Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United shared the spoils in a thrilling match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It was a game of differing halves as Man Utd controlled the first in a drab encounter with their centre-backs pushing up aggressively. But Thomas Frank’s changes in the second half swung the game in Spurs’ favor.
As Man Utd defended deeper, Tottenham’s pressure paid off as they took the lead late on. But they couldn’t close the game out to get a win.
In this article, we’ll cover:
Man Utd’s first-half press
Confidence is high at Man Utd given their unbeaten run. It’s clear that Ruben Amorim’s back three are getting more comfortable with the system. And it showed in the first half.
Luke Shaw and Matthijs de Ligt tracked Tottenham’s strikers whenever they would drop deep for the ball, allowing Man Utd’s full-backs to push up and press high.
With Casemiro’s calming presence in the middle nullifying attacks, Man Utd could aggressively push up the pitch. They were stopping the pass going directly into Tottenham’s forwards, with the Red Devils registering five turnovers in the match.
It forced Tottenham to often over hit the pass resulting in many attacks breaking down and Man Utd turning the ball over.
Casemiro’s presense sorely missed
There’s a concerning trend growing through the season for Man Utd. Whenever Casemiro is taken off, the defence and gameplan tends to fall apart.
He was substituted in the 70th minute against Brighton and Hove Albion, and the Seagulls scored two quick-fire goals. Man Utd needed a late Bryan Mbeumo strike to make sure of the victory.
When Casemiro was sent off against Chelsea on the stroke of half-time, Man Utd defended with their backs to the wall for the entire second half. It put them under intense pressure — even though Chelsea were also down to 10 men.
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The Brazilian has become as instrumental as he was when he first arrived at the club. But Man Utd have become overly-reliant on him once again.
Tottenham’s second-half press
As Tottenham pushed on there was only so long that Man Utd could defend their box. The Red Devils’ defensive line dropped deeper struggling to cope with Tottenham’s set-piece threat. And they desperately lacked an out ball to a striker.
The second half dominance from Tottenham is highlighted in the number of shots both teams took in the second half. Tottenham had seven to Man Utd’s two.
Frank’s substitutions proved a master stroke. Sending on Destiny Udogie and Mathys Tel for Pedro Porro and Xavi Simons allowed Tottenham to open the game up and stretch Man Utd’s back five.
Although Simons’ substitution was met with jeers, it brought a tactical change that worked. Tottenham finally had a focal point with Richarlison as the central striker, and Randal Kolo Muani playing a supportive role.
Amorim responded by making a handful of changes himself. He brought on Diogo Dalot, Leny Yoro and Manuel Ugarte in the space of just eight minutes to try to see the game out.
Man Utd proved last season that they are capable of defending their box. But it feels at times that Amorim opts to go defensive too early in games. And it often results in Man Utd throwing away the original gameplan.
A late De Ligt header means Man Utd go into the international break unbeaten in five games. But it doesn’t mean a corner has been turned.
For the second week in a row, Man Utd needed a last-gasp set-piece goal to rescue a point. All because of a torrid second-half performance where they lost control of the game.
With the international break on the horizon there is clearly still much work for both teams to do.