BRUNO KNOCKS DOWN JOSE
Mourinho is denied by Fernandes’ late leveller
A DOG’S dinner – not a free school one – was very much on the menu for Manchester United’s defenders last night.
But Bruno Fernandes spared their blushes with a late penalty to keep United in the hunt for Champions League banquet next season.
There had seemed so little danger when Hugo Lloris launched the ball upfield in the 27th minute.
But Luke Shaw headed the ball straight up in the air, Harry Maguire was beaten soundly by Steven Bergwijn for speed and then David De Gea virtually threw the Tottenham winger’s straight shot into the roof of his own net for the opening goal.
Even then Marcus Rashford, the hero of the lockdown for forcing a government U-turn over dinner vouchers, could have been United’s meal ticket to all three points with a series of chances.
Lloris, though, was proving much harder to beat than Boris Johnson to show the importance a decent final layer of protection can be in these times.
Rashford’s first glimpse of goal had come when Davinson Sanchez made a mess of clearing Fernandez’s clever flick into the danger area and the FranceWorld Cup-winning goalkeeper did well to stop the striker’s instinctive shot with his outstretched boot.
Then a seemingly unnecessary drinks break in the cooling drizzle proved just the tonic for the home side.
Jose Mourinho used the breather to have a long chat with Bergwijn, complete with lots of hand-flapping. It was hard to say what the gist of it was, but within two minutes of the restart the Dutch winger leapt on a loose ball and provided the decisive moment. United had enjoyed more of the possession to that point and continued to press, only for Rashford to miss his second, even better chance. Ben Davies failed to reach a free-kick, but Rashford also failed to find the ball from point-blank range, Lloris eventually clearing.
At the other end De Gea made partial amends for his howler when he tipped Son Heung-min’s firm header from Bergwijn’s deep cross over the bar.
But when Lloris made another watchful save from Fernandes on the stroke of half-time, Spurs were able to take a narrow advantage into the giant NFL dressing room they are using during these socially-distanced fixtures. In a new era for football, Mourinho had gone for a new-look defensive pairing in Eric Dier and Sanchez.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had gone for the equally big call of leaving fit-again Paul Pogba on the bench.
But with five substitutes allowed these days and United still struggling for inspiration, it was not going to be long before his introduction. Sure enough, just after the hour he joined the fray alongside
Mason Greenwood – and he was eager to make up for lost time and put an early dent in that new Spurs pairing.
Pogba simply embarrassed Dier down by the byline in the 81st minute and a shove in the back was enough to give Fernandes a chance to spare United’s blushes from the spot.
Not even Lloris could save Tottenham this time.
Dier survived another penalty given by the referee when it was overr ruled by VAR.