Manchester United gives it away against Tottenham and can be happy with a point


Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 11:10 PM• Rian Rosendaal • Last update: 23:17

Tottenham Hotspur have recovered somewhat from Sunday’s 6-1 defeat to Newcastle United. Manchester United led 0-2 on Thursday evening and nothing seemed to be wrong, but the Spurs fought their way to a point: 2-2. Jadon Sancho scored his fifth goal of the season and Marcus Rashford also found the net. Tottenham came back in the second half through goals from Pedro Porro and Heung-min Son. The team of interim manager Ryan Mason, the successor to the fired Cristian Stellini, is probably the most satisfied with the point in the exciting football battle.

At Tottenham, Hugo Lloris was missing against Newcastle United on Sunday, leaving Fraser Forster under the crossbar. The fit Clément Lenglet started in a three-man defense, together with Cristian Romero and Eric Dier. The four-man midfield consisted of Porro, Oliver Skipp, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Ivan Perisic from right to left. Son and Richarlison had to provide the supply to Harry Kane. Ten Hag kept faith in David de Gea, who excelled against Brighton, who had to deal with Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Viktor Lindelöf, Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot. Casemiro and Christian Eriksen provided the balance in midfield. The offensive intentions came from Antony, Bruno Fernandes and Sancho. Rashford was the point of contact in the front this time. Wout Weghorst and Tyrell Malacia were back on the bench, as was Arnaut Danjuma.

Tottenham was already 5-0 behind against Newcastle after twenty minutes on Sunday and the start against Manchester United was also dramatic. Sancho was able to enter the box from the left, and then hit the far corner unimpeded: 0-1. Tottenham tried to equalize quickly through Richarlison, but Richarlison came across De Gea and was also offside. Almost halfway through the first half, Sancho’s shot was blocked and Perisic cleared the goal scorer’s shot off the line. Tottenham became more dangerous, but the visitors came after a smooth counter to 0-2 due to a hard bang from Rashford from within the penalty area. The great pass came from Fernandes. Shortly afterwards, the half-time signal sounded in North London.

The home club did not let it go and came to 1-2 shortly after the break. Kane’s shot went through Shaw to Porro, who rammed the ball hard into the top corner. Fernandes then missed an excellent opportunity: his shot hit the crossbar. After an hour of play, Ten Hag decided to bring in Fred and Anthony Martial, replacing Sancho and Eriksen. Tottenham meanwhile got better and better and it was Wan-Bissaka who prevented Perisic from heading in. Son should have made it 2-2 after a good action by Kane, but the attacker shot wide. An open header opportunity was then wasted on Dier, to the horror of the fiercely sympathetic Tottenham crowd.

Ten Hag intervened again with twenty minutes to play: Weghorst relieved Antony and Malacia took the place of Wan-Bissaka. At Tottenham, Mason brought Danjuma within the lines. Tottenham kept fighting for at least a point until the end, thanks to Son. The South Korean did not hit the ball very well, but nevertheless he signed for the well-deserved equalizer ten minutes before the final whistle. Son was relieved a few minutes later by Japhet Tanganga. The game was briefly stopped due to injury treatment for Kane and four minutes were added. However, there was no winner from the very entertaining encounter, thanks in part to Casemiro’s header that just flew over. Manchester United remain firmly fourth, while Tottenham move up to fifth.

No. Team m W G v +/- Pnt
1 Arsenal 33 23 6 4 40 75
2 Manchester City 31 23 4 4 53 73
3 Newcastle United 32 17 11 4 32 62
4 Manchester United 30 18 5 7 9 59
5 Aston Villa 33 16 6 11 5 54
6 Liverpool 32 15 8 9 22 53
7 Tottenham Hotspur 32 16 5 11 7 53
8 Brighton & Hove Albion 30 14 7 9 15 49
9 Brentford 33 11 14 8 7 47
10 Fulham 32 13 6 13 1 45
11 Chelsea 32 10 9 13 -5 39
12 Crystal Palace 33 9 10 14 -11 37
13 Wolverhampton W. 33 10 7 16 -15 37
14 AFC Bournemouth 33 10 6 17 -31 36
15 West Ham United 32 9 7 16 -9 34
16 Leeds United 33 7 9 17 -21 30
17 Nottingham Forest 33 7 9 17 -31 30
18 Leicester City 33 8 5 20 -13 29
19 Everton 33 6 10 17 -25 28
20 Southampton 33 6 6 21 -30 24