NOBODY was quite sure whether Bruno Fernandes had let down Erik ten Hag or provided him with a convenient excuse for another dismal Manchester United defeat.
Either way, the first-half red card United’s ‘captain’ received for a nasty late challenge on James Maddison, should not be allowed to disguise the fact that Tottenham were thoroughly outclassing Ten Hag’s side when it was 11 vs 11.
This was United’s second successive home league battering, after a 3-0 drubbing by Liverpool.
And it sharpened the focus on the decision of Old Trafford football supremo Sir Jim Ratcliffe to stick with Ten Hag as manager this summer.
Spurs, who had suffered seven straight defeats against top-half opposition, ran riot and should have been leading by more than a third-minute Brennan Johnson strike before Fernandes was sent packing by ref Chris Kavanagh.
The outstanding Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke added second-half goals for Ange Postecoglou’s team - but United were being overrun well before then.
Ten Hag now takes his bullet-ridden side to Porto and Aston Villa in the next seven days - a week which the manager might be lucky to survive on this evidence.
United, who increasingly resemble a Dutch Eredivisie All Star XI, are 12th in the table, having scored just five goals in six matches - three of them against hapless Southampton.
It is shambolic stuff and there is precious little evidence that a summer reboot of the squad has had any effect.
United finished eighth last season and it would be a surprise if they end this campaign any higher in the table.
FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS
If Ten Hag has the support of the dressing-room then some of them have a funny way of showing it - not least his skipper.
Fernandes was sent off in the 42nd minute for a snidey challenge on Maddison, who had been strutting his stuff in midfield and helping to embarrass United.
It was the sort of tackle for which a nicer bloke might have received a yellow but Fernandes was not given the benefit of the doubt.
Ref Chris Kavanagh assumed malicious intent from the Portuguese and he was probably right.
Ten Hag, who handed Manuel Ugarte a first Premier League start, had demanded greater ruthlessness in his programme notes and so, with grim predictability, United were behind within 155 seconds.
Rashford, who was dropped for last week’s draw at Crystal Palace, overhit a pass and Micky van de Ven charged forward 60 yards, past four United defenders and cut back for Johnson to tap in.
This was the antithesis of ruthlessness. You often wonder whether some of United’s players listen to a word Ten Hag says.
The gleeful away fans sang "there’s only one Brennan Johnson", the fickleness of supporters knowing no bounds.
United were frequently mugged attempting to play out from the back, Spurs pressing like a pack of dogs.
Maddison and Kulusevski frequently linked up well and Destiny Udogie blazed over from one such link-up.
At one end, Matthijs de Ligt was a defensive liability and at the opposite end, Rashford was seriously wasteful.
Spurs were outclassing their hosts, one sweet passing move ending with Kulusevski teeing up Johnson who struck the inside of the post.
Joshua Zirkzee forced one decent save out of Guglielmo Vicario after some neat footwork from Kobbie Mainoo.
But Spurs were in control and Cristian Romero whistled a bicycle-kick narrowly wide from a Pedro Porro centre.
United were beginning to lose their discipline in the minutes leading up to Fernandes’ dismissal, with both full-backs - Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot booked for fouls.
Rashford finally did something right with a curling cross from which Alejandro Garnacho volleyed against the outside of the post.
But then came the red card - United’s captain making a sly, nasty late challenge on Maddison which would have been dangerous had he executed it more emphatically.
Kavanagh sent him off and while it might have been an ‘orange’, it was never a call that the VAR was likely to overturn.
Surprisingly, it was Fernandes’ first red card in a United shirt.
Ten Hag hooked Mainoo in favour of Mason Mount, who was promptly booked.
United were booed off at the break, which was the least they deserved. Spurs had been utterly dominant, United an embarrassment.
Ten Hag’s unique brand of tactical wizardry decreed that what ten-man United now needed was a bloke whose legs have gone and so he introduced Casemiro.
And within two minutes of the restart, Casemiro was one of three United players dawdling and dithering on the halfway line as Spurs broke away and doubled their lead.
This time, Johnson was the provider, darting down the right before his deflected cross was volleyed in from close range by Kulusevski.
With United threatening to subside, the Swede soon played a cute angled pass to release Timo Werner, who failed to convert a one-on-one against Andre Onana for the second time in the same match.
Had skipper Son Heung-min not been ruled out with a hamstring injury, it might have been far worse for United.
Then a strange thing happened. United’s supporters and players woke up and joined in.
There was a decent penalty shout for handball against Romero, Lisandro Martinez squirmed a shot just wide, Casemiro fired across the face of goal and the Stretford End was rising.
In response, Postecoglou made a triple substitution and two of the new arrivals combined to tee up Solanke for the third goal - Lucas Bergvall’s corner was nodded on by Pape Matar Sarr for the former Bournemouth striker to poke over the line.
There were four United defenders in statue mode and Old Trafford swiftly began to empty, a minority showing greater tactical acumen than Ten Hag by staying put to avoid the traffic.
