Dominic Solanke headed an added-time equaliser to salvage a point for 10-man Tottenham at Manchester United, a first goal of the season for the striker and only Spurs’ third in the Premier League this campaign.
For 72 laboured minutes the contest had offered little. It was lit up by a moment of quality: Matheus Cunha was fed by Luke Shaw down the left and crossed for Bryan Mbeumo, who spun and finished for United. The goal drew chants of “you’re going down with the City” from the home support, with Tottenham at that stage rock bottom of the division.
Uglier scenes followed. Shaw chased a Bruno Fernandes ball and Rodrigo Bentancur launched a scissor challenge that, had it connected with the left-back, might have caused serious injury. An incensed Shaw hared after Bentancur and shoved him over, and the midfielder got up to push his head into Shaw’s, who went down as a melee ensued. Referee Stuart Attwell sent Bentancur off and issued yellow cards to Shaw, lucky to escape a red for the push, and Jan Paul van Hecke.
Tottenham’s response came in added time. Sandro Tonali floated a cross from the left that Lisandro Martínez should have cleared; instead Solanke out-fought the Argentine and headed past Senne Lammens, who watched it go in. Lammens and Martínez were United’s culprits on the goal.
It capped a difficult afternoon for the goalkeeper, who had struggled from the start. A loose pass was intercepted by Lucas Bergvall and the ball rolled into Solanke, whose shot Lammens saved. He was jittery again when Martínez passed to him on his goalline, where he dawdled before hoofing clear. Both sets of fans had earlier traded volleys of “you cheating bastards, you know what you are”.
Spurs’ profligacy had been the story of much of the match. Mohammed Kudus’s cross found Archie Gray and the young right-back beat Lammens but not his right post. Earlier, after Youri Tielemans waited for the ball to bounce, Tottenham pounced and Sávio was suddenly heading forward, only for the sliding challenge of Leny Yoro, fielded at right back, to save a scattered rearguard.
Michael Carrick wants his team to control contests, but there was close to zero control throughout. On the hour Carlos Baleba entered for his debut and immediately spun and flicked deftly into Fernandes’s path, a reminder of what skill can do.
While averting a fourth defeat, Spurs remain winless after their opening six league games for only a fourth time. The draw means there is no clear answer to the pre-game question of which manager is under more pressure, as both Roberto De Zerbi and Michael Carrick remain in need of a victory. De Zerbi will see his side off the bottom but still in the relegation zone, while Carrick’s United remain 12th with a solitary victory. De Zerbi now takes his squad to Marbella for warm-weather training, while Carrick’s men are at Atlético Madrid on Tuesday in the Champions League. By the close, a point felt about fair.