Before kickoff, the TVs at Old Trafford showed repeats of Manchester United’s amazing comeback from 3-0 down to win 5-3 against Tottenham.
However, the historic fightback of 23 years ago would not be repeated because this United team lacked the belief, resilience, courage, and leadership of its victorious predecessors.
Instead, it is a weak and cowardly imitation, one that will almost certainly cost Erik ten Hag his job if results do not improve immediately, with United sitting 12th in the standings after three defeats in six games.
Ten Hag will refer to the straight red card given to skipper Bruno Fernandes for a heavy tackle on James Madisson as the moment this game finished as a battle, with United reduced to ten men.
However, the harsh fact is that Spurs were outplaying United long before Fernandes’ departure and should have been many goals ahead by the time he was sent out well before halftime.
This was worse than United’s 3-0 home loss to arch rivals Liverpool four weeks prior. Spurs might easily have won 5-0 or 6-0 if Andre Onana hadn’t produced some great saves.
In the third minute, Spurs defender Micky van de Ven picked up the ball within his own half and surged forward unchecked before crossing for the unmarked Brennan Johnson to score with the easiest of finishes for his fourth goal in as many games.
Diogo Dalot was the primary fault, failing to monitor Johnson’s run despite being only a few yards away when Van de Ven picked up the ball. If not an identical duplicate of FC Twente’s equaliser in their 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in Tuesday, it was frighteningly close, with a man allowed to go unopposed through the middle, eventually resulting to a goal.
Ten Hag claimed United could not let it happen, but four days later, his team allowed the identical circumstance and conclusion to occur, having learnt nothing.
The United goalkeeper then had a lucky escape, with Onana save superbly from Maddison, the post preventing Johnson a second goal, and Noussair Mazraoui clearing the ball off the line, with Timo Werner waiting behind him.
Cristian Romero hit an amazing scissor kick that went just wide, and Werner could have made it 2-0 with just Onana to beat, but instead blasted straight at him.
Ten Hag struck a sad figure on the touchline at the end, sodden from the Manchester rain, as his team – and maybe his career prospects – were swept away with this humiliating defeat.
The roof may be leaking at Old Trafford, but it is in risk of collapsing on Ten Hag following this gutless performance, the type that gets managers fired.
