Manchester United were a goal and a man up with twelve minutes left at Old Trafford and still did not win. Dominic Solanke headed in Sandro Tonali's cross in the second minute of stoppage time, and ten-man Tottenham left with a 1-1 draw. United were booed off at half-time and again at the end.
A first half United did not play in
Tottenham were the better side before the break. By half an hour United had not had a shot. "We couldn't find a way to get ourselves into the game. With the ball, without the ball, we were off it," Michael Carrick told Sky Sports.
Solanke, captain for the day, felt Spurs should have been out of sight. "In the first half, we played so well. Dominated the majority and should have been a couple of goals ahead," he told Match of the Day. "I probably should've had three goals today."
Mbeumo
United improved after half-time and Carlos Baleba came on for his debut. On 73 minutes Matheus Cunha played in Bryan Mbeumo, who scored left footed from the left of the box into the bottom right corner.
"We took time to get into the game, but we played well in the second half," Mbeumo said. "In the first half, that wasn't us, we had to change."
The headbutt
Five minutes later, Rodrigo Bentancur, on as a second-half substitute for Lucas Bergvall, launched the ball away after a run of heavy challenges. Luke Shaw shoved him to the ground. Bentancur got up and moved his head into Shaw, who went down holding his face, and both benches piled in.
Stuart Atwell showed Bentancur a straight red, and VAR checked and confirmed it. "He puts his head into Shaw with some force, that's violent conduct," the VAR said, according to the Premier League's Match Centre. Shaw and Jan Paul van Hecke were both booked.
92 minutes
United did not kill the game. Tonali crossed and Solanke headed into the bottom right corner. It was Tottenham's first away league goal of the season.
"That's two late goals which have hurt us, and things look very different," Carrick said. "To get the game as we wanted it, in such a good position, we should see it through."
De Zerbi kisses Bentancur
Roberto De Zerbi defended his player's spirit, if not his action. "I kissed Rodrigo, and I said thanks, because it's clear it's a mistake from Rodrigo, because it's not the right reaction in football, but now Tottenham needs to react," he said. "It's a bad way, it's not the right way, but I kissed Bentancur in the dressing room because we need this reaction, this type of reaction with character."
"We did not deserve to lose, for sure," he told Sky.
Two clubs in trouble
United are 12th with six points from six games: one win, three draws, two defeats. It is their worst start to a league season since 1986-87, and they have gone four matches without a win. "It hurts a lot because I care about this club," Carrick said. "We need to get back to winning games."
Tottenham are 18th with three points and still have no league win this season. The draw lifted them off the bottom, but they are in the relegation zone on goals scored.
