Premier League legend Alan Shearer slams the quality on offer in Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United
Tottenham Hotspur hosted Manchester United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday’s lunchtime kick off.
Spurs smashed FC Copenhagen 4-0 at home in the Champions League in midweek, ending their two-game losing run. That, coupled with the Lilywhites beating Manchester United an impressive four times last season, they headed into the game as slight favourites on paper. Not to discount Ruben Amorim’s were travelling to north London on a four-game unbeaten run in the Premier League (three wins and a draw), so they were never going to be easy pushovers.
And as expected, Tottenham dominated majority of the possession and Man United waited to hit the hosts on the counter-attack. Bryan Mbeumo gave the visitors the lead in the 32th minute, heading home a pinpoint cross from Amad Diallo. Spurs were fairly uninspiring, again, but they rallied in the second half.
Mathys Tel levelled it up after coming off the bench and Richarlison struck in the 91st minute to seemingly win it for the hosts. Matthijs de Ligt, though, had the final say, rising highest in the back post to head home in the sixth minute of stoppage-time to earn a point for Man United and leave Tottenham frustrated.
Premier League legend Alan Shearer slams the quality on offer in Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United.
Tottenham players showed fight and unity to draw 2-2 with Manchester United
Alan Shearer gives his verdict on Tottenham’s 2-2 draw with Man United
Although Tottenham looked blunt in attack for the majority of the first half, they turned things up a notch after the interval. And while praise will be reserved for the likes of Destiny Udogie, Mathys Tel, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison for the two goals scored, Thomas Frank should be equally thankful to his defenders for limiting Man United.
The game was fairly dull for large periods, and it took Tel’s leveller in the 84th minute to spice things up. On the balance of how the two teams performed, a 2-2 draw was a fair result. This is the opinion of former Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer, who criticised the standard of football from the two teams.
“A draw was probably a fair result in the end. But the standard of football was pretty poor for both teams,” Alan Shearer was quoted by BBC Sport.
“The substitutes made a difference for Spurs but not for Manchester United. The visitors going down to 10 men after Benjamin Sesko’s injury definitely didn’t help.
“But the quality was lacking, especially for two sides that could have gone second in the league if they had won today.”
Premier League legend Alan Shearer slams the quality on offer in Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United.
Thomas Frank will be happy with his Tottenham team’s comeback in the 2-2 draw vs Man United
Frank to focus on the positives against Man United?
Former Man United striker Dion Dublin feels Frank will take the positives from the Man United game and try to cheer up the players. Despite not playing convincing again, it is obviously deflating for the players to not get the maximum points when it was so close. United were a man down following Benjamin Sesko’s injury and yet managed to score through De Ligt from the corner, which should raise questions over the team’s defensive organisation and lack of communication.
Spurs have generally been solid from set-plays under Frank, so to concede from one in the dying minutes of the game which would’ve taken us to second spot temporarily is extremely frustrating. Nonetheless, how we performed throughout the game, a draw appears to be the reasonable outcome.