goal. Once more, it didn’t take long for the visitors to find a way through. Rashford pounced on Fernandes’ long pass, outran Eric Dier, and calmly finished to score his 16th Premier League goal of the season just 26 seconds after De Gea had denied Perisic.
The home crowd appeared to have given up at that moment, but they came out strong in the second half, setting the tone for the comeback as United started to tire after their exertions in Sunday’s FA Cup semifinal victory against Brighton at Wembley. After Kane’s close-range attempt had been stopped, Porro took his goal excellently, taking a touch and then ramming home a strong right-footed finish. However, United nearly responded soon away, with Fernandes slipping past their sluggish defense and putting his shot against the underside of the bar.
But after that, it was all about Spurs. A wonderful opportunity was lost by Son when he misjudged a first-time effort from a cross by the superb Kane, and an even better one was lost by Dier when he misjudged a free header. However, eventually, the strain became too much, and Son drove another Kane center home. The return at least proved they are still battling after the disaster at St James’ Park as the South Korean and his colleagues ran back into their own half in search of a winner that did not materialize. Meanwhile, Manchester United will regret their inability to cling on and another disappointing away defeat to a top-six competitor.
“The fact that we have the worst schedule in the Premier League will not alter. You must accept that. You cannot use that as justification. Our players are needed to be prepared since there is time to heal. They weren’t prepared today,” Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag said. “We lost balls because we believed that 90% was sufficient. Additionally, you surrender goals when you don’t do your positional duties. After the break, things changed; we lost control because nobody feels safe. After that, you must engage in combat. You give up goals when you lose the corresponding fights, lack possession, and create few chances. That is what took place. You must then accept that point and be satisfied.”
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