Out of the bleakest of defeats has come the most unpredictable and unlikely revelation of a midweek: Tottenham have a bit of pride and backbone in their side after all.
Thank God, they might even raise the ticket prices after a rather frenzied and uplifting night where they flirted with another kick, but somehow managed to get a tie that looked very much like a win.
It won’t be enough to assume to save their season. It’s gotten too dirty for that. You would think that the most significant European places are also long gone.
But after Newcastle’s debacle and defeat which led to protests and the abandonment of one caretaker for another, this was so much better, and yet it came from a dire place.
Terrifying because of the ambiance of the place where Ryan Mason started his last rescue mission. And dire because Tottenham were seven minutes behind Jadon Sancho – a fine goal – and 2-0 at half-time on an equally good finish from Marcus Rashford. Both were rooted in defensive mistakes and by then the chances were fair that more would follow.
Son Heung-min scored the equalizer in the 79th minute to earn the hosts a late point after trailing 2–0 in the first half
The South Korean missed several chances to level the score in the second half, but was late to convert when it mattered
Pedro Porro got one back for the hosts on 55 minutes, securing a well-fought second half with a volley from the edge of the box
But what a clever resuscitation action, with Pedro Porro kicking the door open at the start of the second half and Son Heung-Min saving the day late on. In fact, they created enough chances to win, and it felt a while since this beautiful stadium responded to such joy. Luck of the damned perhaps, given Tottenham’s troubles, but they’re taking it for now.
This was painful for United. Partly because of the missed opportunities and the missed opportunity, but also because Newcastle are doing so well in the battle for third place. And yet Tottenham’s problems will serve as perspective.
The battle leading up to kick-off was to narrow down a point in time when the mood around Tottenham was so low. When circumstances had created such a feverish atmosphere. Aston Villa in May 2021? It probably was when Mason happened to be overseeing the last home game of his first stint as caretaker of this dysfunctional family. It wasn’t his fault then.
On this occasion it meant protests on the High Road, across the road from the club shop. “Levy out, Levy out, Daniel Levy out,” they sang. There weren’t many of them, maybe 100 by 6.30pm, but it was enough to make a good noise and it grew in number and volume throughout the evening and night.
Wherever you fall into the great guilt game of our times, it’s a swelling feeling. How do you manage an uprising? In Mason’s case, it meant three changes to the side that started last Sunday’s debacle at St James’ Park, which seemed light around eight.
In the details, it meant Richarlison and Clement Lenglet returned for Pape Sarr and Dejan Kulusevski, who both slid to the bench, while Fraser Forster took over for the injured Hugo Lloris. By popular demand and reasonable logic, Mason also ditched the system of a back four and reverted to Antonio Conte’s preference for a back three.
Despite going into extra time and penalties to beat Brighton on Sunday, Ten Hag made just one substitution, with Sancho replacing Anthony Martial. Elsewhere in the Dutchman’s decisions and considerations, Harry Maguire, back from suspension, was not involved due to a ‘training injury’, but Bruno Fernandes had recovered enough from an ankle problem to start.
Ten Hag attributes the decision to overtake Sancho to ‘rotation’. His vindication would come soon, or after seven minutes if we want to be precise, although Newcastle have rewritten the rules about how much of a pummeling Spurs can take in a short period of time.
Jadon Sancho (right) opened the score after just seven minutes on Thursday evening and ensured a perfect start for United
The former Manchester City man was given way too much space in the penalty area before moving into the bottom corner
Marcus Rashford doubled the lead just before half-time with a well-taken effort from inside after a quick counter
The England striker scored his 29th goal of a brilliant season to double the visitors’ advantage through the middle
Eric Dier had missed a golden opportunity in the second half as Tottenham came out on another side after trailing 2-0
In the latter case, the opener was earned and rooted in a Tottenham error, with Oliver Skipp lunging twice at Rashford, first when trying to cut off a forward pass from Victor Lindelof and then in his attempts to recover.
The second swipe to the left Skipp grounded and Rashford advanced before rolling left to Sancho, who charged in from the right side of the area and found space easily bought from Porro and Cristian Romero before hitting a finish over Forster.
A fine goal all in all, but it also summed up Tottenham’s weakness and their inability to cope with an opportunity with the right actions in a nutshell.
The response from the visiting side was to call on the Glazers to leave, and the Tottenham platoon immediately responded with an invitation for Levy to do the same. In that respect, they were evenly matched.
To give Mason’s side some credit, they got better. Had Richarlison made better decisions in the final third, they might have taken advantage of situations where they had the extra man, and there was also an Ivan Perisic header at a corner that David de Gea had to tip over.
Later in the half he also forced a nice save. So they created chances and, crucially, tellingly, they had some fighting. But United were the better team. Better organized and better at finding openings.
Apart from the first goal, there were also a couple of near misses for Rashford, one from a free kick and one from open play, and a couple of consecutive hits from Sancho that were blocked by Romero and Perisic, the last off the line.
Those chances were the prelude to the second goal, which was sparked by a 45-yard ball over the top of Fernandes and enabled to some extent by Eric Dier standing too far from Rashford. With a shuffle to the left, the striker found space for the shot and blasted past Forster.
“Harry Kane, we’ll see you in June,” the United ending sang. There was no response from the Spurs fans.
Tottenham appeared to be heading for a result similar to the 6-1 defeat at Newcastle after conceding within seven minutes.
The second half was more promising. Much more. Lenglet shot over the crossbar with an early header, Hojbjerg showed growing confidence, firing towards goal from 35 yards out – albeit wildly off target – before Kane caused panic in a crowded area with a shot blocked by Luke Shaw.
It proved to be a trigger for a fight back as Porro got the rebound right and Tottenham had their lifeline. The place exploded.
Almost immediately, Fernandes hit the crossbar, before Son botched a half-volley when he was on the loose that would have tied the scores.
Big chances followed for Kulusevski and Dier – the latter made a mess of a header – but Tottenham were now lively. Empathize. When the leveler came, Son clambered over the line, the house Levy had built shook to its foundations.