Jamie Jackson has filed his match report from Old Trafford, which is my cue to clock off. It’s been a breathless afternoon. Rasmus Hojlund took a step forward, with his second league goal for United goal and his first assist, and Marcus Rashford continued to inch back to form with a fine goal, but United still couldn’t get off the see-saw that has been the story of their season. Spurs were too good, calmly equalising twice and then dominating the second half. “I’m delighted,” says Ange Postecoglou, mentioning an outbreak of illness in his squad and sounding decidedly throaty himself. “I thought we played really well. Couldn’t be happier.”
Thanks for your company and correspondence, and here’s Jamie.
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Roy Keane is commenting on Rashford’s goal. “I don’t know why players don’t play one-twos any more,” he says, just as the screen shows Rashford playing a one-two with Hojlund before slotting the ball into the far corner. Superb.
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“Is this,” asks Krish Krishnamoorthy, “the weakest Man United team after the departure of SAF? No other team has defined mediocrity better than the current one.” That is a very good question, which deserves a whole piece.
Micky van de Ven and Timo Werner are being interviewed, both coming across well in their second language. Van de Ven says his injury was just cramp. “I think we played a good game,” he says. “Manchester United are dangerous on the counter-attack, they wait for our mistakes.”
“Very excited to be back,” Werner says. “I enjoyed it very much and you see today it’s the best league, how the tempo is… I think the team is very nice and they include me straightaway in everything.” Awwww.
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Some Sky stats show how United faded in the second half, adding only two to their 24 touches in the box. But they did beat their xG, which was 0.84 to Spurs’ 1.35 – in other words, the algorithm is telling us it should have been 1-1, when a human being might have said that it felt more like 3-3.
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“People seem to forget,” says David Wall, “that it was only after the World Cup that Rashford really hit top form last year. He was pretty decent in the first part of the season but seemed to get a real boost from the World Cup and was outstanding afterwards. For a period it was as though he’d been inspired by seeing Mbappe up close, ‘he scores when he wants’. He also benefited from playing almost all season in front of Luke Shaw who was the perfect foil for Rashford with his overlapping runs. If Shaw can get and stay fit then you’d expect that would help Rashford to improve too.” Absolutely.
“This is really surprising stuff!” said Peter Oh, some time ago. “I’m stunned, to be honest. Petrol stations in Iceland serve delicious veggie burgers?!”
Time for an email, with apologies if I haven’t got to yours yet. “Corners!” says Jeremy Boyce. “There are four on a pitch, there have been many in this match and one of them actually did produce a goal. The stats say that it is 1 in 40 that achieves a successful direct result. We need more corners!” Are you sure? To my jaded eye, most of them end up as a flurry of fouls.
Spurs stay fifth with 40 points, sidling up to their neighbours Arsenal, who have better goal difference and a game in hand. United, now on 32 points, climb from ninth to seventh, dislodging Brighton (who also have a game in hand) and Chelsea (who don’t), but not bothering West Ham, who have both a game in hand and a three-point cushion. This winter break doesn’t half make things complicated.
Gary Neville’s player of the match is Rodrigo Bentancur. It’s partly because he took the equaliser well, although all the other goals were good too, and partly because Spurs ruled the midfield – through no fault of Kobbie Mainoo’s.
FULL TIME! Man United 2-2 Spurs
That is United’s first score draw of the season, and they don’t really deserve it. Spurs were the better team, but not quite sharp enough in front of goal – perhaps because they didn’t need to be. The draw is a better result for them than for United, who remain eight points behind them. United’s forwards were better, with Hojlund and Rashford scoring fine goals, but they never had any control in the middle of the park. Casemiro, sitting on the bench, may have been wondering why on earth he wasn’t asked to help with that.
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90+4 min Chance! As Garnacho crosses from the left, McTominay has a free header but he just can’t get it down. And that is probably that.
90+2 min Dalot gets a cross in from the right, but it’s too close to Vicario. Garnacho threatens down the left, only to be shoved off the ball by Porro, cleanly in the ref’s opinion.
90 min There will be five added minutes. Van de Ven goes off as Fernandes wins a free kick in the centre circle, but it’s still Spurs who look more likely to steal a winner.
