Right, that’s the end of this minute-by-minute. Thanks for joining us.
If you’re a United fan, well done for making it this far. If you’re a Spurs fan or a fan of United’s rivals, scroll down for some of the best footballing Schadenfreude you’re likely to get. Thanks to all those who emailed in. Bye!
Here’s a sorry looking Bruno Fernandes, who has asked to speak to the media.
“I let my teammates down. I appreciate everything they did on the pitch, it was obviously tougher for them. We didn’t start the game well with 11 v 11. I think the resilience of the team was there with 10 men.
“Nobody likes to be sent off and it’s not a good feeling seeing my teammates running and trying a lot. We conceded another two goals but they tried everything.
“It’s a clear foul but not a red card and even Maddison said it’s never a red card. If this is a red card we have to look at many other incidents. If he wants to give me a yellow because it’s a counterattack, OK. I don’t understand why [VAR] doesn’t call the referee to the screen.”
Postecoglou suggests to the BBC that he was slightly annoyed his team didn’t score more goals.
“I don’t know about frustrated but I am only human,” said the Spurs manager. “More for the players themselves. We played some unbelievable football and you want them to get the rewards.”
“Our football is really good and we have the quality to play, so we’re in a good moment,” says Micky van de Ven to Sky Sports.
Then it’s wholesome stuff from Brennan Johnson, who thanks his manager, his family and his friends for his red-hot form right now. All smiles from the Spurs pair.
Here’s your match report from Jamie Jackson at the Theatre of Nightmares.
This is a damning statistic.
Manchester United have lost 8 of their last 20 Premier League home games. They’d lost 0 of the 20 before.
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) September 29, 2024
Hammered at home again. 😡 pic.twitter.com/kHsZXgqJ9t
Updated
There will perhaps be protestations and discussions around the red card, there will definitely (and deservedly) be praise for a terrific Tottenham performance, but you feel this is really about United’s levels under Ten Hag.
“An absolutely disgusting first half performance,” according to Gary Neville – and he’s not wrong.
FT: Manchester United 0-3 Tottenham
There goes the final whistle and it’s a second 3-0 home defeat to a fellow ‘Big Six’ club for United this season. They’ve scored just one goal at home in the Premier League so far this term and this defeat will bring huge pressure and criticism onto Erik ten Hag. As if it wasn’t there already.
For Spurs, it’s now four consecutive wins in all competitions and a real launching pad for their season, which is shaping up nicely for Ange Postecoglou.
Updated
Ten Hag has run out of excuses now. Another pre-season, few injuries, backed with the signings of 5 new players this summer and yet United are still absolutely dreadful and getting worse. #MUFC
— Sam Pilger (@sampilger) September 29, 2024
90 min + 2: A lovely cross from Garnacho with the outside of his foot finds Hojlund, who steers into the side netting. Spurs have had 22 shots today; United 11.
90 min: Just the six minutes of added time, no mercy for United from the officials.
Onana saves well to deny Solanke and Sarr can only head wide from the rebound.
On the other side of things, this is from Tottenham fan JJW on email:
Hi Dom. Long suffering Spurs fan here. Some pints to watch the game in the pub? About 15 quid. Hearing “When the Spurs go marching in” ring out across an emptying, humiliated Old Trafford? Priceless.
88 min: The stadium is more than half empty now. Many have made the dash for the train or tram in the teeming Manchester rain. If you’re a United fan, this is grim.
An email that sums it up from Rick Harris:
Very hard to see any real change from United last season to this one. They don’t seem to put in as much effort as most of the teams they play so it is hardly a surprise when a zippy outfit like Spurs are all over them. I would love to know what Ten Hag’s plan is – assuming he actually has one.
85 min: Amad comes on for Mount.
After six games of the Premier League season, United’s record is set to read: two wins, one draw and three defeats. Proper mid-table stuff.
84 min: There’s blood pouring from the top of Mount’s head, which doesn’t look good at all.
