Metro.co.uk

Jamie Redknapp and Ashley Young felt referee Chris Kavanagh made a mistake sending Bruno Fernandes off in Manchester United’s woeful 3-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham.

Brennan Johnson sent Spurs’ away support into raptures after just three minutes at Old Trafford, making no mistake from close range after an incredible 70-yard run from Micky van de Ven through United’s defence.

The visitors squandered a number of opportunities to double their advantage as the first half wore on, perhaps missing their captain Son Heung-min in the final third.

But United’s woes deepened in the 42nd minute as Fernandes was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on Spurs attacking midfielder James Maddison.

The video assistant referee checked and confirmed referee Kavanagh’s initial call and the decision was universally panned in the Sky Sports studio during the half-time break.

It was the first time in Fernandes’ 242 appearances for United that the Portugal international had been given his marching orders.

The situation soon went from bad to worse for the Red Devils as goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke put the away team out of sight in the second half.

Asked whether he thought Fernandes’ red card was justified on first viewing, ex-Tottenham midfielder Redknapp replied: ‘No, he slips.

‘He goes in to try and win the challenge and you can see his feet go under him.

‘It’s petty, it’s a bit petulant. You can see he sticks out his right leg and that angle is quite damning.

‘But when you actually see it in slow motion, his feet go under him and he just sticks out his right leg. I think it’s a yellow card.’

Former United winger Young agreed with Redknapp that Kavanagh had ‘got it wrong’ as it was not a ‘reckless’ challenge from Fernandes.

‘I don’t think it’s serious foul play or it’s reckless,’ Young explained.

‘Okay, he’s out of control but he slips and you can clearly see that he slips.

‘I don’t think he even goes to take out James Maddison either. He hits him with the back of his heel as well.

‘I think the referee has got it wrong there.’

Gary Neville, meanwhile, on co-commentary duty for Sky Sports, said Fernandes’ sending off ‘summed up’ United’s dismal showing in the opening 45 minutes, with Erik ten Hag’s men booed off at the halfway stage.

‘It just sums up Manchester United in this first half and, to be fair, they’ve veen an absolute disgrace,’ an irate Neville said.

‘It’s one of the worst performances I’ve seen in Erik ten Hag’s time at United and that’s saying something.

‘It’s really bad and he will not be able to believe what he’s watching in that first half.

‘I’m not talking about patterns of play here, I’m talking about application towards a football match.’

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Gary Neville took aim at Marcus Rashford after Tottenham’s early opener in a comprehensive 3-0 win over Manchester United, blasting the forward’s ‘rubbish’ play prior to the goal.

The Red Devils – looking to get back to winning ways after a disappointing goalless draw at Crystal Palace last time out – went behind just three minutes into this afternoon’s contest and were booed off the field at half-time.

Brennan Johnson got his name on the scoresheet but the goal was all about Micky van de Ven’s scything 70-yard run in the build-up, with the Dutch centre-back robbing Rashford of possession before bursting through United’s defence with an incredible turn of pace.

After beating fellow countryman Matthijs de Ligt, Van de Ven put the ball on a plate for an unmarked Johnson at the back post and the Welshman made no mistake from close range to break the deadlock.

The situation soon went from bad to worse for United as Bruno Fernandes was shown a straight red card in the 42nd minute before goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke put the away team out of sight in the second half.

‘Absolutely brilliant from Van de Ven. One of the best runs I’ve ever seen from a centre-back,’ Neville said of Johnson’s goal on Sky Sports’ commentary of the Premier League clash.

‘Van de Ven just steps in and this is absolutely incredible.

‘He drives through four Manchester United players and the cross, well it’s just wonderful.’

The former United and England right-back blasted Rashford for clumsily giving away possession before criticising De Ligt for his lacklustre defending to allow Van de Ven to get a cross away.

‘I mean Rashford there… he just carries on running, rubbish from him,’ Neville added.

‘There’s enough players back to be able to stop him but he’s unstoppable. De Ligt starts off running too late and he completely misreads the pace of the Spurs centre-back.

‘It’s amazing. Absolutely brilliant and devastating from Van de Ven and Spurs. He [Johnson] is smiling before he puts it in the net.’