88 min Van de Ven is sore but staying out there for now. In another peculiar decision, Erik ten Hag takes Rashford off and replaces him with Antony, who has been United’s worst player of the season – and that is a hotly contested title.
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87 min Micky van de Ven is down and waving frantically to the bench. I hope he’s OK.
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86 min United have still had only two shots on target. Spurs have had six.
86 min The free kick is taken by Fernandes … and blocked by the wall.
84 min It’s still Spurs who are stringing the moves together while United have the odd moment of hope. Rashford wins a free kick off Porro, just outside the left-hand side of the area. In fact on the line, but not inside the box. Dragusin comes on to help defend the free kick, replacing Skipp.
83 min As Spurs win their 59th corner, they may have their first sub – Radu Dragusin.
81 min Still no sign of Casemiro, which is weird. Garnacho, coming into the game, plays a one-two with Rashford, who can’t get on the end of it.
80 min Timo Werner gives way to Bryan Gil. His Spurs debut has been very Timo Werner: poor shooting, fine running, one assist.
79 min The corner ends up back with Garnacho, who winds up for a big volley and connects with thin air. Up the other end, Johnson botches a half-chance with a poor first touch. United are looking chaotic as usual, Spurs a bit ragged.
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77 min Garnacho, who has been uncharacteristically muted, makes a good run and wins a corner with his cross.
76 min Richarlison blows a promising move with an overhit pass, allowing Onanan to gather. At the other end Rashford reproduces Fernandes’ long ball from a few minutes ago, with the same result.
75 min Spurs’ turn to head into the box, but Johnson crosses straight into the arms of Onana. “Home crowd getting restless,” says Neville.
74 min Rashford is back on his feet. Fernandes sends one of his long curling through balls into the box, but Vicario is able to gather it.
72 min Rashford is down in some pain after a 50-50 with someone, but the free kick goes to Spurs because he was coming back from an offside position.
70 min Spurs venture forward again and Martinez tidies up as if he’d never ben away. If he was your housemate, you wouldn’t need to worry about the washing-up.
69 min Spurs’ umpteenth corner is headed away by McTominay, who may be out there partly to do just that. It falls to Skipp, whose rasping shot is deflected just wide.
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67 min “United could win the game, who knows,” says Neville, “but the away team is the better team, even with four or five players missing.” To be fair, that applies to both sides.
66 min Hojlund sends Rashford through, but two Spurs defenders do well to smother him.
65 min Udogie goes down in the area, after a push from Garnacho, but neither the ref nor the VAR feels it’s a foul.
Martinez returns!
63 min Jonny Evans makes way for Lisandro Martinez. “Argentina,” sing the crowd, sounding a little like the chorus in Evita at the Curve in Leicester.
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62 min Wan-Bissaka on the charge! He feeds McTominay, who shoots just wide when the better option was probably to pass the parcel to Garnacho, in space on the right.
61 min Dalot does well to set Garnacho free down the right, only for Van de Ven to make an immaculate tackle.
60 min As the hour comes up, United have a corner, taken by Fernaqndes, that sails harmlessly over everyone. And now another Spurs corner, headed away by Varane.
58 min Spurs have a corner, their eighth, headed away by Evans. Their ninth ends up giving Werner a volley, which he puts over the bar. McTominay is on, for Eriksen, which will make United more aggressive and less artistic.
57 min Spurs have had 78pc of the possession in this half. Ten Hag is doing something about it, but not sending for Casemiro yet – it’s Scott McTominay who is getting ready.
55 min Porro’s free kick is headed away by Fernandes for yet another Spurs corner.
54 min Spurs are still on top. Richarlison, roaming down the right, wins a free kick off Eriksen.
53 min Wan-Bissaka, still on the left, shows his best and his worst – making a fine interception, then giving the ball away limply.
51 min Werner, buoyed by his assist, wins a corner on the left. It’s half-cleared, Spurs come again, and Richarlison, in acres, has a shot saved. “Really good start to this half from Spurs,” says Gary Neville.
50 min Spurs threaten again as Johnson reaches the byline and hits a fine cross, well headed away by Dalot. United still have a hole in midfield, surely waiting to be filled by Casemiro.
49 min We’re halfway to that 4-4.
