It had been 102 days since Manchester United competed in a competitive match on Friday and it was thanks to Bruno Fernandes’s penalty that we were able to earn a draw from the game against Tottenham Hotspur though we did have chances to nick all three points and gained further ground on Chelsea in fourth place. Though it was not our best performance, we showed promise at times despite conceding the first goal through some woeful defending.
Here we take a look at the three players who stood out from this game.
- Bruno Fernandes
Our Portuguese magnifico was imperious from the start, showing his quality and creativity on the field even when other players were not quite up to speed with the game.
He had a total of five shots with three of them being on target at Hugo Lloris’s goal. Fernandes duly converted the penalty after Paul Pogba was fouled in the box by Tottenham’s Eric Dier.
Bruno has scored 3 goals and made 3 assists in his first six Premier League games for United and showed he is just going to get better and better for us. We also got to see the start of how his relationship with Pogba would work and the first signs are encouraging as they linked up the play from the midfield to the attack.
He could have had a second penalty against Tottenham only for VAR to rule that Fernandes was not fouled by Eric Dier in the six yard box. The penalty he had scored to earn United a draw means the club remains unbeaten since he arrived back in January.
Personally, Bruno Fernandes was my man of the match against Spurs as he was always looking to create something when he was on the ball and when out of possession he was tracking back and pressing the opposition as well.
- Paul Pogba
There was much anticipation before the game about Paul Pogba’s return and his partnership with Bruno Fernandes. Though we would not see Pogba from the start as he only made the bench for the game, he certainly made a case to start the next game against Sheffield United with his impressive display against Spurs.
His creative ability and vision especially when he hit a superb cross field pass to Marcus Rashford to set up an attack on the Tottenham goal. He was instrumental in gaining United a penalty as he skipped by Eric Dier to get into the six yard box only to be fouled by him. He certainly looked up for this game as he helped out defensively as well winning one tackle and blocking two of the opposition shots.
As United continued to pin Tottenham in their own half during the second half, Pogba’s influence was key when he came on as he offered that something different to unlock the opposition defence. We certainly looked better when he came on.
- Scott McTominay
To pick the third best United performer during the game against Tottenham was a little more difficult. Though I could have easily given it to Mason Greenwood, who did impress when he came on as he helped shift momentum back United’s way and looked dangerous around the box, going close with a powerful drive in injury time only for it go wide of the post but on reflection of the whole game, I am going to say Scott McTominay stood out as the third best performer.
McTominay’s passion and energy was evident throughout the game as he won two tackles, two interceptions and winning three aerial duels. He also played centre back when Victor Lindelof was taken off and helped stop Spurs Harry Kane from getting any shots on the United goal.
With Pogba’s return and with Matic doing well in the thirteen minutes he had on the pitch, McTominay certainly has competition when it comes to a starting place in the side for the next game against Sheffield alongside Fred.