United’s afternoon went from bad to worse as club captain Bruno Fernandes was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on James Maddison in the 42nd minute.

‘It just sums up Manchester United in this first half and, to be fair, they’ve veen an absolute disgrace,’ Neville added.

‘It’s one of the worst performances I’ve seen in Erik ten Hag’s time at United and that’s saying something.

‘It’s really bad and he will not be able to believe what he’s watching in that first half.

‘I’m not talking about patterns of play here, I’m talking about application towards a football match.’

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Tottenham captain Son Heung-min will miss his side’s clash against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Spurs travelled to Manchester on Sunday to face Erik ten Hag’s United at the Theatre of Dreams, but will be without Son when the two teams line up at 4.30pm.

Son was subbed off during Tottenham’s 3-0 Europa League win over Qarabag on Thursday night with a suspected hamstring injury but Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou hoped he would be fit enough to face Manchester United.

‘Sonny, I don’t think is too bad,’ the Australian boss said.

‘He wants to train tomorrow (Saturday) and we will see how it goes and make a decision from there. We have another day up our sleeve to give him every chance.’

But Son failed to make Tottenham’s matchday squad for Sunday’s clash in Manchester in a significant blow to Postecoglou.

In Son’s absence, Tottenham summer signing Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski will make up Spurs’ attack.

Manchester United and Tottenham are both languishing in mid-table on seven points ahead of their meeting on Sunday afternoon.

United were held to a goalless draw by Crystal Palace last weekend and also drew with Dutch side Twente in the Europa League during the week.

Spurs suffered back-to-back defeats earlier in the month but responded with three successive wins, the last of which came against Qarabag in Europe.

In the build-up to Tottenham’s European clash with Qarabag, Son raised concerns about the gruelling and growing football schedule.

‘You don’t want to see players struggling with injuries. No one wants to see it,’ he said.

‘A lot of games, a lot of traveling. We’ve got to look after ourselves, which sometimes is very hard. Mentally, physically, you’re not ready.

‘Then going on to the pitch and then the risk of injury is massive. We’re not robots. Don’t get me wrong, we love playing football. That’s clear.’

Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia and Leny Yoro remain on the sidelines for Manchester United, but there are no new injury concerns for Ten Hag.

United and Spurs shared an entertaining 2-2 draw in this fixture last season, while Tottenham won the home game 2-0 back in August 2023.

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Just a reminder of how Alan Shearer called this game in his Metro predictions.

This is a huge game in terms of the top four. Both teams haven’t had the start they wanted albeit Spurs won last weekend, it’s a really tough one to call. Both teams aren’t in great form. It won’t be a great result for either team but I can see this being a draw.

It was really interesting of Ten Hag to leave Marcus Rashford out, which I found really strange. Whether it was because of a knock or for a disciplinary reason, whatever it was, when you’re a forward and you haven’t scored for such a long time, you get your goal and then another two in midweek, then you’re left out three or four days later. I found it really strange.

My guess is that he’ll be back in the team this week and if he can take the form from the last two games, he’ll be a key figure in what happens for Man United. He always is.

Spurs have players that can hurt United. James Maddison is a top player, he’s one of the players that could say he played his part and did okay during Spurs’ slow start to the season. I’m a fan of his, I like what he brings to the team and he got his goal last weekend. Confidence wise, that’ll be great for him and he’ll play a huge part, absolutely.

If Spurs do get into those positions and turn chances into goals then it’ll be tough for Man United as well because they do give you chances and that’s why I see it being a score draw.

Ange Postecoglou has explained Son’s absence this afternoon. The Tottenham star suffered a knock during Thursday’s Europa League clash with Qarabag and was not deemed fit enough to make the squad today.

‘Short turnaround [for Son], he just wasn’t right for today so we go in without him,’ the Tottenham boss told Sky Sports.

‘We’ve had those things a fair bit. We just have to learn to cope without.

‘Timo [Werner] is most comfortable in that position. We brought him into the club for situations like this.

‘Facing a big club, iconic stadium, plenty of attention – these are the kind of games you want to be involved in.

‘We won the last three. Results have been mixed but performances haven’t been too bad. I’m pretty happy with how we’re playing our football.’

