Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United played out a dramatic 2-2 draw in north London on Saturday afternoon.
Visitors United took the lead in the 32nd minute when Bryan Mbeumo met a cross into the box and headed the ball past goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Spurs struggled for opportunities during the first half and though that changed after the interval, Senne Lammens was twice able to pull off excellent saves to prevent an equaliser. First, he got down low to deny Cristian Romero from close range in the 53rd minute. Then, just two minutes later, he denied Joao Palhinha on the half-volley.
However, he was unable to do anything about Mathys Tel’s 84th-minute strike, with the substitute turning in the box before firing high into the net. And the same applied when Richarlison got his head to Wilson Odobert’s shot from outside the area a minute into stoppage time to score what seemed a late winner.
However, United would leave north London with a share of the points, with centre-back Matthijs de Ligt popping up at the back post from a corner to head home an equaliser in the 96th minute.
Here, The Athletic’s Jay Harris and Carl Anka analyse the game.
Did Frank miss out on his big moment?
This should have been the moment when Thomas Frank finally connected with Tottenham’s home supporters. Their results at home in the league have been awful for over 12 months, dating back to Ange Postecoglou’s reign.
It looked like their misery would continue on Saturday when Mbeumo, who spent six years with Frank at Brentford, scored for United in the first half. For the second week in a row, after their disappointing loss to Chelsea here, Spurs were offering virtually no threat up front. You felt Frank was going to be punished for his strange starting line-up with another defeat.
The Dane deserves praise for bringing Odobert on at half-time because the France Under-21 international had a huge impact. He played a key role in both Tottenham’s goals, including getting the assist for Richarlison’s late strike to make it 2-1. That should have secured Spurs an important victory, which would have boosted morale. Romero ran onto the pitch to celebrate after being substituted. James Maddison, still absent through injury, went wild in the stands. It would have been only the second time Spurs have won at home in the league under Frank, but they blew it.
In the last minute of stoppage time, they left De Ligt unmarked from a corner, and he scored. The joyous atmosphere in the stadium was instantly deflated. It was a point which felt like a loss.
When the frustration of drawing this one fades, Tottenham should receive credit for mounting a stirring comeback to go in front. It was just a shame they threw away their hard-won lead so quickly.
Jay Harris
Will United be happy with this draw?
The 2025-26 edition of United do not quit. De Ligt popping up at the back post to meet Bruno Fernandes’ corner and head home a 96th-minute equaliser shows that.
Ruben Amorim’s men once again found a goal when they needed it most. They had to survive a frantic final 15 minutes with only 10 players, due to an injury to Benjamin Sesko, but De Ligt’s equaliser now makes it six games unbeaten. Their longest winning streak of the Amorim era has seen him receive October’s Premier League manager of the month award, and put to rest any talk of crisis at Old Trafford.
The point left United seventh in the league table at the conclusion of a match where a win could have seen them go second. Still, the club enter the November international break in good spirits and with new-found confidence. They may stumble in short periods, but now have ways to get back on their feet.
Time will tell whether they should be leading candidates for Champions League qualification come the spring, but United are getting better at avoiding damaging defeats. They’re improving, bit by bit.
Carl Anka
Was Frank justified in taking Simons off as a substitute?
If there was one moment which encapsulated Tottenham’s performance, it came in the 78th minute. Djed Spence won the ball and passed it to Xavi Simons. There were six opposition players in front of him, and the only team-mate nearby was Richarlison.
Simons had to slow his run down to wait for everyone else to catch up, and the move’s momentum disappeared. The Dutchman, signed in the summer from RB Leipzig, is supposed to be the connective tissue between Spurs’ midfield and attack, but there were too many occasions today when he was asked to work single-handedly.
He was excellent against FC Copenhagen here in the Champions League on Tuesday and it felt like he was the only person who might conjure up something special against United. When Simons was substituted in the 80th minute for Tel, the home crowd started booing.
Frank’s risky decision paid off, though.
After Odobert went on a fantastic run, Destiny Udogie whipped a cross into the box. The Frenchman controlled the ball, swivelled, and got off a shot that flew into the net via a deflection off De Ligt. Three of Frank’s substitutes combined for that goal, but this fact will raise more questions about that bizarre starting line-up.
Tel has struggled for minutes this season, but it was a crucial goal which will hopefully fill him with confidence. Odobert’s performance as a half-time substitute underlined why he should be starting games to provide Simons with more help.