82 min: There’s a bit of concern here for Mason Mount, who is down with a head injury. Dragusin’s first act after coming on was to steamroll into the back of Mount challenging for an aerial ball.
The goal that wrapped up the win for Tottenham.
Dominic Solanke pokes it home! ⚪ pic.twitter.com/VP5eueB2iF
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 29, 2024
81 min: The excellent Van de Ven is replaced by Dragusin. The big Dutchman gets the broadcasters’ Man Of The Match prize.
79 min: An email just asked whether Solanke had been ineffectual … quite the opposite, he’s been really good both on and off the ball. That goal caps the performance.
The Spurs fans sing his name.
GOAL! Man Utd 0-3 Spurs (Solanke 77)
Solanke from close range seals the deal!
Poor marking from United from the set piece and the summer signing scores a proper centre-forward’s goal, pouncing on the second ball. That will kill any momentum United had.
Updated
Spurs subs: Johnson, Maddison and Werner are coming off, to be replaced by Bergvall, Moore and Sarr.
76 min: Spurs need a period of calm in possession and that should be enough for them, really. Postecoglou is preparing to ring the changes … he’s probably not been too impressed with this second half display. It’s been a slightly odd performance.
74 min: Eriksen has taken two set-pieces since coming on and they’ve both hit the first man.
73 min: Porro barges needlessly into Garnacho and concedes both a yellow card and a free-kick to United.
72 mins: Martinez again finds himself in a great spot on the edge of Spurs’ box but only succeeds in hitting his shot straight into the defender. Werner has been wasteful a couple of times going forward for Tottenham, which is giving United more hope. Garnacho wins a corner.
It’s Højlund and Eriksen for Ugarte and Rashford.
70 min: You wonder if some complacency is setting in for Spurs here. That can be the only reason for giving these chances up. They ought to be home and hosed.
69 min: Rasmus Højlund was a goalscorer against Spurs in this fixture last season and he’s being readied now.
Oh and Casemiro goes close for the second time since coming on! He’s almost steered it home from an acute angle. Big chance that actually.
67 min: Garnacho remains United’s best outlet, but it’s a big effort for them to get it forward and give him enough time and support to create a chance.
Spurs surge down the left but Werner’s driven cross is straight into Onana’s arms.
65 min: It’d be a big surprise if this ends 2-0 United have decided it’s time to give this a final good go and Spurs are still committing men forward, leaving gaps. Ugarte is booked for hauling down Kulusevski.
63 min: It comes to something when Lisandro Martinez looks like Man United’s most effective attacking player. A series of set-pieces has the home fans hoping again. Can they conjure something?
Casemiro heads just wide from a Garnacho corner. This is United’s best spell of the game.
61 min: That Romero one was really dicey but VAR had no interest in overturning the on-field decision. It’s one of those confusing, 50-50 calls.
60 min: After a rare United corner, there are halfhearted appeals for a Kulusevski handball and a penalty. I don’t think it even touched him arm.
United appeal again for a handball as Martinez has a shot wide. Romero is the potential culprit.
58 min: Bentancur shrugs off Ugarte for the umpteenth time this afternoon. He’s been excellent for Tottenham today.
57 min: Remember when Postecoglou, when Spurs had nine men against Chelsea last season, went completely gung-ho and actually threatened to get a result from the game? Time for a bit of that from Ten Hag.
Onana with a fine double save from Werner and Solanke. Good from the United goalkeeper.
An email from Simon McMahon gives us an idea of what Big Ange’s half-time team talk might have been:
Lads, it’s United.
53 min: Referee Chris Kavanagh pauses, crouches and considers giving Spurs a penalty as Mazraoui bundles into the back of Spence. Nothing doing in the end and VAR agrees.
50 min: Ten Hag and some ardent United fans may well cite a harsh red card as an excuse after this game, but Spurs should have been three or four ahead by the time of Fernandes’ dismissal.
Do United have any fight left in them?
GOAL! Man Utd 0-2 Spurs (Kulusevski 47)
Maybe not! Kulusevski gets the crucial second goal.