Manchester United have no fresh injury concerns ahead of their Premier League clash against Tottenham thus afternoon withRasmus Hojlund hoping to start his first game of the season.

United were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw in their Europa League opener on Wednesday night.

Hojlund came off the bench as United chased a winner in vain that evening and Erik ten Hag will surely consider bringing him in ahead of Joshua Zirkzee on Sunday afternoon with their lack of goals a real issue.

Mason Mount also made his return from injury in the 1-1 draw against Twente. The former Chelsea star started United’s opening two games of the season before being ruled out.

Manuel Ugarte meanwhile got a full 90 minutes under his belt with Casemiro an unused substitute midweek.

Kobbie Mainoo, another introduced off the bench late on, is expected to come back into the starting XI to replace Christian Eriksen.

Erik ten Hag’s decision to leave Marcus Rashford out of the starting XI against Crystal Palace last weekend sparked concerns, with Paul Scholes speculating the forward ‘has been up to something’.

But the manager has rotated his wide options of Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo all season with the latter starting alongside the England international midweek. Garnacho will be hoping for a starting role today.

United picked up no fresh injury problems this week but remain without Leny Yoro, Tyrell Malacia and Victor Lindelof. Luke Shaw is another still to feature this season with ten Hag suggesting this week his return could be delayed until after October’s international break.

‘I think it’s probably, but I can’t say it’s 100 per cent sure,’ Ten Hag said when asked if Shaw would be back next month. #The plan is just be back before but, as I say I can’t say this for 100 per cent for sure it can be short after the break.’

Tottenham meanwhile welcomed back Yves Bissouma and Timo Werner ahead of last weekend’s win over Brentford but are now without winger Wilson Odebert, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury.

There is also concern for Son Heung-min after he limped off after 71 minutes against Qarabag on Wednesday with a hamstring issue.

Spurs will make a late decision on their forward.

‘Sonny, I don’t think is too bad,’ Ange Postecoglou said. ‘He wants to train tomorrow and we will see how it goes and make a decision from there. We have another day up our sleeve to give him every chance.’

Richarlison is their only other notable absentee.

Predicted Man Utd XI to face Tottenham

Onana, Mazraoui, de Ligt, Martinez, Dalot, Ugarte, Mainoo, Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford, Hojlund

Predicted Tottenham XI to face Man Utd

Vicario, Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie, Kulusevski, Bentancur, Maddison, Johnson, Solanke, Son

Where to watch Man Utd vs Tottenham? Kick-off time and TV channel

Man Utd vs Tottenham kicks off at 4:30pm on Sunday 29 September.

Live coverage is available on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event, with a live stream available on the Sky Go app and NOW TV.

Ange Postecoglou has praised the job done by under-fire Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag as Tottenham prepare for their trip to Old Trafford on Sunday.

A sloppy midweek draw in the Europa League reignited the pressure on Ten Hag, who has now seen his United side win just three of their opening seven games to start the season.

Spurs, meanwhile, faced some early criticism after just one win in their first four games but Posteoglou’s side have bounced back with three wins on the spin since then.

As the two sides prepare to clash on Sunday, an empathetic Postecoglou was keen to give Ten Hag his flowers for his impressive trophy haul in amongst the pressure-cooker environment of Old Trafford.

‘I think Erik’s in a really tough job and he’s done really well,’ he told reporters on Friday.

‘He keeps mentioning he’s won two trophies and that’s not insignificant, everyone keeps telling me that’s all I have to do, but it’s not all you have to do, because when you do that there’s always more. He’s done a great job, a difficult job.’

The Spurs boss continued: ‘I don’t know who coined the phrase “the impossible job”, but I think it’s become even more impossible now.

‘It seems like success is not enough if it doesn’t have identity, [and] identity is not enough unless it’s followed by aesthetics. Aesthetics are not enough unless they’re followed by legacy.

‘There’s always another layer. It seems like no one is doing a good job unless you win the competition at the end of the year.

‘There doesn’t seem to be any sort of understanding of progress or the circumstances that people have to work under at times.

‘But it’s just the nature of the role. I don’t think that’s going to change. I guess it’s about how you respond to it, how you react to it, how you let it affect you.

‘The more experience you have maybe the better you deal with these things.’

