Man Utd 2 Tottenham 2
Ange Postecoglou’s side travelled to Old Trafford with the chance to complete a league double over the Red Devils for the first in 35 years. With Sir Jim Ratcliffe watching on from the stands, Erik ten Hag knew his side needed to show the new owner an impressive display.
Timo Werner made his debut for the visitors. With their skipper away at the Asian Cup, the front line needed to step up in his absence. Tottenham’s loan signing was hoping to show Premier League fans that he is better than the player we all saw at Chelsea.
As a Spurs’ attack broke down, Onana looked to get it forward quickly. Fernandes picked out Rashford brilliantly with a threaded pass, as he looked to create a shooting opportunity, the ball broke to Rasmus Hojlund in the box.
The Danish striker shifted the ball onto his left foot and thundered it into the roof of the net. Vicario had no time to react before it was in the back of the net. Old Trafford erupted and Hojlund celebrated like this was a task on Squid Games, with his life depending on it.
Credit: @ManUtd
Tottenham looked to find a way back into the game and Johnson picked out Werner at the back post with a cross. Jonny Evans got a slight touch on his header, which took it narrowly wide of the back stick with Onana just a bystander watching.
As the resulting corner came in, Bentancur met it at the near post but Dalot was there to head it off the line. Having made a slow start to the game, Tottenham were starting to come to life in Manchester. United had been warned.
Postecoglou’s side had their fourth corner of the game and Porro’s delivery was met with a glancing header from Richarlison before it went into the far corner. The Brazilian had found some form with that being his sixth goal in his last six games.
Rashford picked the ball up on the left and looked to drift a ball into Hojlund in the box. It was just over the striker but as Udogie headed it, the ball came back off his own post. Only the defender will know what he was trying to do, but he had got away with it.
Ten Hag’s side continued to press and as Fernandes found Rashford, he played a neat one-two with Hojlund. The Man Utd attacker took one touch before knocking it through the legs of van de Ven, with the ball nestling into the bottom corner of the goal.
Just before the interval Skipp drilled a brilliant ball into the path of Werner. He had a clear run on the goal but dragged his shot wide of the far post. Spurs continued to push forward and won a corner. Porro’s cross was met by Romero but his effort rattled off the crossbar.
Credit: @SpursOfficial
Both sides were starting to look like ships during Sir Francis Drakes’ battle with the Spanish Armada. They looked so threatening at times but you knew if someone hit them in the right place the floodgates were always at risk of opening.
With less than a minute gone after the restart, Werner picked the ball up out wide and spotted the run of Bentancur. As he strode into the box, his touches took him wide, but he unleashed a left-footed shot to draw the sides level.
While many will say it was struck with such venom Onana had no chance, a keeper should not be getting beaten so easily at his near post. He crouches down and makes himself a small target, akin to David Seaman for that Ryan Giggs’ goal all those years ago. Touche.
The visitors continued to look for more goals and Richarlison struck a shot first time from inside the box but he did not catch as he would have liked and it turned into a routine save for Onana. Not something you hear too often there.
For a period, this game turned into end to end stuff. The ball dropped to McTominay in the box but he dragged his shot wide of the post when he really should be working Vicario in the Tottenham goal. Big chance for Erik ten Hag’s side.
Spurs thought they should have had a penalty when Udogie went down in the box but it was a great decision by the referee to turn the claims away. The replay showed Garnacho didn’t touch him at all and the defender had thrown himself to the ground, trying to buy a penalty.
Garnacho then did well in the Tottenham final third as he picked out McTominay perfectly in the box. It was a free header, on the edge of the six yard box, but somehow Man Utd’s top scorer headed well over the crossbar. This was to prove costly.
The sides shared the points and both managers will feel that on another day, they could have won this game. Tottenham missed the chance to go within three points of Liverpool, while Man Utd moved up to seventh, still thirteen points behind the leaders.
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