It’s way too easy again for Spurs who cut a path down the right through Johnson. It’s deftly touched beyond Onana by Kulusevski in the end. The scoreline now better reflects the visitors’ dominance.
Updated
47 min: Casemiro as United’s saviour is a narrative arc that few saw coming this season. It could yet happen.
Second half: More Tottenham dominance, or some resistance from United’s 10 men? Let’s find out.
Both teams have made changes. Casemiro is on for Zirkzee in a defensive sub from the hosts, with Djed Spence replacing the injured Udogie.
Answers on a postcard please.
What were United even trying to do with 11 players? #mufc
— Dominic Booth (@DomBooth19) September 29, 2024
FC Twente celebrated a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in midweek. On this evidence, they should have been gutted.
I’m off for a half-time brew.
There’s some debate in my inbox about the Fernandes red card. It’s possibly an orange, but when you make zero attempt to play the ball and tackle a player halfway up his shin, you can have few complaints. VAR was never ever going to overturn it.
As Joe Pearson points out: “And Bruno wasn’t even in your list of likely [red card'] suspects!
Here’s the incident (for UK readers):
A straight red for Bruno Fernandes and Manchester United are down to 10! 🟥 pic.twitter.com/44Z7OMPrNI
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 29, 2024
HT: Man Utd 0-1 Spurs
Tottenham finish the half a goal up and a man up but that tells only half the story at Old Trafford, after a listless 45-minute performance from Manchester United that will bring increased scrutiny on Erik ten Hag.
Brennan Johnson scored the opener early on, but Spurs could and should be further in front. Half-time provides some welcome respite for the United players, and fans, and oh to be a fly on the wall in that home dressing room in the next 15 minutes. What happens next is anyone’s guess.
45 min + 2: Apparently Mainoo has an injury so that’s why he was subbed.
It won’t surprise you when I say that Spurs are dominating in first half stoppage time.
Five minutes are added at the end of the first half. United are a shambles at this stage.
45 min: United actually played with nine for a bit, as Ten Hag couldn’t get Mount on. Gary Neville, commentating on Sky, has steam coming out of his ears.
44 min: Having seen nearly all of United’s games this term, that sums up Fernandes’ season so far. He’s been way off his best and often cut a frustrated figure. That was the act of a frustrated man.
“You’re gonna cry in a minute,” sing the Spurs fans, as Ten Hag prepares Mason Mount to come on. Kobbie Mainoo (really?) is the man taken off.
RED CARD (Bruno Fernandes)
A straight red for the United captain. That was seriously rash.
The complaints continue but I suspect this will not be overturned by VAR. There was absolutely no attempt to play the ball and he scraped his foot down Maddison’s shin. Let’s see.
Updated
41 min: A flurry of set-pieces for Tottenham who are ending this half as they started it. On top. They keep it alive a few times after semi-clearances from United but nothing quite comes.
39 min: Big stop from Onana! Werner is one-on-one with the United keeper but he fluffs his lines. That came when United had committed too many men forward and Spurs, as they’ve done continually, cut them to ribbons.
38 min: Garnacho and Rashford have at least looked fairly dangerous on the break.
“The Spurs midfield are doing really well in circumstances they can’t possibly have trained for,” says Anthony Griffin on email. “They are being passed to consistently by both teams’ defences.”
37 min: Garnacho strikes the post! It would have been a brilliant volley, as he meets Rashford’s cross from deep on the left.
That gets the crowd going a little.
36 min: United finally get forward on the counter but there are groans as Zirkzee chooses to slow it down. It leads to very little in the end.
Can they produce anything before half-time? Just the one chance of note thus far.
34 min: Every time I look up from my screen, United have given the ball away. Mazraroui flies late into Udogie and is booked.
33 min: You have to give Spurs credit for the pressure they’re putting the hosts under. It’s ceaseless. Udogie sees another effort fly over the crossbar, though this one was deflected off De Ligt. The away side sense another goal.
Romero volleys wide from another cross.
