United head into another international break with a sense of assurance after they left it late to claw back a point against Spurs on Saturday.
The Reds could just easily have come away with three points or nothing, but Matthijs de Ligt’s header in stoppage time spared an unwelcome defeat in North London.
For much of this match, Ruben Amorim’s side managed the game well, taking the lead in the 34th minute through Premier League player of the month Bryan Mbeumo, peeling from Spurs’ centre halves to head United in front.
Spurs came out asking questions of United, with Sene Lammens making two key saves before Harry Maguire had to depart with a hamstring injury. The Reds missed his box defending, with de Ligt not getting a strong enough block on Mathys Tel’s shot, which deflected past United’s Belgian goalkeeper.
United looked to have capitulated, with Spurs taking the lead just minutes later on when Richarlison headed home from Wilson Odobert’s shot, kept onside as Manuel Ugarte was late to exit the box.
Benjamin Sesko left the field with the score tied at 1-1, taking too much time on a one-on-one and allowing the lightning-fast Mickey Van de Ven to make a recovery tackle, leaving the Reds to finish the game with ten men after Amorim had already made his allocated five subs.
However, United ensured they left the game with something, as de Ligt found himself in space from a corner, heading home to deflate Spurs’ celebrations. After conceding twice late on, this made a draw feel like a good result.
It’s interesting to see the parallels with this and the result against Nottingham Forrest, with United going up, before conceding two goals in quick succession and then finding a way back into the game. Although there are signs of weakness, there is a resilience to the Reds this season.
The fact that there’s frustration in not winning either of these games is a sign of progress from last campaign, where United would have likely folded and shown little likelihood of their attack saving their skin. As it stands, United are unbeaten in their last five games.
Following Saturday’s match, Amorim said, “We have a lot of problems. We are just in the beginning. I know that sometimes the results show to people that we are improving, and we are improving, but we have a lot to do.”
“We were comfortable, but I think we should do better - be more aggressive, feeling the environment in the stadium that the three points were there, the space was there, and I think we felt too comfortable during the game, and we need to expect that in one play, anything can happen and change the mood of the stadium. Today was that. I think we control the game well, but we need to do better because the game was there to take.”
Perhaps with the injury to Harry Maguire and Casemiro looking tired, this break comes at a good time for United, as they will need to utilise every member of the squad as we approach the Christmas Period.
The Reds also face three teams in the bottom half of the table over their next three games, a good opportunity to rack up some points with the league so heavily congested around the European places.
United have now shown they are better suited to facing adversity in games, but they need to stop putting themselves in that position to begin with, whether that be taking their chances to finish off a game or staying alert in defence. Hopefully, a break from league action will provide the chance to iron out the creases in Ruben Amorim’s side.
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