Thomas Frank praises his Tottenham team to largely limit an in-form Manchester United’s attack in the 2-2 draw
There must be a lot of frustration around the white half of north London after Manchester United held Tottenham Hotspur to a 2-2 draw on Saturday afternoon.
It took until the 32nd minute for the game to come alive when Bryan Mbeumo scored a header to give Manchester United the lead. Despite trailing 1-0, Spurs were playing in the first gear and barely threatened the visitors defence. Eventually, substitute Mathys Tel restored parity in the 84th minute with a brilliant touch and finish, before Richarlison diverted a header past Man United goalkeeper Senne Lammens in stoppage time to send the home fans in jubilant mood.
Tottenham thought the points were sealed, but Matthijs de Ligt stepped up with a header in the dying embers of the game to break the hearts of the White Hart Lane faithful. The 96th minute De Ligt from Bruno Fernandes’ corner-kick stretched the Lilywhites’ wait for a league win at home since the opening weekend success over Burnley.
Thomas Frank praises Tottenham to largely nullify Man United’s attack
Man United were coming into this fixture on a four-game unbeaten run in the Premier League. They are an in-form side, having beaten Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton whilst drawing with Nottingham Forest at City Ground last weekend. The Red Devils spent a lot of money in the summer to transform their attack, with Bryan Mbeumo the pick of the signings.
In the peak of his powers and having recently won the Premier League Player of the Month for October, Mbeumo was always going to be the danger man against Tottenham. The Cameroonian haunted Spurs yet again at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, arrowing his header perfectly into the corner following a fine Amad Diallo cross.
However, apart from his goal, the 26-year-old had a quiet afternoon, while Matheus Cunha endured one of his worst afternoons in a United shirt. Benjamin Sesko came off the bench and had a glorious chance to win it for the away side, only for Micky van de Ven to charge back and make a crucial sliding tackle to deny him.
Addressing the media in the post-match presser, Thomas Frank praised his team for limiting an in-form Man United side to just five shots on goal, of which unfortunately two turned out to be goals.
“I know we conceded two goals but to concede five shots at goal you would probably take before a game. That’s not to say the two shots they have on target, weren’t two situations we could have done better,” Frank was quoted by Football London.
Definitely, Tottenham should’ve defended a lot better for the two goals they conceded. Mbeumo positioned himself well between Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson to plant his header in the first half. With better communication between Porro and Johnson, the United could’ve easily been avoided. And to concede deep into injury time from a corner kick was truly difficult to gulp down for Frank and the fans, particularly when the Red Devils were a man light.
These little things when defending have to be worked upon on the training pitch if Tottenham are to become a serious team under Frank.