In Round 33 of the Premier League 2022/23, despite leading Tottenham by two goals in the first half, Manchester United eventually settled for a disappointing 2-2 draw.
Goals:
Tottenham: Porro (56′), Son (79′)
Manchester United: Sancho (7′), Rashford (44′)
As the away team against Tottenham, Manchester United made only one change to the starting lineup from their FA Cup semi-final victory, with Jadon Sancho replacing Anthony Martial. In addition, midfielder Bruno Fernandes started despite concerns about his eye injury.
After the opening whistle, Manchester United quickly took control of the game. In the 7th minute, after receiving a pass from Marcus Rashford, Sancho took a few steps, curled the ball inside the box, and then used his right foot to place it into the far corner of Tottenham’s net. In the following period, the Red Devils continued to dominate and came close to scoring a second goal.
Manchester United had taken the lead through Jadon Sancho
In the 19th minute, Ivan Perisic made a timely header to clear the ball off the line after Sancho’s shot inside the box. Ten minutes later, Tottenham had a chance to equalize, but Perisic’s header was saved by David De Gea. Both MU and Tottenham created many dangerous opportunities in the next phase, but only the Red Devils successfully capitalized on them.
In the 44th minute, Manchester United launched a quick counter-attack. Fernandes once again demonstrated his value with a long pass that sent Rashford running down the left and finishing with a left-footed shot that doubled the visitors’ lead.
In the second half, Manchester United dropped back and actively gave up control of the game to Tottenham. However, this turned out to be a turning point that reversed everything. Spurs pushed their team forward to attack, and in the 56th minute, new signing Porro Porro hit a beautiful outside-footed shot that beat De Gea and brought the score down to 1-2.
Porro scores for Tottenham
This goal lifted Tottenham’s spirits, while Manchester United became increasingly tired, perhaps due to the lingering effects of their extended FA Cup semi-final against Brighton. The Red Devils were clearly inferior to Spurs in terms of speed and ability to compete, and eventually, the inevitable happened.
After wasting many good chances, Tottenham found the equalizer. In the 79th minute, Harry Kane passed the ball to Son Heung-min, who easily tapped the ball into the net from close range to make it 2-2. Ten Hag’s squad tried very hard in the remaining minutes but couldn’t find a third goal.
Son’s moment of equalization for Spurs
In the end, Manchester United drew 2-2 with Tottenham despite leading 2-0 in the first half. This result helped United maintain their 4th position in the Premier League 2022/23 with 60 points, while Tottenham regained their 5th position with 54 points, but having played two more games than the Red Devils.
In round 34, United will host Aston Villa at Old Trafford at 8:00 PM on April 30th, while Tottenham will be away to Liverpool.
Squad:
Tottenham: Forster, Romero, Dier, Lenglet, Porro (Danjuma 77′), Skipp, Hojbjerg, Perisic (Davies 77′), Richarlison (Kulusevski 61′), Son (Tanganga 87′), Kane
MU: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka (Malacia 71′), Lindelof, Shaw, Dalot, Casemiro, Eriksen (Fred 61′), Antony (Weghorst 71′), Fernandes, Sancho (Martial 61′), Rashford”