The goal was concocted by Cristian Romero, whose long ball from right to left sliced United open. Skipp fed Werner, who found Bentancur ghosting into the box like Martin Peters. Jonny Evans hesitated, and Bentancur smashed a left-foot shot past Onana.
GOAL! Man United 2-2 Spurs (Bentancur 46)
This is ridiculous.
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Rashford’s goal was his sixth against Spurs in 14 PL games, and his first in 15 games at Old Trafford. It takes him ahead of a famous United marksman…
Marcus Rashford has scored 127 goals for Manchester United, one more than Ole Gunnar Solskjær managed at the club (126). pic.twitter.com/cAhsuamuL4
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) January 14, 2024
Time for some more mail. “An excitingly mistake-ridden first half with some excellent finishes,” reckons Column Fordham. “Richarlison looks sharp for Spurs but Timo Werner’s feeble shots remind me of Denis Healey’s apt description of Geoffrey Howe: ‘Being attacked by him is like being savaged by a dead sheep’.” Mind you, Howe ended up bringing down a prime minister – Margaret Thatcher.
It’s been too hectic for the mailbag, but here’s what my old news editor used to call a nice little tale. “A few years ago,” says Kári Tulinius, “I was traveling around rural Iceland and stopped for lunch in a town that had one restaurant. When we got there we found out that Jim Ratcliffe had rented out the whole restaurant to feed his crew while he was salmon fishing.
“We were informed that the only place to get lunch anywhere nearby was a petrol station that sold hamburgers. As someone who doesn’t eat meat, my heart sank, but more fool me because it turned out they had excellent veggieburgers with their own recipe for patties and unexpected, tasty ingredients.”
HALF-TIME! Man United 2-1 Spurs
Manchester United have only one league game this month, but what a game it is. We’ve had about three weekends’ worth of action already. United took the lead in the third minute through the new, improved Rasmus Hojlund, who slammed the ball into the top bin as if he’d never struggled to get used to the Premier League. Spurs took hold of midfield, won a lot of corners and scored from one of them via Richarlison’s deft header. United then found a riposte against the run of play, as Marcus Rashford scored the sort of goal he used to reel off last season, a crisp pass into the far corner.
So United lead at half-time at home for the first time in the league this season. Can they hang on? Who knows?
45+2 min Chance! Romero gets his head to the corner, hurls himself at it and hits the bar. Then there’s a shot from someone else, not far wide. And there’s even time for a bit of argy-bargy at the other end between Romero and Hojlund, who collects a cheap yellow.
45+2 min And now a Spurs corner! It would be right on-brand for United to concede again now.
45+1 min United win a corner on the left, making it 5-4 to them on that score. The ball ends up near the D with Fernandes, whose shot is into Row X.
45 min There will be three added minutes.
44 min Chance! For Rashford, who makes the wrong decision this time, cutting back onto his right foot when he surely should have blasted it with his left. Chance at the other end! For Werner, who does use his left foot, but screws his shot wide.
43 min United have had two shots on target and they’ve both ended up in the net. Spurs have had four, three of them tame.
42 min That goal was against the run of play.
It’s official – Rashford is back in form. He stormed the box, played a one-two with Hojlund, did well to shake off two or three defenders, and slotted calmly into the far corner.
GOAL! Man United 2-1 Spurs (Rashford 40)
Back in front!
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United hit the post!
39 min Or rather Spurs hit their own post. Udogie tries to head Rashford’s cross out for a corner and nearly gets an own goal. To be fair, it was an excellent header.
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37 min Erik ten Hag has spotted the problem in midfield: he sends Casemiro out to warm up. The home fans, delighted to see him again after four months, chant his name.
35 min It’s still end to end, with Hojlund pressing hard and slipping in Fernandes, who can’t get a shot away. If you’re anywhere near a pub, you may want to drop round there for the second half.
32 min The home crowd wants a penalty as Garnacho goes down in the area, but Gary Neville its having none of it and more importantly neither is John Brooks.
“In the picture of Hojlund scoring the first goal,” says Adrian Godman, “it looks like his head has been (badly) photoshopped onto someone else’s body. Maybe that’s why he was able to score - it wasn’t him?” Harsh but funny.
29 min That Spurs midfield gang up on Jonny Evans and work the ball to Johnson, whose shot is easily saved by Onana. United hit back as Rashford hares down the left, but his cross is also an easy take for the goalie. United win a corner to make it 4-4 on that front.
