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1 month ago
15 It was a tough day at the office as Manchester United were second-best in a poor display against Spurs this afternoon. Already behind, and chasing shadows for most of the half, they were down to ten men as Bruno Fernandes saw red. They conceded twice more to heap more pressure on Ten Hag.
It was a comfortable game almost throughout for the visitors though. They scored at the start of each half and added another late on to help with their European hopes. Only poor finishing prevented them from a bigger win.
Erik Ten Hag made two changes from the draw against Palace. Manuel Ugarte made his first start with Marcus Rashford also coming back into the side. Christian Eriksen and Amad Diallo were the players to make way. Harry Maguire missed out entirely due to a knock in training. Ange Postecoglou was forced into one major change as Son Heung-Min was ruled out through injury. Timo Werner replaced him in the attack.
United were guilty of allowing a soft goal from a run from the back mid-week and they didn’t learn their lesson. Mikey van de Van advanced about 60 yards from his centre-back position to lay it on a plate for Brennan Johnson. The former Forest man had the easy task of tapping home to give the away side the lead within three minutes.
United were shell-shocked and took a while to respond. Marcus Rashford burst into the box and shot into the side netting, but he had been adjudged to have been offside. The striker was then off with his passing to the frustration of the Old Trafford faithful.
Spurs almost doubled their lead through Johnson again after a combination between Destiny Udogie and Dejan Kulusevski. The final touch by the winger ended in a shot against the post. Noussair Mazraoui then had to block a cross before it reached Timo Werner.
The best opportunity for United came as Rashford floated a cross to Alejandro Garnacho at the back post. His volley smacked off the post and out to safety. That could have been the leveller, but Tottenham almost went further in front. Kulusevski played an excellent ball through for Werner. The German looked uncertain and saw his final effort saved by the legs of Andre Onana.
The task got even more difficult a few minutes before the break. Bruno Fernandes was having a frustrating afternoon and slipped as he went to tackle James Maddison. He caught the midfielder in the knee and saw red.
Any chance the reds stood depended on a strong start in the second half. Unfortunately, it got worse. Lisandro Martinez was caught high up the pitch and slipped to allow Johnson a clear run on goal. He squared it for Kulusevski to lash home past Onana.
The home keeper then had to produce a double save to deny Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke on the follow-up.
Even as the team was being overrun on the pitch, the fans were still urging them on. There were furtive shouts for a penalty when a Martinez header struck the arm of Cristian Romero. It was by his side, so it was ruled to be fair. Casemiro then had a header just wide from a Garnacho cross. He then had the best chance of the second half he ran onto a long ball from Martinez. He poked his half-volley just wide though.
Whatever chance we had of getting back into the game was extinguished with about quarter of an hour to go. Pape Saar flicked on a corner with his first touch off the bench and Solanke tapped home from about three yards. The united backline was caught static yet again. That saw a flood of fans leave the ground.
As the rain continued to pour down, it felt like an exercise in time wasting. Spurs comfortable enough in their lead and Utd not good enough to create much of note.
Whatever progress had been made in previous weeks, seemed to have gone backwards this week. More questions will be asked of the manager and what his direction is. A team lacking cohesion and togetherness is a dangerous combination for a manager under threat. It doesn’t get any easier in the week ahead. A trip to Porto awaits on Thursday awaits in the Europa League and then away to Aston Villa next Sunday. Spurs have a trip to Ferencvaros before a trip to Brighton on the same days.
Crystal Palace: Andre Onana; Noussair Mazraoui, Lisandro Martinez, Matthjis De Ligt Diego Dalot; Manuel Ugarte (Christian Eriksen 72), Kobee Mainoo (Mason Mount 46 (Amad Diallo 85)), Marcus Rashford (Rasmus Hojlund 72), Bruno Fernandes; Alejandro Garnacho, Joshua Zirkzee (Carlos Casemiro 46)
Subs not used: Altay Bayinder, Victor Lindelof, Antony, Jonny Evans.
Booked: Noussair Mazraoui (34), Diego Dalot (40), Lisandro Martinez (55), Manuel Ugarte (66)
Sent off: Bruno Fernandes (42)
Tottenham Hotspurs: Guglielmo Vicario; Destiny Udogie (Djed Spense 46), Micky van de Ven (Radu Dragusin 81), Cristian Romero, Pedro Porro; James Maddison (Pape Matar Saar 76), Rodrigo Bentancur, Dejan Kulusevski, Timo Werner (Lucas Bergvall 76); Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson (Mikey Moore 76)
Subs not used: Fraser Foster, Yves Bissouma, Archie Gray, Will Lankshear,.
Booked: Brennan Johnson (45+1), Djed Spense (55), Pedro Porro (73)
Sent off: None
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
Stretty News Player of the Match: Dejan Kulusevski
