Manchester United suffered a humiliating 2-0 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur in the second week of the 2023/24 Premier League season today.
The Red Devils escaped with three points on Monday, but Wolverhampton Wanderers were the better side of the two.
Erik ten Hag named an unchanged side, with Marcus Rashford leading the line and Lisandro Martinez deemed fit after suffering an injury against Wolves.
Pape Matar Sarr scored the opening goal of the game to cap off his brilliant performance. An own goal from Martinez doubled Spurs’ lead.
United players looked sluggish and utterly devoid of ideas in the final third. Ten Hag has plenty to think about over the next few days. Here are the player ratings:
Andre Onana – 6/10
The Cameroonian played some fine passes from the back, but he could not do anything to stop the two goals Spurs scored.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 5/10
The right-back kept Heung-min Son fairly quiet but failed to offer anything going forward.
Raphael Varane – 6/10
The Frenchman provided calmness at the back but was not helped by the chaos around him.
Lisandro Martinez – 4/10
Martinez started impressively but struggled as the game progressed. A weak attempt to block Ben Davies’ shot trickled the ball into his own net for Tottenham’s second goal.
Luke Shaw – 5/10
A very shaky performance from the experienced defender. He gave too much room to Dejan Kuluveski to manoeuvre, who made some good runs down the flank.
Casemiro – 5/10
A slightly better performance from Casemiro compared to his outing against Wolves. However, Yves Bissouma dominated the midfield battle.
Mason Mount – 5/10
He looked energetic and enjoyed a steady first half, but offered little creatively. Currently does not look good enough to be a number eight for United.
Bruno Fernandes – 5/10
Fernandes had the best opportunity to put United ahead, but his header went over the bar. Picked up a booking for dissent.
Antony – 4/10
Another ineffective display from the Brazil international. Must deliver more after his hefty £85 million price tag. He was too wasteful after getting into promising positions.
Marcus Rashford – 5/10
Rashford looks a shadow of the player he was last season. He was isolated up front and needs to be switched back to his favoured position on the left flank.
Alejandro Garnacho – 5/10
Garnacho produced some scintillating cameos off the bench last season but has failed to replicate that form in the first two games.
He was too casual tracking back, which led to Spurs’ opening goal.
Substitutes
Diogo Dalot – 5/10
He took up some useful attacking positions but to no good effect.
Jadon Sancho – 6/10
Nothing notable in his performance, but was more involved than Garnacho. Sancho should start next week against Nottingham Forest.
Christian Eriksen – 6/10
Produced more than Mount. He finished the game with 94% passing completion and should be drafted to the starting XI next time.
United need ideas in the final third, and his vision can solve that problem.
Anthony Martial – N/A
Too late to rate.
Facundo Pellistri – N/A
Too late to rate.
