Manchester United 2 Tottenham 2: tactical analysis

Tottenham came from behind twice at Old Trafford to share the points with fellow top-four hopefuls Manchester United. The home team were watched by new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who saw a full-blooded game in which both teams could feel content with the point, but rueful they didn’t snatch all three.

The hosts took the lead early on via an incisive counter-attack, finished by Rasmus Højlund smashing home from close range. Richarlison then headed home from a Pedro Porro corner for Tottenham’s first equaliser.

Marcus Rashford scored his first goal at Old Trafford this season — in his 14th game and with his 32nd shot of the home campaign — to give United a 2-1 half-time lead. It did not last long, as Tottenham hit back within moments of the second-half kicking off, thanks to a Rodrigo Bentancur finish. 

As the game played out, Tottenham were the dominant team overall, but it was United substitute Scott McTominay who missed a golden chance to win the game in added time.

How the managers saw it

“We scored two great goals in the first half and it was encouraging to see how we broke the lines and how we were direct and how we finished as well,” said Erik ten Hag. “I’m quite happy with the defence, except for the set plays. We didn’t defend the set plays very well… We know the quick releases and we allow them a diagonal pass. With one diagonal pass they break our whole team and that can’t happen.”

“We played some great stuff, scored a couple of goals, probably unlucky not to win the game,” was Ange Postecoglou’s verdict. “We got hit on the transition a couple of times and, to be fair, they are a good side in transition, their front four is among the best in the league, but, again, the way we dealt with that, the way we responded to that... it’s been like that all year, to be fair. The boys have never dropped their heads at any stage when we’ve had to deal with something like that and they didn’t today.”

Below, our UEFA-licensed tactical experts have highlighted key themes from the game...

Attacking via the wingers

Manchester United went with a 4-2-3-1 shape, against Tottenham’s 4-3-3 structure. United looked to attack via their wingers whenever possible, searching for Rashford on the left (below). He constantly drove at Porro, supported by Aaron Wan-Bissaka — possibly used on this side to deal with Brennan Johnson’s 1v1 dribbling threat, rather than for any attacking advantage.

On United’s right, Alejandro Garnacho also held the width, supported by more adventurous overlapping runs from Diogo Dalot, as the home side used wide pairings to attack around the outside of Tottenham’s block. 

Spurs also looked to attack wide via their wingers, trying to create 1v1 moments. Full-backs Porro and Destiny Udogie inverted into midfield, often dragging their direct opponents — Garnacho and Rashford — along with them (below). Not only did this allow Timo Werner and Johnson extra space to attack their direct full-back opponent, it also placed United’s wingers into much busier areas whenever the home side regained the ball inside their own half. As a result, Spurs restricted a portion of United’s deeper counter-attacking potential.

With both sides using their wingers heavily, they forced seven corners between them in the opening 20 minutes. Spurs equalised from one and hit the bar, moments before half-time, from another.

Postecoglou’s team had much more sustained possession than Ten Hag’s side, and consistently controlled better attacking territory. United, however, still posed a threat from regains via their high and wide front-three. This threat increased the higher they regained possession. Rashford exploited the space beyond Porro particularly well, latching on to direct passes through or over the right-back. This was often when Bruno Fernandes dropped deeper, rotating with Christian Eriksen (below).

Although United regained the lead in the first half through Rashford’s calm, bending finish, their eagerness to find wingers quickly and directly didn’t always work. On the occasions they didn’t exploit Spurs’ full-backs — when Porro and Udogie were recovering to their right-back position — United conceded possession too easily. This contributed to Tottenham’s dominance of the ball and attacking territory.

Tottenham’s influential full-backs

While Spurs’ narrow full-backs encouraged United counter-attacks in the first half, the early parts of the second half showed the benefit of pushing them inside. United increased their high pressing after the break and, because their wingers jumped higher, the midfielders were drawn to Udogie and Porro. From here, Spurs’ central midfielders found key pockets of space (below).

The front-three pinned United’s back four, further overloading the midfield. When Spurs’ back-line connected through, the visitors broke forward with purpose. Not least when Bentancur equalised moments into the second half. 

Tottenham’s initial number eights then moved out wide — often dragging their markers with them — to receive from the centre-backs. Porro and Udogie, meanwhile, operated almost permanently within the inside channel. They received between the lines to link into the front three, but also made runs forward to receive beyond United’s back line (below).

United’s wingers followed these movements more closely after Bentancur’s goal. As such, the home side’s counter-attacking play became almost non-existent, other than isolated attacking moments with the odd ball towards Rashford.

Tottenham’s dominance of possession and territory continued throughout the second half, with Udogie and Porro permanent fixtures within the inside channels. Whenever forward runs were provided by the front line, Porro and Udogie operated as number eights. They received either side of Richarlison, working cleverly off the shoulders of United’s midfield unit, with the hosts’ wingers unable to prevent access into them (below).

Yet despite working almost double the total attempts that United created, Tottenham were unable to grab a match-winning third.

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