After a humiliating 6-1 defeat at the hands of Newcastle United which saw the end of Cristian Stellini's short reign in charge of Tottenham, Spurs needed a pick-me-up. And new interim manager Ryan Mason got it from his players, albeit after a wobble.
Spurs hosted Manchester United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday night, looking for their second win in six matches, with Champions League qualification hanging by a thread.
Spurs got off to the worst possible start, conceding inside 10 minutes to a Jadon Sancho strike. After coming back into the game, they were handed a hammer blow when, moments before half-time, Marcus Rashford made it 2-0.
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Mason had a job on his hands at half-time, but he performed that job perfectly as Spurs fought back from 2-0 down to draw the game 2-2 thanks to a superb strike from Pedro Porro and a goal from Son Heung-min.
The home side had plenty of chances to grab all three points, but could not grab a third and had to settle for a share of the spoils.
Thing might have been different had United been reduced to 10 men, however. With the score at 2-1 and 18 minutes to go, Son tried to turn and race forward around 35 yards from goal. Victor Lindelof got caught out and hauled the South Korean to the floor, having already been booked.
Referee Anthony Taylor called a foul, but there was no further punishment, despite Spurs skipper Harry Kane letting him know what he thought.
Lindelof had United substitute Fred in close proximity and Taylor could be seen talling Kane just that as his reason for not brandishing a red card. Lip-reading the referee, Taylor appears to utter four words to Kane: "He's going into Fred."
No great comfort to Spurs or the supporters, but the referee did have a point.
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