A wild ride took everyone back where they had started. The one certainty arising from an affair of low quality and, from nowhere, scarcely credible drama was that only a fool would hang their hat on Tottenham or Manchester United right now. The ignominies of last season may be at some remove but it remains anyone’s guess what either of these scratchy, neurotic sides will produce on a given occasion.
It briefly seemed they had conspired to hand Spurs a first league win on home turf since the opening day. That would have been a head-scratcher of its own given they were going nowhere until Mathys Tel, who had only been on the pitch for five minutes, offered a moment of incision they had barely signposted. When Richarlison glanced in Wilson Odobert’s shot early in added time it felt like a potential lift-off: Thomas Frank, so embattled in defeat to Chelsea last week, must have sensed as much as a largely sullen venue erupted around him.
Explosive ending cannot mask flaws of Tottenham and Manchester United
Would that it were so simple. A minute shy of the extra seven, Bruno Fernandes swung in one last corner from the left. It arced beyond a desperately redeployed Senne Lammens, a packed Spurs defence and the majority of United’s cavalry; that was until Matthijs de Ligt, peeling around at the far post, met the delivery with a firm header and ensured United can still point to an encouraging uptick in form.
They had been so close to throwing it all away, fading badly in the final half hour. Their recidivist tendencies are yet to abate even if they are nowhere near as disaster-prone as in the earlier stages of Ruben Amorim’s reign. His substitutes could not offer the legs or cohesion that Frank’s replacements, some of which the home crowd audibly disapproved, eventually mustered and they still look some way short of producing regular 90-minute performances. Amorim’s admission afterwards that United dropped off through feeling too comfortable was mildly damning.
Mathys Tel drills home an equaliser for Spurs in the second half.
Nonetheless it still appeared for long periods that they would emerge with the points. Lammens had been worked twice in quick succession by Cristian Romero and João Palhinha, the first of those saves a superb diversion with his knee, before the hour mark but otherwise Tottenham had offered little threat until Tel’s leveller. Frank must have dreaded a decisive contribution from Bryan Mbeumo, his sure thing at Brentford, and the Cameroonian is in such fine nick that it felt inevitable.
Mbeumo had been deployed on the left and spent much of the opening exchanges trying unsuccessfully to stay onside. But he appeared on the end of a delicate Amad Diallo cross from the right, heading past Guglielmo Vicario under little pressure, after Spurs had twice made a mess of clearing their lines. He has now scored four goals in as many games; what Frank would give for an attacker in his vein of form and, for that matter, fitness.
Bryan Mbeumo heads Manchester United in front.
Those at his disposal have often struggled. A more positive selection saw Randal Kolo Muani picked along with Richarlison, Xavi Simons and Brennan Johnson, but they rarely broke into song. It took the interval arrival of Odobert, probably their best player over the piece, to provide a measure of the balance and craft they required.
Odobert dovetailed well with Destiny Udogie, whose appearance in the 67th minute would bear fruit. It was Udogie’s centre that found Tel, who controlled and spun before blasting in a finish that snicked off De Ligt. Tel’s recent arrival had been booed, not so much through a personal slight as frustration that it meant sacrificing a generally frustrating Simons, but Frank was entitled to defend his changes later.
skip past newsletter promotion
Sign up to Football Daily
Free daily newsletter
Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football
Enter your email address
Marketing preferences
Get updates about our journalism and ways to support and enjoy our work.
Sign up
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
Quick Guide
Play our new game: On the ball
Show
There had been jeers for Richarlison, too, when he presented the ball straight to Diallo soon before Tel’s strike. But he sparked jubilation when Odobert cut in and unloaded a strike that, while on target, was probably not going in until supplemented with the slightest of flicks. He had earlier failed to work Lammens with Spurs’ only opportunity of the first half, completely fluffing a clear header from Johnson’s cross, and a first goal since 20 September clearly lifted a weight.
Whether a draw will have that effect for Tottenham remains unclear. They are still clawing around for an identity, although there were two teams on show who could say that. Inside the first minute De Ligt had aimed a short free-kick back towards Lammens only for the keeper to let it roll under his foot for a corner, which was promptly ballooned out of play. Frayed, flawed and frenetic: it was the way at either end of this game, so the exasperations and shoots of promise around both outfits keep flickering in equal measure.
