De Ligt rescues United after stoppage time chaos at Spurs | OneFootball

A last-gasp equaliser from Matthijs de Ligt salvaged a point for Manchester United and ended a streak of four consecutive defeats by Tottenham, who thought they had won this tight game when Richarlison put them ahead in the first minute of stoppage time.

United led for the best part of an hour after Bryan Mbeumo returned to haunt his former Brentford manager Thomas Frank with the opening goal for United. But Frank’s substitutions turned the game Tottenham’s way when Mathys Tel equalised for Spurs in the 84th minute, before Wilson Odobert set up Richarlison to score his first goal in 11 games for Tottenham. 

But just as home fans started to celebrate another victory over United, de Ligt powered home a header at the far post to secure a deserved point for United.

It had been a fairly mundane affair before the late drama. Mbeumo, United’s best player on the day, made the breakthrough in the 32nd minute. Just as in their 1-0 defeat by Chelsea last week, Spurs failed to clear their lines and United took advantage. The ball pinged across the penalty area from left to right, Amad Diallo curled in a cross with his left foot and Mbeumo put a powerful header into the corner of goal from 8 yards.

It was a fairly even first-half but United’s forwards always looked more dangerous than Tottenham’s second-string attack. Richarlison missed a chance to head home in the 16th minute, the ball bouncing wide off his shoulder, and the ineffective Randal Kolo Muani was withdrawn at half-time. His replacement Odobert gave Spurs more attacking thrust, and when his whipped cross was flicked goalwards by Cristian Romero, Senne Lammens was forced to make his first real save of the game. Two minutes later the Belgian keeper was in action again, reacting well to tip away an acrobatic volley from Joao Palhinha. 

Brennan Johnson, scorer of the goal that won last May’s Europa League final between these two sides, got the ball in the United net in the 62nd minute but was offside, before Bruno Fernandes volleyed high over the Tottenham crossbar.

Xavi Simons was showing more signs that he is getting to grips with the pace of the Premier League, as Tottenham’s most creative player, so there was a smattering of booing when Frank replaced him with Tel in the 79th minute. But Frank was vindicated five minutes later when three of his substitutes were involved in Tottenham’s equaliser. Odobert ran with the ball from midfield, fed Destiny Udogie on the left and the Italian crossed for Tel to control the ball with his back to goal, spin and send a shot high into the net past Lammens.

And Odobert was heavily involved again in stoppage time, as Richarlison scored his first goal at home since the opening day of the season. United only half-cleared a corner, and when Odobert fired in a curling shot from 25 yards, Richarlson glanced a header past Lammens. The Brazilian was booked for ripping his shirt off in celebration, but those Tottenham cheers were short-lived as de Ligt powered in a header from a corner in the 6th minute of stoppage to salvage a point for United. A draw was a fair reflection of the game, but Tottenham were the most disappointed not to take all three points and move into second place.