Updated
30 min: James Maddison must think Christmas has come early. He’s running this game. Onana saves his shot, which came from another United error on the ball.
Updated
29 min: If you’re not watching and want a sense of the game, try to imagine the worse Man United performance you can imagine. It’s worse than that.
28 min: Last ditch stuff from Mazrauou to deny a lurking Werner at the back post. Good reading of the game and a solid clearance.
But back come Spurs … they’ve been on top for almost the whole of this game.
27 mins: Joshua Zirkzee hasn’t had the best game so far. He’s quality on the ball but isn’t quick and sometimes looks a poor fit for United when they’re trying to play transition, counterattacking football like they are today. Rasmus Højlund will surely come on at some stage.
“It should be 3-0 Spurs,” says Mary Waltz on email. “United look confused. But they are only down a goal, and Spurs need to take advantage of United’s sorry play before United get’s a lucky counter.”
United are finally revving up with 24 minutes on the clock, so Mary might well be proven right.
23 mins: The first chance of the game for United and it’s a big one! Garnacho slips it into Mainoo, whose cut-back isn’t inch-perfect for Zirkzee but it’s not bad. The big Dutchman stretches but Vicario just about collects it.
22 min: Some bad news for Spurs – Destiny Udogie is down and hurt. Postecoglou will be praying he’s OK; the left-back is a vital player in this side and there’s no natural replacement on the bench.
20 min: Johnson could have a brace, but hits the post! It’s knife through butter stuff from Spurs, swiftly worked across to the Welshman on the right, whose shot across the keeper strikes the upright.
With nearly a quarter of this game now played, United haven’t had a single shot, or barely a touch in Tottenham’s box.
An email:
Letting van de Ven run through the defence was pretty bad from United, but it’s really Dalot that needs to take the majority of the blame for that goal. He just stopped following Johnson back. He jogged as Johnson ran. They were practically together when van de Ven won the ball, but they didn’t show the same desire to get back. Why [Harry] Amass hasn’t had a chance is beyond me. Ten Hag is falling into the Solskjaer mindset of “it doesn’t matter how you play, you’re in the team” with regard to certain players. John Barry
17 mins: On three or four occasions already, United players have just passed the ball out of play. How did legislate for that if you’re Erik ten Hag?
15 min: It’s the battle of the Uruguay central midfielders today and on this early evidence Rodrigo Bentancur looks like giving Manuel Ugarte an absolute schooling. Ugarte has been chasing shadows – not all his fault – while Bentancur in that deep pivot role has been on point with his passing.
13 min: Udogie shoots over… there’s no respite for the hosts as it comes straight back at them.
United have been absolutely woeful so far.
11 min: It could be 2-0. Maddison dances through the United defence, taking a lovely one-two and very nearly dinking it over Onana, in the manner which he scored at home last week. The keeper gets (just) enough on it.
10 min: It’s all very frenetic as Onana plays a long ball over the top, which has Spurs running back. Rashford’s effort is parried by Vicario. He’s offside anyway.
8 min: There’s no blame on Rashford for that Spurs opening goal in my eyes. He was trying to go forward. Four or five players behind him had the chance to tackle Van de Ven and didn’t. Nobody was marking Brennan Johnson either.
7 min: United cannot live with the ferocity of the Tottenham press. Ugarte has had his pocket picked a couple of times already, this latest time nearly bringing about a chance for Maddison. There’s so much space for the Spurs attackers as to be absurd.
5 min: The murmurs of discontent around Old Trafford have begun already. United just haven’t started. Spurs have.
GOAL! Man Utd 0-1 Spurs (Johnson 3)
What a start for the visitors!
How on earth has Micky van de Ven travelled that far? Rashford overruns it as United look for the counter… then United are countered themselves, with Van de Ven racing on and on and on, eventually squaring from the byline to give Johnson a straightforward tap-in. Goodness me.
Updated
2 min: United are in their now customary 4-4-2 shape without the ball. Suspect it will be more of a 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-4 when in possession. Spurs are showing the early initiative thanks to their usual high pressing.