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Tottenham aimed a not-so-subtle dig at north London rivals Arsenal following their 3-0 win over Qarabag in the Europe League on Thursday.

Despite going down to ten men following Radu Dragusin’s first-half sending-off, Ange Postecoglou’s side did not waver from their customary attacking style.

Four minutes after the dismissal, Brennan Johnson gave Spurs the lead before second-half strikes from Pape Matar Sarr and Dominic Solanke saw them ease to a comfortable win on their return to European football.

The tactics starkly contrasted with Premier League rivals Arsenal who adopted a very conservative approach when put in a similar position after Leandro Trossard was sent off in last weekend’s top-of-the-table clash with Manchester City.

Holding a 2-1 lead at the break, the Gunners spent much of the second half with ten men behind the ball before ultimately succumbing to John Stones’ late equaliser.

Following the draw, Mikel Arteta’s set-up came under the microscope, with pundit Roy Keane, in particular, slamming the Spaniard’s ‘dinosaur’ tactics.

And Tottenham were clearly keen to poke the bear one more time, posting a graphic of the match stats from their Europa League win with the caption: ’10 men and we never stopped playing our football.’

While Arteta’s tactics were criticised by some, the Spaniard was keen to defend his decision-making, citing a 5-0 defeat against City two years ago as a factor that motivated Arsenal’s safety first gameplan.

‘We had to play the game that we had to play,’ he said earlier in the week. ‘In the first 10 or 15 minutes we couldn’t. 11 against 11, then we got much better and obviously were thrown into a very different context. Every team does.

‘They played 30 seconds with 10 men. Look at what they did, it’s normal what they did for 30 seconds. We had to do it in a different way.

‘We learned from the past as well because unfortunately, we’ve been in that situation three times.

‘One was with Granit [Xhaka] after 37, 38 minutes and we conceded how many?’ We lost 5-0. We’d better learn. If not I would be very thick.’

Arsenal will look to get back to winning ways in the league on Saturday at home against Leicester, while Tottenham face a trip to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United on Sunday.

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Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou has admitted a late call will be made on the fitness of captain Son Heung-min ahead of Sunday’s trip to Manchester United.

Son started Thursday’s 3-0 home win over Qarabag in the Europa League, but needed treatment before he limped off in the 71st minute.

Postecoglou hopes Son’s hamstring issue is not serious and the South Korea forward wants to train on Saturday to prove his fitness.

‘Fair to say the boys are fairly tired, the ones who put in a shift. Apart from Sonny, everybody is okay,’ Postecoglou revealed.

‘Sonny, I don’t think is too bad. He wants to train tomorrow and we will see how it goes and make a decision from there. We have another day up our sleeve to give him every chance.’

This week has seen Son’s future put into sharp focus after he discussed his contract situation on Wednesday and admitted no fresh talks had taken place.

Son’s current terms are set to expire next summer, but Tottenham hold the option to extend his deal by a further year and plan to activate that clause, the PA news agency understands.

Spurs boss Postecoglou also insisted he wants the 32-year-old to stick around, with Son into his 10th season at the club after he joined in 2015.

Postecoglou added: ‘I don’t always have the final say but certainly I like to think my input is significant on it.

‘I think it is part of a broader discussion around Sonny but the way he is performing and leading the club at the moment, I certainly want him to stick around for a while.’

If Son is unable to recover in time for the clash at Old Trafford, Postecoglou has limited options to play on the left wing.

Timo Werner was used there against Coventry last week, but struggled, while 17-year-old attacker Mikey Moore could be handed a full debut.

Moore caught the eye in pre-season and Postecoglou would have no hesitation in starting him against United.

Asked if Moore was not yet ready to start, Postecoglou insisted: ‘No, I wouldn’t say that.

‘We’ll see with Sonny. Obviously with Wilson (Odobert) out, we’re kind of limited and with Richy (Richarlison) out because Richy can play there as well.

‘Timo and Mikey can certainly come into the frame. We have Deki Kulusevski who can play wide as well so we’ve got some options there, but firstly we’ll see how Sonny is.’

Rasmus Hojlund could make his first starting appearance of the season when Manchester United host Tottenham this weekend.

The Denmark international suffered a hamstring injury during the club’s pre-season tour of the USA with United exercising caution over his return.

