Manchester United returned to London for the second time in a week for a Premier League match with Tottenham Hotspur at their self-titled stadium. It was a fairly wet evening given the rain, which can be an X-factor in a match. United were looking to continue their run towards the top-4, while Tottenham and interim manager Ryan Mason were looking for a positive response after being drubbed 5-1 by Newcastle last weekend. United’s back line was shuffled by manager Erik ten Hag again, with natural left back Luke Shaw shifting over to center back in a pairing with center back Victor Lindelof. There was also a start for midfielder Christian Eriksen, a former stalwart of the Tottenham midfield.
Although Spurs made a few early runs, it was United out front first just 7 minutes in thanks to winger Jadon Sancho. United had the ball forward in the left channel on a break, and Sancho showed some real confidence to create space for himself before finishing low and into the far corner. Spurs reserve keeper Fraser Forster couldn’t get near it. It was poor close marking from Spurs who probably should have gotten a challenge in, but take nothing away from Sancho for the finish. He has suffered from indecision on the ball this season. He can usually get into a promising area, but then he dawdles on it and the chance evaporates. Not this time though! He knew what he wanted to do with it right away, and he executed it perfectly. United will need more of that from him as the season draws to a close.
Spurs responded fairly well to going a goal down in terms of defending, but they struggled creating chances in attack. They didn’t appear to be on the same page as one another, particularly the forwards and midfielders. Shaw and Lindelof were defending well, and so was right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka. They always seemed to get in the way at the right moment, and United looked dangerous on the break.
Indeed, United’s second goal came from just a situation. Spurs winger Ivan Perisic found himself through on goal on the left wing around 43 minutes, but his shot was straight at keeper David De Gea and the rebound save bounced away towards the near corner. After some tangling over the loose ball, it was eventually played to midfielder Bruno Fernandes. Bruno looked up and spotted striker Marcus Rashford on a run ahead of him, and he played a long ball over the top into his path. Rashford was 1-on-1 with his defender, and after he ran onto the ball in the box he lashed it home past Forster for 2-0! A fantastic run, a fantastic pass, and fantastic finish from United’s top scorer on the season. He is now on 29 goals scored in all competitions! The half came to a close shortly after that, with United in commanding position. The boos from Tottenham supporters were growing louder and louder.
But whatever said to Mason to motivate his players in the locker room, it clearly worked. There was no tactical change for Spurs at all – the players just started playing with more energy and determination. They almost pulled one back after a series of corners in the opening 10 minutes, but they did get one back on 56 minutes via right winger/right back Pedro Porro on 56 minutes. United failed to clear the ball from a corner, and after a series of blocked shots it eventually fell to Porro about 17 yards from the goal. He put in a shot that came off his foot awkwardly, and it flew into the top corner of De Gea’s net. A lucky-ish finish from Porro, but that is what can happen when a team fails to properly clear the ball in their own penalty area. Porro would normally miss from there 8 times out of 10, but today it went in. 2-1.
The goal really energized Tottenham, but the Red Devils should have had a third goal right after that. United had the ball in the box with Bruno on it, and he pulled off a magical nutmeg to put himself through on goal with only Forster to beat. Mysteriously though, he overpowered his shot and struck the crossbar with the goal open. AWB tried to head in the rebound, but Forster had recovered and collected easily. As long as I live, I will never understand how Bruno missed this chance. The goal was basically open for him, but there was far too much power on his shot. A big miss and it would end up costing United dearly.
The final 30 minutes was heavily impacted by the play of the substitutes of both sides. Tottenham’s subs were very good, and United’s were very bad. Midfielder Fred in particular had an absolute shocker, giving the ball away every time he was on it. Also a bad day for deputy left back Tyrell Malacia, and striker Wout Weghorst was totally ineffective. An error from Malacia and right back Diogo Dalot led to Tottenham’s second goal on 79 minutes. Malacia ended up on the wrong side of Spurs striker Harry Kane, who was able to find winger Son Heung-Min at the back post with a delightful cross. Son had missed a good chance just a few minutes earlier, but his scuffed shot found the back of the net this time with De Gea stranded. Credit to Spurs for pushing and getting their equalizer, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a set of substitutes play so collectively poorly for United. Malacia cannot let a player of Kane’s caliber get goal-side of him, because he will either shoot or lay off a killer pass. 2-2.
United did re-establish some possession in the final 10 minutes, but there were no major chances. Midfielder Casemiro maybe could have done better with his header from a Shaw cross late on, but there weren’t enough chances created due to Spurs playing with a back-5 and clogging up the midfield. The match ended at 2-2, with United feeling like the losing side. It was a very disappointing second half, and ETH’s substitutions simply did not work. The players looked absolutely gassed towards the end, and it’s the mark of a very long season with a very thin squad. The drop off in quality between Eriksen and Fred today was absolutely staggering. Eriksen is good when he’s not tired, but Fred has been far too inconsistent this season. This squad will need serious strengthening in the summer if they are to challenge for trophies.
This match was almost a carbon copy of the match against Sevilla earlier this season – a two goal lead going into halftime, only for the squad to choke away the victory through careless play. The supporters and ETH will look at this as two points dropped, although in the grand scheme of things the Red Devils are still in a strong position to finish top-4. They are fourth right now and two points off Newcastle in 3rd, but with a game in hand. The most assuring thing though is that United have a six point lead on both Tottenham and Aston Villa (tied for 5th), and they have two games in hand over both of those clubs.
Next up for United is a return to Old Trafford for a very big match with the aforementioned Aston Villa in the Premier League. Three points in that match sees United put one foot in the top-4 and qualification for the Champions League next season. It won’t be easy though, as Villa and manager Unai Emery are excellent at causing problems for the Red Devils.
4-4-2 