Manchester United 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur – Man United News And Transfer News
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Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday evening.
In the 2nd minute, the intensity already built up as Man United captain Bruno Fernandes made a wreckless tackle to hand the visitors a free kick.
Barely a minute later, United pounced on Spurs as the visitors attempted to hold onto possession.
After reclaiming the ball in his own half, Fernandes hammered the ball forward to Marcus Rashford on the left wing, who dribbled into the box.
While Rashford considered taking a shot, he decided to hold off, with the loose ball knocked to the feet of Rasmus Hojlund who hammered the ball into the back of the net to send Old Trafford into hysterics.
Six minutes in, United launched a rapid counter-attack, with Diogo Dalot’s shot deflected out for a corner.
The resulting cross found the feet of Rashford, whose shot narrowly skimmed past the far post.
Spurs forward Timo Werner came close to scoring on his debut when his header was deflected out by Jonny Evans.
The visitors sent a threatening cross into the box from the corner, with Rodrigo Bentancur’s header veering past keeper Andre Onana with only Dalot on the goal line to clear the ball from danger.
Going into the 15th minute, United continued applying pressure as Rashford won a corner.
While Fernandes’ corner kick was easily dealt with, the home side retained possession, continuing to pressurise the Spurs defence.
19 minutes in, the visitors found their way back into the match when Pedro Porro’s corner kick found the head of an unmarked Richarlison, who had no trouble equalising for Spurs.
Yet again, United have been caught off guard from a set piece.
Clearly, Erik ten Hag has work to do on the training pitch if his team is to stop leaking goals from corner and free-kick territory.
Five minutes later, Wan-Bissaka received a yellow card following a slide tackle on Brennan Johnson.
With seven minutes left to play in the half, Spurs defender Destiny Udogie headered a cross from Rashford into the upright, almost restoring United’s lead.
But it wouldn’t require an error from the Spurs defender to hand United the advantage, the visitors would soon discover.
Following a give-and-go with Hojlund, Rashford let rip a shot from the edge of the box that sailed into the bottom right corner of the Spurs goal, handing United a valuable lead before the break.
Three minutes before half-time, Rashford came close to scoring when he received the ball metres from the Spurs’ goalmouth.
Unfortunately, he was unable to get a sight of goal, with Bentancur dispossessing him as he stalled.
After three minutes of stoppage time were announced, Spurs came within inches of equalising yet again as Porro stepped up to take another corner.
His cross found centre-back Christian Romero, who towered over Kobbie Mainoo and sent his header into the crossbar.
Moments before the break, Hojlund received a careless booking after he kicked the ball out of play.
Seconds after the second half kicked off, Spurs silenced the home fans as Werner picked out Bentancur who was running into the box as a shadow striker.
Bentancur thumped the ball past Onana in a flash, putting Spurs back in the game.
In the 51st minute, an unmarked Richarlison received the ball on the edge of the box and took a grounded shot that Onana did well to save.
Yet again, United’s defence appeared unready to face a Tottenham attack.
In the 58th minute, Christian Eriksen was taken off for Scott McTominay.
Moments later, Hojlund got on the end of a sneaky through ball, sprinting upfield and putting in a ball to Garnacho in the centre only for Spurs to cut out the pass and send it out for a corner.
Shortly after coming on, McTominay looked to put United back in front with a shot from outside the box that skimmed past the far post.
In the 63rd minute, United fans celebrated as centre-back Lisandro Martinez marked his return from injury, replacing Jonny Evans.
While Spurs were able to launch a counter-attack with Brennan Johnson looking poised to beat the offside trap, Onana was able to swoop in and collect the ball in time to extinguish the attack.
The away team seemed bent on dominating possession, with United attempting a few counter-attacks that were unable to bring about any threatening shots on goal.
In the 84th minute, Rashford was fouled on the left side of the penalty box by Porro, handing United a free kick from a highly-threatening position.
Yet again, Fernandes failed to capitalize on a set piece as his ball went out of play.
Rashford’s match came to an end in the 88th minute when he was subbed off for Antony, with the Englishman visibly frustrated by Ten Hag’s decision.
The fourth official’s board lit up with five minutes of stoppage time, handing United enough time to try to clinch a late winner.
Unfortunately it was not to be, as the full-time whistle blew on what was a frustrating affair for United.
Starting XI: Onana, Fernandes, Rashford, Hojlund, Eriksen, Garnacho, Varane, Dalot, Wan-Bissaka, Evans, Mainoo
Subs: McTominay, Martinez, Antony
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