KICK OFF
‘Historically this is a glitzy one,’ says poetry’s Peter Drury on Sky. He also declares that both clubs are ‘charismatic’.
OK, enough, it’s finally time for the talking to stop. We are under way at Old Trafford. A wall of noise greets the first whistle from referee Chris Kavanagh.
Greater Manchester’s own Keely Hodgkinson is introduced to the crowd at Old Trafford before kickoff. Insert pun about a golden performance.
12 years ago today. Twelve years!
29 September 2012 📆
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 29, 2024
Clint Dempsey at Old Trafford 🤤 pic.twitter.com/vVr3U37h1h
There are some red card candidates in both starting lineups to be fair to Richard. Romero, Udogie, Bentancur, Ugarte, Martinez …
Postecoglou tells Sky on Son’s absence: “Short turnaround from Thursday night, so just wasn’t right for today. We’ve had key players missing before.
“You’re facing a big club at an iconic stadium… you blokes [Sky] are here, so it’s the kinda game you want to be involved in.”
An email from Richard Hirst before kickoff:
Can’t see this finishing XI v XI. Lots of scope for both midfield confrontation and kamikaze last man defending. Red cards all round – yummy.
This is not what we want to see in the modern game.
Some good news for United. Their women’s side have just wrapped up a hard-fought 1-0 win at Everton. Spurs’ women take on Aston Villa soon.
Manchester United are winless in their past three against Tottenham; before that they’d won four on the bounce against them. The one thing we should be guaranteed today is goals. There’s only been one 1-0 in the past 14 meetings between these two sides – and no goalless draws between them for more than a decade.
The last time United failed to score at least two at home to Spurs was when they were hammered 6-1 at home by Jose Mourinho’s side in 2020 – day when Son scored two and United had 10 men for more than an hour. Ten Hag’s team have their issues and Postecoglou’s football can be scintillating … but it’s hard to envisage a repeat of that scoreline today.
It begs the question as to why, Erik, did you drop him to the bench for last week’s visit to Crystal Palace? Rashford traditionally plays well against Tottenham, mind, with three home goals against Spurs in the recent past.
🚨🚨🎙️| Erik ten Hag on Marcus Rashford:
— centredevils. (@centredevils) September 29, 2024
"Last week, he scored three goals, so he's in a good direction. Now he has to make the last step." pic.twitter.com/rT95oQnc2F
As for this game, here’s some pre-match reading around both sides, with Ten Hag calling for patience as he integrates some young signings at United and Spurs’ new boy Dom Solanke gaining confidence rapidly.
The final stages of Ipswich v Villa are looking very interesting indeed, if that’s your bag. Daniel Harris is all over it.
Team news
Manchester United: Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martínez, Dalot; Mainoo, Ugarte; Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Zirkzee
Subs: Bayindir, Evans, Lindelof, Casemiro, Eriksen, Mount, Amad, Antony, Højlund.
Tottenham: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Maddison, Kulusevski; Johnson, Solanke, Werner
Subs: Forster, Spence, Dragusin, Gray, Bissouma, Sarr, Bergvall, Moore, Lankshear.
Updated
Preamble
Good afternoon all. The headline act of this weekend’s football schedule is nearly upon us at Old Trafford and it has all the potential to be an absolute cracker. Two exciting but somewhat flawed teams, both with mixed records in the Premier League so far this season, go toe-to-toe. Will Ange Postecoglou’s high-line and high-risk football profit against an oft-vulnerable Manchester United? Or can Erik ten Hag’s off-the-cuff attackers, buoyed by a home crowd, give the Dutchman some much-needed respite. The midfield battle will be fascinating in itself, given solidity in the centre is the strength of neither side.
The pre-match news: Son Heung-min is missing for Spurs through injury, while for United this one comes too soon for Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia and new signing Leny Yoro. Ten Hag has had a few attacking selection dilemmas to consider.
Kick off is at 4.30pm BST and the official team news will come in the next post. Excited for this one!
