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Manchester United fell to a frustrating 1-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday evening.
With both sides suffering from poor recent runs of form, Man United would have surely been looking to take advantage of a cataclysmic Spurs defence in order to come away with a result.
Unfortunately, their finishing proved to be a problem yet again, with no one in Ruben Amorim’s lineup managing to convert any of their chances into goals.
The opening minutes saw Tottenham dominate possession. While they were camping in United’s third, the hosts posed little danger, struggling to create any goalscoring opportunities despite their advanced position on the field.
On the stroke of 10 minutes, United were on their first attack which happened to be a blistering one. Rasmus Hojlund took a shot that was well-saved, with Alejandro Garnacho pouncing on the rebound. His shot was also blocked, with Diogo Dalot picking up the loose ball afterwards. He took a shot from the right of the goal, but yet again, goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was on form. Some promising signs from an injury-rocked United.
Sadly, United’s promise was forgotten soon after. 12 minutes in, the hosts broke the deadlock. Lucas Bervall took a shot from the edge of the box that Andre Onana parried. An alert James Maddison breezed past the United defence to pounce on the loose ball and slot it into the back of the net.
It was a poor response by Onana, who should be catching shots like those with relative comfort.
22 minutes in, United were on the attack yet again, with Joshua Zirkzee taking a long-range effort that breezed just wide of the far post.
Then, Garnacho completely scuppered a close-range shot, firing the ball ridiculously high over the top. Clearly, he needs to do more work on his finishing on the training ground.
Four minutes later, Heung-Min Son cut the ball back to Mathys Tel in the centre of the box, who fired a threatening shot goalwards that Onana parried.
In the 40th minute, Casemiro was shown a yellow card when he clattered into Son. It was an unnecessarily reckless challenge by the Brazilian.
While United entered the break trailing, it was a somewhat decent performance by Amorim’s team, who produced some quick, attacking football. Sadly, finishing remained a problem, meaning that United would need to improve in this metric in order to find a way back into the contest.
Seven minutes after the restart, Tel ballooned a prime scoring opportunity over the crossbar, allowing United to breathe a sigh of relief.
Soon after, the action returned to the opposite end of the field, where Garnacho’s shot was stopped by the keeper.
Garnacho took another shot in the 57th minute, which was parried by Vicario yet again. United were showing some great initiative on the attack, yet their finishing still seemed to come up short.
In the minutes that followed, Tottenham were glued to the ball, making it seemingly impossible for United to get a touch. Still, their efforts were wasted when Jedd Spence fired a long-range effort high and wide.
With 19 minutes to go, Noussair Mazraoui picked out Joshua Zirkzee in the box with a sublime cross. Unfortunately, Zirkzee’s header glanced wide of the far post.
78 minutes in, United produced some fine footwork, with Zirkzee threading a ball through to Patrick Dorgu on the left wing. Dorgu then played a through ball to Hojlund, whose shot was blocked.
As the match wore on, United showed little sign of improvement. The team’s energy continued to drain, with manager Ruben Amorim seemingly unwilling to bring on fresh legs.
Casemiro then got on the end of a cross, directing his header goalwards only for the keeper to catch his shot.
Just then, Amorim changed his tune, substituting a jaded Casemiro for Chido Obi, who was making his senior debut for the club.
Sadly, there was to be no moment of redemption for United, who failed to get in on any further action before the full-time whistle.
It was yet another disappointing match for Amorim’s side, who simply appear to have given up on turning their Premier League season around altogether.
Starting XI: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Maguire, Fernandes, Hojlund, Zirkzee, Dorgu, Garnacho, Casemiro, DalotSubs: Chido
Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
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