Manchester United 0-3 Tottenham (Fernandes red card 42′ | Johnson 3′, Kulusevski 47′, Solanke 77′)
Gary Neville branded Manchester United an “absolute disgrace” half way through their shambolic defeat to Tottenham on Sunday – and they proceeded to get worse from there.
Goals from Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski at the start of each half plus Dominic Solanke’s instinctive strike late on ensured Spurs left Old Trafford with all three poins to ease some of the pressure on Ange Postecoglou after two painful defeats in September.
United were reduced to 10 men on the stroke of half-time as Bruno Fernandes was sent off for a knee high challenge on James Maddison.
While replays showed the United captain slipped before the tackle, the unfortunate nature of the red card was no excuse for an abject display that will only increase the scrutiny on the embattled Erik ten Hag.
Here’s how every United and Spurs player rated out of 10:
Man Utd
Andre Onana: Busy afternoon for the United stopper as chaos unfolded in front him. Little he could do for Spurs goals and made some strong saves. One excellent long pass to Rashford who was offside 7/10
Noussair Mazraoui: Dealt well with the pacy Werner and made difficult clearance across face of his own goal look easy. One of United’s better performers on a bad day 7/10
Diogo Dalot: Sleepwalking for the opener as he allowed Johnson a free run into the back post in calamity of United errors. Needed some support from his wingers with Johnson and Kulusevski often doubling up on him 5/10
Lisandro Martinez: One of the few United players who put up a fight and big challenge on Maddison appeared to spark some life into his teammates. Impressed when pushed into midfield in second half 7/10
Matthijs De Ligt: One of several players culpable for Johnson’s opener. Exposed by Tottenham’s pace in attack but not helped by weakness of midfield shield in front of him 5/10
Manuel Ugarte: Overwhelmed in first league start. Should have put a foot in to stop Van de Ven’s marauding run for opener didn’t improve from there, allowing Tottenham to run the show 3/10
Kobbie Mainoo: Part of United midfield that was completely overrun in first half. Made one excellent run and pass to tee up Zirkzee but was then replaced after Fernandes’ sending off 5/10
Marcus Rashford: Shocking first 15 minutes, including giving ball away limply in build up to Spurs’ first goal. Couldn’t be criticised for lack of effort thereafter though as United tried in vain to chase game 5/10
Bruno Fernandes: Unlucky to be sent off after slipping into challenge with Maddison but far from his finest performance regardless. Looked misused in advanced position behind Zirkzee with Ugarte and Mainoo flailing behind 4/10
Alejandro Garnacho: Frustrating afternoon for youngster who looked most likely United player to create a goal-scoring chance when given rare opportunities on ball 6/10
Joshua Zirkzee: Drew one sharp save from Vicario with United’s first shot but generally struggled badly in lone striker role. Doesn’t look sharp enough for Premier League 4/10
Substitutes:
Mason Mount: 5/10
Casemiro: 6/10
Christian Eriksen: 5/10
Rasmus Hojlund: 5/10
Tottenham
Guglielmo Vicario: Had little to do in the first half, in truth. Made a good save to deny Zirkzee 6/10
Destiny Udogie: Saw two efforts fly over the crossbar in the first half before being replaced by Djed Spence at the break 6/10
Micky van de Ven: Ran almost the entire length of the pitch for the opening goal and his pass was tapped home by a waiting Johnson at the back post 8/10
Cristian Romero: Hardly put a foot wrong, like the rest of his teammates 6/10
Pedro Porro: Did what was required of him in defence and looked to hit United on the counter when he got the chance 7/10
James Maddison: This is exactly what Spurs fans want to see from Maddison after he pulled the strings in the middle of the park 7/10
Rodrigo Bentancur: He was up against Manuel Ugarte and gave his Uruguay teammate an absolute schooling. Oh to be a fly on the wall in their dressing room during the international break 7/10
Dejan Kulusevski: Hustled and outmuscled the opposition and was duly rewarded with his first goal of the season 9/10
Timo Werner: A vintage Werner performance. Fluffed a one-on-one chance that he probably should have scored. His pace caught the defence out on a couple of occasions, though 6/10
Dominic Solanke: The Bournemouth striker worked hard as ever up front. Good on and off the ball. Great for him to get a goal 7/10
Brennan Johnson: He could have had a brace, but hit the post. That’s four goals in the last four games for the Welshman 8/10
Substitutes:
Djed Spence: 6/10
Mikey Moore: 6/10
Lucas Bergvall: 6/10
Pape Matar Sarr: 6/10