Dominic Solanke struck late to earn ten-man Tottenham a point at Old Trafford, cancelling out Bryan Mbeumo’s 73rd-minute opener after substitute Rodrigo Bentancur had been sent off, as Roberto De Zerbi’s side, still bottom of the Premier League and without a league win, finally showed some of the football their summer spending promised.

Michael Carrick’s United came into this one 12th on five points, against a Spurs side with just two from their opening five games, and on paper it looked like the perfect chance to put some distance between themselves and the bottom of the table. It didn’t play out that way.

United sit deep as Tottenham find their rhythm

United spent practically the whole of the first half hanging in their own half, absorbing Tottenham’s progression and giving up more than half of the pitch for the sake of compactness, and whether that was the plan or simply what the game state dictated was never fully clear. Spurs, by contrast, moved and passed with more accuracy and synergy than they have shown at any point this season, progressing up the pitch nicely and creating the chances, none of which were taken.

Both defensive shapes looked comfortable enough, but United looked worn by the international break, and the question at half-time was whether their lack of intent was down to tactics or to tired legs.

Carrick answered that on the hour, and his changes were positive in both their thinking and their impact. Diogo Dalot came on for Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee for Amad Diallo & Carlos Baleba for Youri Tielemans, and United immediately looked like a team trying to win the game. Zirkzee was used as a bounce pass in progression against the wall of Tottenham lines, giving United a way through the middle they hadn’t found all afternoon, while Dalot added width and energy down the right as Carrick went looking for a more attacking dimension.

De Zerbi’s changes went the other way. Bentancur and Omar Marmoush replaced Lucas Bergvall and Mohammed Kudus on 66 minutes, then Micky van de Ven and James Maddison came on for Destiny Udogie and Conor Gallagher, changes made to keep control of the game rather than to change the scoreline immediately.

Mbuemo strikes, Bentancur sees red, Solanke replies

United’s goal came on 73 minutes and it was a moment of good striker play, Mbeumo, leading the line, finishing off Matheus Cunha’s assist to put the hosts ahead.

The flashpoint had been coming all second half, and six minutes later it arrived, Bentancur shown a straight red card for a what was perceived as violent conduct by Stuart Atwell on-field, in video replays very much looking like forehead-on-forehead contact, on Luke Shaw just 13 minutes after coming off the bench. A man down and a goal behind, Spurs looked finished, but Solanke had other ideas, and his equaliser was the same sentiment as United’s goal, a striker in the right place doing exactly what his team needed from him.

A point that says more about United than Tottenham

For Manchester United, it is two points dropped against the bottom side at home, and a first half that will worry Carrick more than the result. For Spurs, it is still no league win, but it is a point earned with ten men and a performance that showed the progression patterns De Zerbi has been building towards are starting to come through.

Is this the afternoon Tottenham’s season turns around, or just another point that can’t hide where they are in the table?

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