The days remain uncomfortable for Manchester United. In the 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, the Red Devils not only lost the game but also captain Bruno Fernandes. For Spurs, everything went according to plan – except for Timo Werner.
The 42nd minute at Old Trafford was the premature icing on the cake of a game that could be found in the football lexicon under “used day”: Bruno Fernandes, captain and key player for Manchester United, went into a tackle with opponent Maddison at the shin level, completely unnecessarily. And even though he had slipped slightly before that and only made light contact with Maddison, referee Kavanagh made his decision: red. As if his team hadn’t had a hard enough time already.
As early as the 3rd minute, ManUnited had suffered their first setback when Spurs defender van de Ven intercepted a counterattack and, after a determined 60-meter sprint across half the field, in which the Red Devils only provided escort, saw Johnson at the second post. The forward had an easy tap-in from close range – but van de Ven was responsible for more than 90 percent of the goal.
The fact that Tottenham were unable to score again after the first half was the best news for Manchester at half-time. Onana saved twice to prevent a higher defeat against the breakaway Maddison (11th) and Werner (39th). The former Germany international Werner was in the starting lineup for the first time in the current Premier League season. In addition to Onana’s two saves, Tottenham could have increased their lead through Johnson’s shot on the post (20th) and a spectacular Romero side-pull (33rd).
But the truth was that, as inferior as ManUnited looked, they also had two great chances to turn the game on its head. Zirkzee failed against Vicario (22), while Garnacho’s volley crashed against the far post (38).
Only for Werner, things are not going to plan
The score, which was appropriate for the first 45 minutes, was not reached until the 47th minute: Ten Hag’s defensive change at half-time (Casemiro came on for Zirkzee) initially had no positive effect on the stability of his team at all, with Johnson and Kulusevski having all the time in the world on the right wing after Spurs won the ball. The scorer of the 0-1 goal this time acted as a provider and the outstanding Kulusevski artistically maneuvered the cross pass, which was still deflected, over the line while jumping (47th).
Everything was going according to plan for Spurs – except for one thing: former international player Werner was given another great chance, but – as in the first half – he finished much too weakly and failed to get the ball past Onana (57′). So the much-needed sense of achievement failed to materialize. Instead of 0-3, the best phase of the hosts followed in the middle of the second half, with Casemiro just missing the chance to score. And so, from United’s point of view, the result turned out in line with the constant rain in Manchester: substitute Sarr extended a corner to Solanke, who crossed the ball to make it 0-3 (77).
While the Spurs were able to work their way forward a little after the modest start to the season, the Ten Hag story at ManUnited may now pick up speed again after three consecutive competitive games without a win. When referee Kavanagh blew the whistle after a little over 90 minutes, a considerable part of the audience at Old Trafford had already left the stadium.