It does feel slightly strange though that, for the second time in five days, Tottenham scored twice after taking the latter off.
Jay Harris
How good were those two Lammens saves?
Lammens did not have the best of starts on Saturday. The third minute saw the ball roll underneath the goalkeeper’s foot when he went to collect a slack back pass from De Ligt, gifting Spurs a corner. But the 23-year-old would quickly improve, eventually becoming one of the better performers in this draw.
He didn’t have much to do for the rest of the first half, but two saves in three minutes helped United keep things calm early in the second. The 54th minute saw Lammens make a point-blank stop, using an outstretched leg to stop Romero’s toe-poke. Then he moved quickly to get his hands to a shot from Palhinha.
“We were always looking at goalkeepers who have huge potential,” United sporting director Jason Wilcox said of the Belgium international this week. “Senne was available and we decided to move, but it wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction.”
Lammens was unfortunate to concede late in the second half, with De Ligt’s unfortunate deflection wrong-footing him as he prepared to leap for Tel’s shot. His clean sheet total may not be high, but United fans know they have signed a high-calibre number one. And that pair of saves looked even more important as his side left north London with a point.
Carl Anka
How did Spurs cope without Mohammed Kudus?
Frank had to find a way to adapt without Mohammed Kudus, who had started every league game this season for new club Spurs up until this weekend, when the former West Ham midfielder was unavailable through injury.
In his absence, Frank stuck with a 4-3-3 formation but experimented by putting Randal Kolo Muani up front, with Richarlison on the left. In midfield, Pape Matar Sarr partnered Palhinha while Spence was recalled at left-back over Udogie.
Richarlison featured on the left wing in the latter stages of last season’s run to Europa League final glory under Postecoglou. The key difference to what was happening today is that Tottenham did not have a lot of the ball in those matches. The Brazil international needed to be a physical presence in the air and work hard off the ball.
Frank’s plan backfired because Spurs wanted a greater share of possession. Richarlison struggled to progress the ball and connect with Simons. There were multiple occasions where the latter drove into promising positions and looked to his left to see only unoccupied space where the South American should have been; at other times, Richarlison would be shrugged off the ball by De Ligt.
Spence tried to support these attacks, but he does not offer the same quality in the final third as Udogie because he is naturally right-footed, so he needs to constantly cut back inside.
Frank accepted that the plan did not work at half-time, when he replaced Kolo Muani with Odobert. Richarlison then moved centrally, and after the break Spurs were brimming with energy. Romero and Palhinha had efforts saved by Lammens in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
Those chances were a sign of things to come, and the home side’s two late goals, even if they were unable to hold on and win the game.
Jay Harris
Did Mbeumo once again show his importance to United?
What happens when a team who struggle to win at home host opponents who struggle to win away?
An opening 30 minutes of sloppy first touches and nervous passing.
It is 171 days since Tottenham beat United in May’s Europa League final, yet both sides continued on Saturday with the same shaky football that bored many that night in Bilbao. Outside of a brief moment where Micky van de Ven would beat a marker and begin a short sprint, the game’s opening half-hour provided too few moments of genuine interest.
Armchair viewers watching UK broadcaster TNT Sports’ live coverage would learn that United registered only one touch in the Spurs penalty box by the 30-minute mark. Spurs had 100 per cent more than that… or in other words, two of them.
Thankfully, the game would jolt into life with a goal from Mbeumo. The summer signing from Brentford was named the Premier League’s player of the month for October this week and continued his fine start to life as a United player here. His opener — in the 32nd minute — came as he met Amad’s excellent cross with a fine header. It was his fifth goal in 11 league appearances for United and gave them an important lead.
United are a more confident team after they score a go-ahead goal, and Mbeumo is proving to be an important difference-maker. The 26-year-old’s ball-carrying skills bring a dynamism and directness to this side that was not present last season. While he started on the opposite side to Amad on Saturday, the pair continue to display excellent chemistry.
Amorim will miss them when they depart for Africa Cup of Nations duty with Cameroon and Ivory Coast respectively in around a month, but for now, he is reaping their attacking rewards.
Carl Anka
What did Frank say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What did Amorim say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Spurs?
Sunday, November 23: Arsenal (Away), Premier League, 4.30pm UK, 11.30am ET
What next for United?