Bentancur was sent off 12 minutes after coming on, and Solanke’s stoppage-time header still got Spurs a point at Old Trafford

Tottenham were down to ten men and a goal behind at Old Trafford with the clock past 90 minutes. Then Sandro Tonali swung in a cross, Dominic Solanke got in front of Lisandro Martínez, and his header made it 1-1. Spurs are still waiting for a Premier League win this season, but they came away on Saturday with a point and off the bottom of the table.

For Michael Carrick it felt like a defeat. United have six points from six games, their worst start to a league season in 40 years, and a game they led with 17 minutes left is another one they did not finish off.

Spurs had the better of the first half

Roberto De Zerbi handed Solanke the captain’s armband, and the striker should have repaid him much earlier. Lucas Bergvall put him through in the third minute and he could not finish. Mohammed Kudus fired wide, Senne Lammens saved from Conor Gallagher just before the break, and six minutes into the second half Solanke blazed over from six yards.

“In the first half, we had total control of the game,” De Zerbi said afterwards. “We had many chances, three or four clear chances, to score, but we didn’t score.”

Carrick did not argue. He called it “a challenging first half for us” and said United only started to look like themselves near the interval.

Mbeumo’s goal, then the brawl

United improved after half-time, and in the 73rd minute Bryan Mbeumo combined with Matheus Cunha in the box and drove a low finish past Antonin Kinsky. Carrick called it a “fantastic finish” and said Mbeumo was “doing really well for us.”

Five minutes later Rodrigo Bentancur, who had come off the bench in the 66th minute, went head first into Luke Shaw after a shove. Stuart Attwell showed him a straight red, and the benches spilled onto the touchline. Carrick said he was trying to pull his players away, Shaw in particular, and that from where he stood it “looked like a red card.” Bentancur now faces a suspension.

That should have been the game, with United ahead and a man up. Instead they gave the ball away too cheaply, Carrick admitted, and Spurs kept coming. Two minutes into stoppage time Martínez was distracted, Tonali found Solanke, and the header went in.

Where it leaves both clubs

Spurs have three points and three league goals from six games, and they remain in the relegation zone, but this was the first time in a while that they looked like a side with something about them. “Today, for the first time we showed we’re a team,” De Zerbi said.

United are 12th, and Carrick wants them “ruthless in seeing the game out.” I think that is the real worry. The performance after half-time was fine. Losing control of a game they had already won, at home against ten men, is the kind of habit that turns a slow start into a long season.

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