Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur 2 – 2 Manchester United FT
Matthijs de Ligt scored an equaliser deep into stoppage time to earn Manchester United a point in a dramatic finale to their Premier League match at Tottenham.
In a game the visitors seemed to have control of, Brazilian striker Richarlison appeared to have won it for Tottenham when he flicked Wilson Odobert’s long-range shot past Senne Lammens.
But in the last of six minutes of injury time, with keeper Lammens up for a Manchester United corner, De Ligt found the net from an acute angle to give his side a point.
There were disbelieving looks from both sides at the end.
Richarlison was almost in tears, having jubilantly celebrated his goal, only to realise it had not proved to be the winner.
Meanwhile, United head coach Ruben Amorim was equally stunned, having watched his side almost toss away a game they seemed certain to win.
Bryan Mbeumo had put United – who finished with 10 men as striker Benjamin Sesko was injured after the visitors had used all five substitutes – ahead in the first half, heading home Amad Diallo’s precise right-wing cross.
When Lammens made excellent saves to deny Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven after the break, Tottenham looked to be heading for their third successive home Premier League defeat.
However, the boos that accompanied Mathys Tel’s introduction for Xavi Simons midway through the second half turned to cheers when he swivelled on to a left wing-cross six minutes from time, evaded the attentions of De Ligt and crashed a shot past Lammens.
The relief inside the stadium was palable – but much more was still to come.
Richarlison, the subject of so much criticism recently, thought he had won it. De Ligt had other ideas.
Tottenham analysis: Defeat, to victory, and finally a draw
Who would be a manager? In those final frantic minutes, Thomas Frank and Amorim must have aged years.
Spurs boss Frank would surely have been preparing for more boos at the final whistle, given his side had been greeted in that manner at half-time and his decision to replace Simons with Tel had been questioned by the fans.
When the dust settles, there are bound to be questions asked of Tottenham’s woeful defending for the first goal, which began with Djed Spence being unable to control a long punt downfield that was chased by Amad Diallo, and eventually needing Romero to come to the rescue.
Tottenham never sorted themselves out after that and Pape Sarr needlessly conceded possession inside his own penalty area, which eventually led to Amad’s cross for Mbeumo.
Too often, the home side failed to make the most of promising attacking positions and defenders Romero and Van de Ven were the biggest threat until the drama at the end unfolded.
It meant Tottenham avoided a fourth home loss of the season but they have still only claimed two points from their last five games at their own stadium in the league, something that will have to be rectified if they are to continue fighting for a Champions League place.
Manchester United analysis: Defensive weakness exposed again
Amorim’s face was a picture at the end, that of someone who couldn’t compute what he had just seen.
A coach who likes to control everything had just been put through the Premier League washing machine by one of those games where little seems to make sense.
On the plus side, United are now five games unbeaten. On the negative, for the second week in succession they failed to win after leading at the break, this time after they had been in control of a game against opponents who, unlike them, were not benefiting from having had a full week to prepare.
They also conceded two goals for the third game in a row – Amorim said on Thursday the leaky defence was a concern and that something has to be done about it. The question is, what?
On Saturday his side suffered after Harry Maguire and Casemiro had gone off. Given neither man seems to be able to complete a full 90 minutes a solution must be found.
As at Forest, United were also undone by crosses, a failing which Amorim said his players had been working to correct this week.
Evidently, there is much more still to do.
