Manchester United were knocked out of the Carabao Cup after suffering a 4-3 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday night.
The game looked dead and buried at 3-0 to the home side, but two mistakes by goalkeeper Fraser Foster turned the game on its head.
United were unable to complete the comeback, but the result revealed two things.
Just as they showed against Manchester City last weekend, they are a very resilient side.
They did the same against Spurs. Despite trailing by three goals, they showed tenacity to get back into the game to give themselves a chance.
Substitutes Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo deserve special mention for their contributions. The latter keeps improving with each game.
The Red Devils have also shown they can be a good offensive side. They have scored 17 goals in eight games under Ruben Amorim.
Man United need to bolster the attacking department, but they have shown they can hurt the opposition when afforded the chance.
However, United also showed their defensive vulnerabilities at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs looked dangerous every time they attacked, particularly in the first half. They found it easy to play through the United’s defence.
Noussair Mazraoui, regarded as one of the club’s ‘strongest signings‘ in recent years, was poor.
The three centre-backs were shaky, particularly Lisandro Martinez. Goalkeeper Altay Bayindir was abysmal. He received the lowest score in our player ratings.
United’s poor defending of set-pieces was also exposed. They have now conceded more than ten goals from set-pieces across all competitions this season.
Amorim needs to start fixing these glaring weaknesses, and the club must back him starting during next month’s transfer window.
Stats from sofascore.com.
Article written by Henry Thornton .
