Casemiro shines, £66m star stinks – Man United’s three winners and losers vs Tottenham
Matthijs de Ligt rescued an added-time point for Man United at Tottenham as they played out an exciting 2-2 draw in North London.
Man United looked the more likely in the early stages, and Bryan Mbeumo gave them the lead just after the half-hour mark with a well-placed header from a pinpoint Amad cross.
Brennan Johnson was ruled to be offside as he thought he had levelled in the second-half, but Mathys Tel did do that six minutes from time before Richarlison thought he had won it with a header in the 91st minute.
Matthijs de Ligt then saved the visitors with his own header from a corner with seconds on the clock, and Football Insider have picked out three winners and losers from the Red Devils’ squad after their 2-2 draw with Tottenham.
Winners
Bryan Mbeumo
Mbeumo could have joined Tottenham in the summer, but he came back to haunt Thomas Frank with a stellar showing in North London here.
The Cameroon international opened the scoring with real aplomb and was a much better focal point than Matheus Cunha after he seriously struggled to make an impact.
Casemiro
Casemiro put in a showing that proved his quality as he dictated the tempo in midfield and was a standout performer in the first-half particularly.
His decent showing was highlighted even further by how United capitulated after he had gone off to be replaced by Manuel Ugarte, who will certainly not be starting over the Brazilian anytime soon.
Casemiro continues to be the surprise success story of the season for United.
Senne Lammens
Senne Lammens has been a revelation for United since he joined late in the summer window, and this was no different as he stood tall to deny Spurs on a number of occasions.
A string of fine saves at the start of the second-half to stop Cristian Romero and Joao Palhinha kept the visitors ahead, and he could do little about their two goals that went in late on as the first took a big deflection and the second caught everyone off guard.
Losers
Benjamin Sesko
Benjamin Sesko has struggled for form since joining United, and he failed to make any sort of impact here as he had to go off injured despite only coming on as substitute in the second-half.
He spurned two big chances after entering the pitch on the hour mark, and the second saw him suffer an injury after Micky Van de Ven put in a huge tackle to deny him in the 89th minute.
Sesko trudged off after just 30 minutes of game-time, and United looked all over the place as they were forced to play with ten men as a result.
Matheus Cunha
Matheus Cunha was nowhere near his best against Spurs, with just one shot on goal which was blocked, no chances created all afternoon, just one duel won from seven attempted, and two fouls committed.
It was him who gave the ball away to allow Tottenham to attack and Johnson to score before he was ruled offside, and Amorim had clearly seen enough by then as he took him off in the 72nd minute.
Harry Maguire
Harry Maguire actually put in a decent showing on Saturday afternoon, but he was also struck down with an injury and could well be facing some time out of the team as a result.
The 32-year-old went down in the 72nd minute despite seemingly not being involved in any sort of clash or tackle with a Tottenham man, and his subsequent substitution was a big factor in the visitors’ late struggles as Leny Yoro came into the side and looked rusty.