Spurs come from behind twice to draw against Man Utd at Old Trafford
With Sir Jim Ratcliffe in attendance for the first time as prospective part-owner of the club, United were out to improve on a miserable return of just two first-half home goals in the PL so far this season.
And inside three minutes, they’d done just that as a Destiny Udogie challenge on Marcus Rashford dropped the ball at the feet of Rasmus Højlund, and the 20-year-old got it out of his feet and rifled it into the roof of the net to score for a second consecutive league game.
Despite falling behind, Spurs were comfortably the better side in the early stages, and after Timo Werner and Rodrigo Bentancur had been denied headed equalisers, Richarlison put his in the back of the net, glancing Pedro Porro’s delivery into the far corner for his sixth goal in as many PL games.
Ange Postecoglou’s men were dominant in the wake of drawing level, but when that never translated to clear-cut chances, they seemed vulnerable, particularly down their right.
And that’s exactly where United’s second came from, as Rashford exchanged a one-two with Højlund before rolling the ball into the far corner to end a 14-match scoring drought for his club at Old Trafford.
A breathless first half wasn’t quite done there, though, as Cristian Romero rattled a stoppage-time header against the bar to serve as a timely warning for Erik ten Hag’s men at the interval.
The Dutchman would therefore have been furious to see his side pegged back for the second time within a minute of the restart.
Romero’s sweeping pass from the back sliced United open, and after picked out by Werner’s cutback, Bentancur dropped a shoulder to glide past Jonny Evans before slamming past André Onana.
Aside from a wayward Scott McTominay effort, United offered precious little after the break as the Old Trafford crowd grew restless.
The Scot came the closest to a deciding goal either way, as he was left criminally unmarked in the Spurs area to be found by Alejandro Garnacho’s cross, but he inexplicably failed to keep his effort down to ensure the spoils were shared.
United’s top-four ambitions were dealt a blow after being ahead twice and failing to see out the win, while Spurs missed out on the chance to complete a first league double over the Red Devils since 1989/90.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Rodrigo Bentancur (Tottenham Hotspur)
