Tottenham Hotspur came from two goals down to salvage a deserved point against top-four rivals, Manchester United.
Spurs came into the game on the back of a 6-1 humiliation at Newcastle at the weekend, a game in which they found themselves 5-0 down at half time, and despite a bright opening few minutes from the hosts, they again fell behind in just the seventh minute. Jadon Sancho received the ball on the left of the area, cutting onto his favoured right foot, before whipping an effort around Cristian Romero and beyond Fraser Forster.
Sancho almost had a second in the 16th minute, though his deflected effort was cleared off the line by the experienced Ivan Perisic as Manchester United looked in dominant and dangerous mood.
Having capitulated on Tyneside at the weekend, Spurs did at least put up some fight this time round, though on a number of occasions put a decent ball into the box only for nobody to be following in.
United continued to carve out chances though, and having already been denied twice by Forster, Marcus Rashford eventually made it 2-0 just before the interval. Seconds after Perisic had an effort saved by David de Gea at one end, United won the ball back and Bruno Fernandes launched a ball over the top of the Tottenham defence before the England international raced into the box and lashed beyond the Spurs ‘keeper with his left foot.
Spurs came out with a bit more intensity and belief after the break, and pulled a goal back 10 minutes after the restart, the ball dropping invitingly to Pedro Porro on the edge of the box before the January signing fired home with the outside of his right boot.
FT: Spurs 2-2 Man Utd
xG: 2.24-2.13
Shots: 18-17
Shots on target: 7-8
Corners: 6-8
Possession: 40%-60%A brilliant come back from Tottenham. 👏#TOTMUN pic.twitter.com/hxu8szbsYh
— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) April 27, 2023
Almost immediately, Bruno Fernandes should have reestablished his side’s two-goal advantage, only to see his close-range effort come back off the bar.
United drastically went off the boil after the break, and Spurs squandered a number of chances to bag a second, though the equaliser finally came with 11 minutes to go. The North London side won the ball back and it fell to Harry Kane who found himself in space. The club record goalscorer looked up before arcing a ball into his partner in crime, Son Heung Min, at the back post who tucked it past De Gea.
The result keeps Spurs six points behind United in the race for the top four, with the Red Devils having two games in hand, and speaking after the game, goalscorer Son Heung Min admitted that that they weren’t ‘perfect’, but felt the result showed the side’s ‘character’.
“I thought we didn’t deserve to be 2-0 down in the first half. We played quite well, we had the chances to score but we weren’t clinical enough,” he told BT Sport.
“I think in the second half we showed great character, but we’re not happy we didn’t get three points. The final decision making wasn’t perfect.
“We didn’t want to let the fans down, we wanted to give everything and that was the dressing room speech. We couldn’t let the game go. We were really angry about it, we didn’t deserve to be 2-0 down at half-time. I think the lads showed really good character.
“Football is all about the fans. The last week was unacceptable and we didn’t want to repeat that. We feel really, really sorry for the performance and result [at Newcastle] and today we wanted to bring a good energy. With them, we really appreciated their support. They were fighting with us.”
