By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-10-10 20:08:09 | Updated at 2026-10-10 23:13:38
4 hours ago
Manchester United failed to build on their lead despite Tottenham going down to 10 men, and they ended up dropping points when they surely should have won.
Crisis clubs Manchester United and Tottenham played out a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, with Dominic Solanke’s stoppage-time goal rescuing a point for the 10-man visitors.
Spurs should have had the game won long before Bryan Mbeumo stroked home in the 73rd minute, having created a swathe of chances in front of a disgruntled Old Trafford crowd.
Rodrigo Bentancur’s dismissal for violent conduct made their task even more difficult, but Solanke’s glancing header in the second of eight added minutes earned Roberto De Zerbi’s side just their third point of the Premier League season.
De Zerbi made six changes to the Spurs team that lost 3-2 to Aston Villa prior to the international break, and his side looked hungry from the off as they pushed United back.
A panicked Senne Lammens passed straight to Lucas Bergvall and then had to scramble to keep out Solanke’s shot, while a rapid Spurs counter down the left flank led to Mohammed Kudus shooting narrowly wide.
United’s only real chance of the first half saw Amad Diallo shoot straight at Antonín Kinsky from the left side of the area, and after Lammens had to smother the ball at Conor Gallagher’s feet, the Red Devils were booed off at the interval.
Having been a bright spark throughout the first half, Sávio continued to carry the fight to United in the second, but he saw one centre flicked off the line by Luke Shaw and another skewed over the top by the sliding Solanke.
Bruno Fernandes fired the wrong side of Kinsky’s near post in a rare foray forward for United, but the hosts went in front when Mbeumo turned on Matheus Cunha’s pass and stroked into the bottom-right corner.
Bentancur received his marching orders when he reacted to a push from Luke Shaw soon afterwards, initiating head-to-head contact with the United left-back, but the Red Devils could not make their numerical advantage count.
Lisandro Martínez appeared to be more interested in wrestling Solanke to the ground than in defending Sandro Tonali’s cross, and as the striker fell, he diverted the ball into the far corner.
Pressure Intensifies on Carrick and De Zerbi
Both Carrick and De Zerbi knew the importance of this one – the former had overseen United’s joint-worst start to a Premier League season through five matchdays (also five points in 2014-15), while the latter’s team had spent the international break bottom of the table.
Ultimately, both bosses had to settle for a point after a couple of familiar goalscorers had their say.
Mbeumo’s seven Premier League goals against United are the most he has netted against any team in the competition, while Solanke has now scored four versus United, three of which have come at Old Trafford.
De Zerbi will be hugely encouraged by aspects of Spurs’ attacking play, as they put up 1.56 expected goals to United’s 0.77 xG, also generating four Opta-defined ‘big chances’ to the hosts’ one.
But poor finishing when the game was goalless let them down, while Bentancur’s dismissal could have been incredibly costly.
It was Bentancur’s third red card in Europe’s top five leagues but his first in over five years, having previously been sent off twice for Juventus – against Inter in May 2021 and Atalanta in December 2018.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Man Utd vs Tottenham stats from their Premier League meeting at Old Trafford on Saturday 10 October.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Man Utd vs Tottenham Post-Match Opta Facts
- Tottenham have failed to win each of their opening six games of a league season for just the fourth time in their history, after 2008-09, 1955-56 and 1912-13.
- Tottenham are now the team that Bryan Mbeumo has scored the most Premier League goals against, netting seven times in 10 appearances against them (4 for Brentford, 3 for current club Manchester United).
- Manchester United have won just six points from their opening six games of the Premier League season, their fewest at this stage of a league campaign since 1986-87 (4).
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