Hojlund came off the bench as United chased a winner in vain against FC Twente in the Europa League on Wednesday night and Erik ten Hag will surely consider bringing him in ahead of Joshua Zirkzee on Sunday afternoon with their lack of goals a real issue.

Mason Mount also made his return from injury in the 1-1 draw against Twente. The former Chelsea star started United’s opening two games of the season before being ruled out.

Manuel Ugarte meanwhile got a full 90 minutes under his belt with Casemiro an unused substitute midweek.

Kobbie Mainoo, another introduced off the bench late on, is expected to come back into the starting XI to replace Christian Eriksen.

Erik ten Hag’s decision to leave Marcus Rashford out of the starting XI against Crystal Palace last weekend sparked concerns, with Paul Scholes speculating the forward ‘has been up to something’.

But the manager has rotated his wide options of Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo all season with the latter starting alongside the England international midweek. Garnacho will be hoping for a starting role this weekend.

United picked up no fresh injury problems this week but remain without Leny Yoro, Tyrell Malacia and Victor Lindelof. Luke Shaw is another still to feature this season with ten Hag suggesting this week his return could be delayed until after October’s international break.

‘I think it’s probably, but I can’t say it’s 100 per cent sure,’ Ten Hag said when asked if Shaw would be back next month. #The plan is just be back before but, as I say I can’t say this for 100 per cent for sure it can be short after the break.’

Tottenham meanwhile welcomed back Yves Bissouma and Timo Werner ahead of last weekend’s win over Brentford but are now without winger Wilson Odebert, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Richarlison is their only other notable absentee.

Predicted Man Utd XI to face Tottenham

Onana, Mazraoui, de Ligt, Martinez, Dalot, Ugarte, Mainoo, Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford, Hojlund

Predicted Tottenham XI to face Man Utd

Vicario, Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie, Kulusevski, Bentancur, Maddison, Johnson, Solanke, Son

Where to watch Man Utd vs Tottenham? Kick-off time and TV channel

Man Utd vs Tottenham kicks off at 4:30pm on Sunday 29 September.

Live coverage is available on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event, with a live stream available on the Sky Go app and NOW TV.

Ange Postecoglou has defended his decision to substitute Lucas Bergvall and make several changes to his Tottenham side for their last-gasp victory over Coventry City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening.

Spurs looked to be on the receiving end of an upset as Brandon Thomas-Asante put Coventry ahead in the second half.

However, Djed Spence equalised in the 88th minute before Brennan Johnson scored Spurs’ winner in injury time.

Postecoglou, meanwhile, has faced criticism after his side’s defeat to Arsenal in the north London derby last Sunday and was booed by fans over his decision to replace Bergvall against Coventry.

When asked about the negative reaction he received after Bergvall’s substitution, Postecoglou replied: ‘I don’t make substitutions by poll, mate.

‘So, I’m sure the fans have got their own opinions but, yeah, Lucas, like I said that’s his first sort of significant game time for quite a while. What I didn’t want was us pushing guys over the edge today, that’s why we took Destiny [Udogie] off at half time as well.

‘We already had a couple of injuries, and I had some pretty good players on the bench that I thought could make an impact, but it doesn’t take away from Lucas’s performance. I thought he was outstanding tonight.

‘They they’re going to play a lot of football for us and hopefully getting through tonight, whether it’s 90 minutes for Archie [Gray] or you know, 60, 70 for Lucas, will put them in a good space.’

Postecoglou also defended his decision to make eight changes to his side for the Carabao Cup tie.

‘What I’ve always tried to do is the right thing and the best thing for us in terms of what we’re trying to achieve,’ Postecoglou said.

‘There’s no guarantees with anything you do in football but what I’ve always done is backed my decisions in critical times to always do what I feel is best and if it doesn’t work out then I can live with that but I’m certainly not going to jeopardise what we’re trying to build here by doing something that’s going to make me look like I’m in a safer position.

‘We were always going to play these guys because we have Europe starting next week. The last thing I want to do is throw guys in out of necessity.

‘We need to get game time and tonight some key players for us got some good minutes that mean that when we do have to make changes moving forward, they’ve already played and they’re ready to go.’

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