27 min Spurs are winning the midfield battle and Gary Neville has worked out why. “They’ve got three players in there, Skipp, Hojbjerg and Bentancur, and Udogie dropping in as well.” Mainoo is going to have his work cut out.
25 min It’s 1-1 on goals and now it’s 1-1 on cards too, as Bentancur sees yellow for kicking the ball away.
23 min Another shot from Werner, another miscue. Then Aaron Wan-Bissaka goes in for a sliding tackle on Brennan Johnson and slides all the way into the book, much to the crowd’s displeasure.
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22 min Spurs have the ball now, but Werner’s shot is into Row Z. The goal was Richarlison’s sixth in short order and it means that Spurs have scored in 33 league games running, a new club record.
That was a team effort. Richarlison lined up in a sandwich between Van de Ven and someone else, they all went up for the corner and it was the peroxide head of Richarlison that got a neat deflection into the far corner. Spurs had earned it.
GOAL! Man United 1-1 Spurs (Richarlison 19)
Yet another corner, and this time it does the trick.
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16 min United’s forward line are suddenly playing with more confidence, as Gary Neville notes. “Rashford at his best,” he says, “going past Porro as if he’s not there.” This brings yet another corner, which turns out to be yet another non-event.
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15 min From a United corner, Spurs threaten to break, but the danger is calmly extinguished by Kobbie Mainoo. He’s such an old head on young shoulders.
13 min Yet another corner for Spurs, scrappily cleared. In the knights’ box, Sir Alex makes a point to Sir Jim. Even when you’re a legend, you want to get in with the new boss.
11 min Close! Timo Werner goes just wide with a header from Brennan Johnson’s elegant chip. It may take a deflection as a corner is given. Close again! Bentancur gets his head to the corner and Dalot has to head off the line. It’s all happening.
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9 min Fernandes again hunts down Vicario, whose hasty clearance is intercepted. Straight down the other end, where Porro has a shot saved by Onana. This could finish 4-4.
8 min Close! Rashford with a volley from the corner. He guides it nicely but just wide.
7 min United counter again, and Garnacho and Dalot combine well to win a corner on the right.
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5 min So United have scored in the firtstv half, at home, in the league, for the third time all season. But now Spurs have the ball. Richarlison wins a corner which comes to nothing.
It was a counter, started by Onana, made by Fernandes, whose first-time ball found Rashford racing through. His shot was blocked, but it fell kindly for Rasmus Hojlund, who blasted the ball into the top left.
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GOAL!!! United 1-0 Spurs (Hojlund 3)
Didn’t see that coming.
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3 min The first foul is committed by Fernandes. Does he accept the ref’s decision calmly? Have a guess.
1 min And they’re off! With Spurs going back to Vicario and Bruno Fernandes pressing him hard. Aaron Wan-Bissaka is on the left for United, Diogo Dalot the right, rather than the other way round.
The teams come out, with Marcus Rashford bringing up the rear for United. He has gone some of the way back to form since Christmas with an assist and a fine performance against Villa, a goal at Forest, and an assist at Wigan, plus the pass that enabled Bruno Fernandes to win a penalty. Rashford should find some space today behind Pedro Porro – but he may have to track back more than usual, because Porro is a goal threat too.
Jim Ratcliffe was also asked to name his all-time favourite United players. He went with Paul Scholes and Eric Cantona, which casts him in a better light than his views on Brexit. As the cameras find him now, he is listening to a story told by Sir Alex Ferguson and roaring with laughter.
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Today’s other game has finished goalless. Everton had the ball in the Villa net late on, but the flag had gone up for offside. Do join the great Rob Smyth for a few minutes.
Part-owner in the house!
Jim Ratcliffe, who is in the process of buying 25pc of Manchester United and becoming the boss’s boss, is about to see them play in the flesh for the first time since starting his tortuous negotiations with the Glazer family. “I am very excited to be here,” he told PA, “but I can’t answer any questions, really, because that would be inappropriate...”
Is that it, then? Not quite. “It’s a big match,” Ratcliffe added. “We normally do well against Spurs!” Up to a point, Lord Copper.
