3
Another poor show in the second-half cost Manchester United as they blew a two-goal lead yet again and allowed Tottenham Hotspur to grab a point on Thursday.
United started strong and scored early through Jadon Sancho and doubled their lead late into the first-half with a goal from Marcus Rashford.
The visitors looked good for their two-goal lead and Erik ten Hag must have asked his players to go out and play in a similar fashion and ensure three points.
Second-half disaster
Inexplicably, they dropped deep and allowed Spurs to pressure them and ended up conceding through Pedro Porro and Son Heung-min in the second 45 minutes.
United have struggled when trying to see a lead out and the injuries and sheer volume of games is starting to take a toll.
Usually dependable customers like Casemiro and Christian Eriksen looked leggy and the make-shift nature of the defence was exposed a fair bit.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Antony struggled in the second half and was rightly hooked but the manager had no option but to keep on Casemiro and substitute Fred could not string together too many passes after coming on.
Mentality, especially in the big away games, is another factor that the Dutch manager will need to fix if his team are to become more consistent.
The Reds have not won a game away from home against a member of the top nine and such a statistic is not something that is expected from the 20-time English league champions.
Also this was the second time in a matter of weeks that they have allowed the opposition to come back from two goals down and this simply cannot be acceptable.
Prior to the game, the manager had commented about needing more leaders and unfortunately, he does not have an abundance of them at the moment.
Top-four fight still remains on
The bench looks weak and none of the substitutes looked close to making an impact during their brief stay on the pitch.
The draw further complicates United’s Champions League ambitions. With Newcastle winning their encounter against Everton, United remain two points behind them in fourth with a game in hand and six clear of the next two teams with two games in hand.
United have two huge games coming up — at home to high-flying Aston Villa who had beat them earlier in the season, and an away match at FA Cup semifinal opponents Brighton, who had also beaten them in the league.
Ten Hag must try and ensure a top-four finish at all costs and not allow focus to wander to the FA Cup final. This season has bee difficult but one of progress and the team needs to end well.
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Courtesy : https://thepeoplesperson.com/2023/04/27/sheer-volume-of-games-and-away-day-blues-costing-manchester-united-in-final-stretch-263253/