Player Ratings: Tottenham 2-0 Manchester United

Lightning doesn’t strike twice for Manchester United as another poor performance, this time, results in defeat In North London.

The first half showed promise as an unchanged United side looked to have weathered the early atmosphere at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. With The Spurs faithful buoyant as Ange Postecoglou readied his men for a first home game it was United that looked the more likely.

Spurs’ Vicario was by far the most tested of the two goalkeepers early on with Marcus Rashford being denied by Tottenham’s new goalkeeper. However, it was Bruno Fernandes who should’ve opened the scoring missing a clear opportunity. United did have an almost certain claim for a penalty as Alejandro Garnacho’s strike was literally saved by Cristian Romero’s arm but calls were denied by VAR.

In the second half, Tottenham raced out of the blocks while the Reds might as well have stayed in the dressing room. Spurs dominated proceedings as soon as Michal Oliver blew the whistle and United found themselves a goal down within four minutes.

Unable to muster any more opportunities United were spectators in the second half, watching Spurs’ midfield toy with them. Spurs’ second came with seven minutes to go as Lisandro Martinez turned a Ben Davies effort into his own net.

Here’s how each United player performed with a rating out of 10:

Goalkeeper and defence

Andre Onana: 7

Despite conceding two, Onana remains the only player to leave the game with any credit. Neither goals were his fault and again he showed glimpses of what’s more to come. All Onana will be waiting for is a competent system ahead of him…

Aaron Wan-Bissaka: 6

Wan-Bissaka was perhaps unfairly withdrawn when he was but his offensive play did leave a little to be desired.

Raphael Varane: 5

The Frenchman wasn’t notably poor but he wasn’t evidently brilliant either. A steady game from Varane for what it’s worth.

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Lisandro Martinez: 4

Martinez does like many others, look to be well off the pace. A couple of good blocks and important touches but he does have an involvement in both goals, however unlucky they were.

Luke Shaw: 3

The left-back was well off the pace, almost entirely to blame for the opening goal, the lapse in concentration to leave Garnacho alone to defend Dejan Kulusevski’s cross. Luke Shaw was disappointing overall.

Midfield

Casemiro: 3

Casemiro offered very little in possession and nothing off it. The midfield was completely dominated and as he was at the heart of it, he must shoulder some of the blame.

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Mason Mount: 2

A completely anonymous display from United’s no.7.

Bruno Fernandes: 4

Fernandes’ performance was a combination of ‘wow’ moments and groans. Fernandes is United’s captain now and he needs to begin to drop some of the poor habits. His ‘hero ball’ style while sometimes amazing doesn’t help the team when it doesn’t come off. As the leader now, he must do better.

Attack

Alejandro Garnacho: 5

A better performance this time around from Garnacho but in that final third it wasn’t effective. Saying that though, he was our best attacker on the day.

Antony: 3

Another performance from Antony where we are still waiting for more. He didn’t want to beat his man, his decisions on the ball were poor and defensively he didn’t offer a great deal.

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Marcus Rasford: 2

Offered next to nothing as United’s centre-forward. The sooner he is moved out of that position, the better.

Substitutes

Jadon Sancho: 5

Christian Eriksen: 5

Diogo Dalot: 4

Facundo Pellistri: 5

Anthony Martial: n/a