The PA report continues: “Asked if his deal was as exciting as anything he has ever done, Ratcliffe smiled and said: ‘Correct. Yes. I have done a few exciting things, but this caps it all. There’s no question about that.’”
I’m rather hoping the reporter replied, “What? More exciting than backing Brexit, then switching production of one of your SUVs from Britain to Austria?”
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Teams in full
Luke Shaw is still not well enough to return for United. That won’t help Marcus Rashford, who has hardly had a start on the left with Shaw behind him all season – either one of them has been missing, or Shaw has been at centre-back, or Rashford has been centre-forward or on the right wing. For Spurs, the mighty Micky van de Ven is back after two months out to join Cristian Romero in the centre of defence. Their opposite numbers are still an elderly couple, Rapha Varane and Jonny Evans.
Manchester United (probable 4-2-3-1) Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Evans, Dalot; Mainoo, Eriksen; Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Hojlund.
Subs: Bayindir, Heaton, Kambwala, Martinez, Casemiro, McTominay, Antony, Pellistri, Forson.
Tottenham Hotspur (probable 4-2-3-1) Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Skipp, Hojberg; Johnson, Bentancur, Werner; Richarlison.
Subs: Forster, Austin, Royal, Dorrington, Dragusin, Santiago, Gil, Donley.
Referee John Brooks.
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Teams in brief: Timo Werner starts!
Timo Werner, who was rumoured to have caught United’s eye, instead goes straight onto the left wing for Spurs after arriving on loan from RB Leipzig. Spurs’ other new boy, the centre-back Radu Dragusin, has to settle for the bench. There’s no Dejan Kulusevski, which may be a relief for United after he engineered Pape Sarr’s goal against them in August.
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Teams in brief: Martinez and Casemiro on the bench
Erik ten Hag’s selection is as expected, with Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro back after long lay-offs but only among the subs. In midfield, Ten Hag decides to start with Christian Eriksen’s creativity and keep Scott McTominay’s combativeness up his sleeve.
Preamble: a true six-pointer
Afternoon everyone and welcome to the match of the day in the Premier League. Yes, it’s fifth against ninth! And there are star players missing on either side. But this is still a big occasion and a true six-pointer.
When Man United went to the Tottenham Stadium back in August, it set the tone for both sides’ season. Spurs were brave, and fortune favoured them. United were half-good, half-awful, and only the bad part had anything to show for it. Both sides managed six shots on target, but Bruno Fernandes missed a sitter whereas Pape Sarr hit a half-volley as if it was his 50th goal for Spurs, rather than his first. With a half-fit Lisandro Martinez adding an own goal, Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs were up and running towards the top of the table. They had a reality check in November but have recovered well with four wins in the last five league games. They’ve even got a tune out of Richarlison.
United, meanwhile, have carried on being Dr Jekyll and Mr Hag. They have improved lately against the top teams (drawing at Anfield, beating Villa), while reserving the right to be wildly inconsistent (losing at Forest, battered at home by Bournemouth).
Spurs have 39 points, Man United 31. If Postecoglou can pull off another win today, that gap will be 11 points and United will be as good as out of contention for the Champions League. If Spurs lose, the gap will shrink to five points and the battle for fifth will be a six-horse race, featuring these two clubs plus West Ham, Brighton, Newcastle and a fitfully resurgent Chelsea.
Once upon a time, United used to sign Spurs’ most stylish players. Teddy Sheringham, Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov … Christian Eriksen is in that tradition (even if he didn’t go straight from Tottenham to Manchester), but these days there’s a different pattern. Spurs sign the sort of stylish players – James Maddison, Pedro Porro, Brennan Johnson – who might have fitted in well at Old Trafford.
Postecoglou’s breezy management has turned Spurs into good travellers, third in the away table with five wins in ten games. The only team with more are Man City, whose heist on Tyneside was their seventh away win in 11. Erik ten Hag’s United have become generous hosts, somehow contriving to be as low as 12th in the home table. In ten league games at home this season, they haven’t managed a single first-half lead. It’s as if the players have been told how bad half-time is at Old Trafford – the concourse congested, the toilets overrun, the bar staff overstretched, the meal deal extortionate – and decided to give the fans something else to moan about instead.
It would be just like Ten Hag’s squad of under-performers to lose this game 3-0. But it would also be just like them to win it 3-2. Lads, it’s United.
