Alan Shearer was quick to criticise the standard of Manchester United’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur, with both teams underperforming.
Manchester United fought right to the end in a tough 2-2 draw against Thomas Frank’s Tottenham Hotspur, with Matthijs De Ligt grabbing a desperate point for United with a clutch last-minute header.
Bryan Mbeumo scored the first of the afternoon as his head met a tidy Amad cross, beating Guglielmo Vicario to open the scoring and handing United the lead at halftime.
But it was the home side who looked stronger in the second half as Senne Lammens was called upon on multiple occasions to keep the score at 1-0. Eventually, Spurs beat the Belgian goalkeeper through substitute, Mathys Tel, who swivelled and found the far corner after a deflection from Matthijs de Ligt.
Richarlison launched Spurs into the lead in the 91st minute as he smartly glanced on Wilson Odobert’s long-range effort, stunning the United players as the Brazilian looked to secure all three points for Spurs.
United called upon their most consistent player this season, de Ligt, who powerfully headed the ball into the Spurs’ net in the 96th minute of the game following a Bruno Fernandes corner. The Dutchman grabbed a point for the Reds as the game resulted in a close draw.
Shearer disappointed with ‘lacking’ quality of Man Utd 2-2 Spurs
Following the full-time whistle, former Premier League striker Alan Shearer was quick to assess the performances of both teams in a game which did not deliver the expected quality.
When speaking to the BBC on The Final Whistle, the former striker stated, “A draw was probably a fair result in the end. But the standard of football was pretty poor for both teams. The substitutes made a difference for Spurs but not for Manchester United.”
Spurs’ substitutes contributed three goals against United and were a primary reason why Spurs looked so threatening, but Rúben Amorim’s use of the bench ultimately came to United’s disadvantage.
Shearer continued, “The visitors going down to 10 men after Benjamin Šeško’s injury definitely didn’t help.”
Benjamin Šeško had to come off through injury in the 89th minute, which was a moment out of Amorim’s control, leaving United vulnerable and with no replacement as Spurs looked to steal all three points in a game that hadn’t held up to the standard it should have.
“The quality was lacking, especially for two sides that could have gone second in the league they had one today,” Shearer concluded.
Man United must be more clinical
United had the chance to extinguish Spurs’ hopes of winning the game when Šeško ran in behind the Spurs defence and was found smartly by Mason Mount.
The Slovenian took too long to capitalise on the chance to slot an effort past Vicario as the speed of Micky Van De Ven made a superb recovery tackle, igniting the home team’s momentum again.
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Opportunities like these are often being wasted, and United must improve if they want to secure a European place in the Premier League this season.
United’s next game comes after the final international break of the year at home to Everton. Amorim’s players have time to address these issues and regain the quality that they should be displaying, and extend their run of five games unbeaten.
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