Man United was held to a draw by Tottenham in the 33rd round of the English Premier League. And coach Erik ten Hag made mistakes in this match.
0:00/3:19North and South
Manchester United were dealt a blow in their pursuit of Champions League qualification when they drew 2-2 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
An early Jadon Sancho strike paved the way for the Reds before Marcus Rashford scored his 16th goal of an impressive season to end a beautiful counter-attack late in the first half.
Pedro Porro closed the gap with a classy volley as the game went on and United couldn’t survive the onslaught in the second half as Son Heung-min scored the home side’s equalizer.
After this draw, Man United is still 4th in the table and 6 points ahead of Tottenham, while playing less than 2 matches. So where did Erik ten Hag go wrong?
1. Can’t disable Harry Kane
Only Erling Haaland has scored more Premier League goals than Harry Kane in the Premier League this season and the England captain has only failed to score once in his last eight games.
With Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire all absent from the squad, Luke Shaw was once again introduced into the United defense as a temporary centre-back. He played admirably against one of the strongest strikers in world football.
That was until Kane started to have more influence as the game progressed and United couldn’t get close to the Spurs mainstay as he held the ball in deeper positions, creating a volley. Porro’s and Son’s late equalizer.
2. Loss of concentration in the 2nd half
Ryan Mason started the second half in a favorable position as Pedro Pedro, Kane and Clement Lenglet all tried their luck in the opening three minutes.
However, United failed to heed the early warning signs and Porro shortened the lead before 60 minutes to set up a tense finish at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which could have been avoided had Bruno Fernandes did not waste a glorious opportunity to restore the Reds’ two-goal advantage.
Son Heung-min, Eric Dier and Kane all had well-deserved equalizer opportunities and it was Tottenham’s good coordination that eventually penetrated United’s makeshift defence, with Son hitting the ball into the post after the cross. Kane’s awesome.
3. Unable to maintain attack power
Against Spurs’ three-man defence, much of United’s aggressive attacking play comes from taking advantage of the breadth provided by Sancho and Antony, while regular goalscorer Rashford enjoys a central role. more attentive.
It took seven minutes for the overload to take effect, as Sancho had a fine shot past Fraser Forster, his fifth Premier League goal of the season.And the former Borussia Dortmund player would have doubled his achievement on the evening if it weren’t for Ivan Perisic’s save.
However, United’s tight and skillful play disappeared in the second half as Tottenham’s dominance began to increase and a lack of possession was the main reason the three points soon became one.
But there’s one thing that Ten Hag was right about…
Believe in De Gea
David De Gea had a rough evening a week before Man United were knocked out of the Europa League at the hands of Sevilla but the Spaniard made a string of brilliant saves to ensure the Red Devils kept 1 point.
In the 28th minute, a quick reaction like a cat prevented Perisic’s dangerous header from going into the net and De Gea needed it again before half-time to save the Croatian’s powerful shot.
Blinded by three United defenders, De Gea was unable to do anything to stop Porro’s precise volley but it was still a brilliant display by an unconfident keeper.