Match Stats
Possession
MNU46
TOT54
%
Attempts
6
Off target
4
On target
3
2
Corners
5
3
Fouls
10
8
Lineups
Spurs
1
Guglielmo Vicario
23
Pedro Porro
17
Cristian Romero
37
Micky van de Ven
24
Djed Spence
6
Maria Joao Palhinha
29
Pape Sarr
22
Brennan Johnson
7
Xavi Simons
9
de Andrade Richarlison
39
Randal Muani
Substitutes
31
Antonin Kinsky
4
Kevin Danso (s 88')
11
Mathys Tel (s 79')
13
Iyenoma Udogie (s 67')
28
Wilson Odobert (s 46')
30
Rodrigo Bentancur (s 79')
44
Dane Scarlett
70
Yusuf Akhamrich
76
James Rowswell
Man Utd
31
Senne Lammens
4
Matthijs de Ligt
5
Harry Maguire
23
Luke Shaw
3
Noussair Mazraoui
18
Carlos Casemiro
8
Bruno Fernandes
13
Patrick Dorgu
16
Amad Diallo
19
Bryan Mbeumo
10
Matheus Cunha
Substitutes
1
Altay Bayindir
2
Diogo Dalot (s 80')
7
Mason Mount (s 72')
11
Joshua Zirkzee
15
Leny Yoro (s 72')
25
Manuel Ugarte (s 72')
26
Ayden Heaven
30
Benjamin Sesko (s 58')
38
Jack Fletcher
Explore more on these topics
Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester United
match reports
Share
Reuse this content
Related content
Live
Sunderland v Arsenal: Premier League – live
7m ago
Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened
2h ago
Premier League top scorers 2025-26: who is leading race for golden boot?
2h ago
Premier League team news: predicted lineups for the weekend action
23h ago
How often do Premier League teams actually win five games in a row? – video
More in common: how Sheikh Mansour is linked to Liverpool’s owner
1d ago
Teenage picks: the young players lighting up the Premier League
1d ago
More from Sport
Rugby union live
Scotland v New Zealand – Autumn Nations Series rugby union
18m ago
Football live
Everton v Fulham, West Ham v Burnley, and more – football clockwatch
18m ago
Tennis live
WTA Finals tennis – Sabalenka v Rybakina in the final
16m ago
Football live
Sunderland v Arsenal – Premier League
18m ago
Comments (234)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion
Sort byNewest
Per page25
Display threadsCollapsed
1
2
3
4
Displaying threads 1 to 25 of 77
britishhomer
9 minutes ago
1
I thought it was, generally, a fair result that reflected the match.
Reply
FatFreddy
10 minutes ago
1
Spurs are above United in the league, yet the fans are unhappy
Meanwhile United fans appear to be delighted - insane how standards have dropped
I honestly think United fans will be very happy and demand this guy stays on if they finish top half with a negative GD
Reply
View more comments
Most viewed
Most viewedAcross the Guardian
Most viewedin Football
Most viewed Across the Guardian
BBC ‘100% fake news’, says Donald Trump’s press secretary
Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened
World’s longest-married couple reveals key to a lasting relationship: ‘We love each other’
Israel’s underground jail, where Palestinians are held without charge and never see daylight
All Her Fault review – Sarah Snook’s terrifying thriller is an absolute pleasure to watch
UK to announce plans to emulate stringent Danish immigration system
Old fishing nets from France become vital protection against Russian drones in Ukraine
De Ligt snatches last-gasp draw for Manchester United in chaotic finale at Spurs
Carney survives two confidence votes on budget, quashing fears of winter election
Elon Musk makes himself far-right fixture after White House departure
FootballLive scoresTablesFixturesResultsCompetitionsClubs
More
News
Opinion
Sport
Culture
Lifestyle
Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning
Sign up for our email
About us
Help
Complaints & corrections
Contact us
Tip us off
SecureDrop
Privacy policy
Cookie policy
Tax strategy
Terms & conditions
All topics
All writers
Newsletters
Digital newspaper archive
Bluesky
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Advertise with us
Search UK jobs
Tips
Accessibility settings
Work for us
Privacy settings
Support the Guardian
Available for everyone, funded by readers
Support us
Back to top
© 2025 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (dcr)
No comments:
Post a Comment