Manchester United threw away a late lead on Saturday, drawing 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford after Dominic Solanke scored a 92nd-minute equalizer while Tottenham were down to 10 men.
The home fans arrived hoping to enjoy themselves at Manchester City’s expense, and they sang loudly about their neighbors’ scandal before kickoff. United’s own problems soon overshadowed that. When Bryan Mbeumo gave United the lead midway through the second half, the home supporters taunted Spurs with a chant of “You’re going down with the City.” Yet by the final whistle from referee Stuart Attwell, the crowd was focused on how Tottenham had grabbed a point after Rodrigo Bentancur was sent off for head-butting Luke Shaw.
“Massively disappointed with the result for sure,” he said afterward. “A mixed performance, to be totally honest. I think it was tough. It was challenging for the first period, definitely.”
He added that there was a big improvement through the second half and that United had put themselves in a strong position toward the end of the game. “To then not see it through — we should find a way of seeing that through.”
Carrick Under Pressure
The result leaves United with their worst start to a season after six games since 1986. Michael Carrick has not thrown his players under the bus, and he did not do so again in his post-match news conference. Still, the pressure on him is growing.
Solanke’s header was the third time already this season that United have conceded in stoppage time. Two of those goals, against Everton and Tottenham, have cost the club four points.
“It’s a couple of times now when — different ways, obviously — that’s two late, late goals against us to throw away two wins really,” Carrick said. “That changes a lot of things, you know. It changes a lot of feelings for ourselves and it changes points and what [the table] looks like. We need to do better with seeing out games, that’s for sure, once we get ourselves in a good position.”
The concern is that United cannot close out games, which points to a fragile mentality and an inability to handle pressure when it matters most. Lisandro Martínez will not want to see the goal again. He was dancing around the Spurs striker when Sandro Tonali‘s cross reached Solanke, and Senne Lammens could also have done better.
Struggles Against Ten Men
Solanke’s goal means Tottenham joined City as the only teams to score at Old Trafford this season after having a man sent off. United have now failed to win any of their past three games against teams with 10 men. In March, they lost 2-1 at Newcastle United after Jacob Ramsey was sent off. In November under Ruben Amorim, Everton beat them 1-0 at Old Trafford despite playing with Idrissa Gueye dismissed for slapping his own teammate.
“It’s definitely something where — 10 men or not 10 men — if we’re ahead in the game, we’ve got to see games out,” Carrick said. “Whether that’s taking the ball, whether that’s controlling the game a little bit more, looking after the ball better in their half and around their box and pinning them in a little bit, or whether that’s defending moments better. Certainly, we need to improve that.”
Baleba Offers Hope
Tottenham, who started the day bottom of the table, began brightly, and boos rang out at Old Trafford after just 20 minutes. United were outplayed for large parts of the first half. The energy shifted only when Carlos Baleba, the £70 million summer signing from Brighton & Hove Albion, came on just before the hour mark. His positive debut offered much-needed hope for the weeks and months ahead, but it was overshadowed by United’s failure to win a game they should have won.
United travel to Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, then head to Leeds United next weekend. After that comes another tough European assignment at Como. Carrick insists his biggest issue is that United keep losing on the wrong side of fine margins. They need to fix that quickly to head in the right direction.