Manchester United blew a slim lead at Tottenham Hotspur in Premier League action on Saturday, failing to capitalize on a slow-paced game and capitulating in the final minutes.
Ruben Amorim’s side was shuffled
a bit for the occasion, moving Amad into the front three with Noussair Mazraoui at wing back and Bryan Mbeumo on the left side of Matheus Cunha at forward.
The Reds struggled to create any kind of chance, and only saw sight of goal when they scored the opening goal of the game.
Bryan Mbeumo got on the end of a cross from Amad in the 32nd minute of the match, calmly steering it past Guglielmo Vicario to break a fairly pedestrian-paced deadlock.
To that point, Spurs had seen two decent chances miss and Matheus Cunha had an effort blocked. That was it.
In fact, Mbeumo’s goal was the last effort for either team until the second half, highlighting the limited attacking options on the day for both sides.
Cristian Romero arguably had the best chance of the game just 10 minutes after the restart, a right-footed attempt which Senne Lammens dealt with more comfortably than could have been given the quality of the opportunity for the hosts. A set-piece opportunity fell to Joao Palhinha just moments later, also dealt with, and it wouldn’t be until the final minutes that Spurs threatened again.
The next shot came from Mathys Tel, a take on the turn past Matthijs De Ligt to fire into the corner and stun a Reds team that had done little to threaten, but also seen little to be threatened by in the second half. Amorim was forced to sub off Harry Maguire because of an injury, which dealt a blow to the backline’s ability to deal with those sorts of situations, but Casemiro also came off for Manuel Ugarte, which took away the best midfielder on the pitch for the Reds.
The swing of momentum for Spurs was nearly dealt a blow with a chance for Benjamin Sesko, who saw the ball clipped by Mickey Van de Ven before he could get the shot off. Sesko suffered an injury in the process and had to go into the dressing room, leaving United down to 10 men with no extra subs in the final minutes.
Spurs capitalized, scoring through Richarlison on a corner in stoppage time, but there was time yet for United to find their own moment. Matthijs De Ligt headed home an equalizer at the death, resulting from a desperation lob on a chaotic corner kick routine, which even Senne Lammens came forward for.
An astonishing final 15 minutes to a slow and stale game was certainly a proper wake-up in the early window of matches, but United will still be disappointed not to have finished off a win in the first place.
The Reds go again in two weeks against Everton.
