Manchester United crashed out of the Carabao Cup on Thursday night at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur. Some costly goalkeeping blunders from Altay Bayindir and poor defending meant the Red Devils ran out 4-3 losers in North London.
Spurs were 1-0 up at half-time with the first of two errors from the Turkish goalkeeper. He parried Pedro Porro’s shot from range right into the path of Dominic Solanke who converted via the post to give them the lead.
Shortly after the half-time break, the Lilywhites added their second, with Dejan Kulusevski converting after a poor United clearance. Solanke scored the third moments later after he bullied his way through the Red Devils defence and fired home from range.
However, Bayindir was not the only goalkeeper who had a poor night, with Fraser Forster in the Spurs’ goal giving United a way back into the game. He gifted Bruno Fernandes the ball in the penalty box, who simply squared it to Joshua Zirkzee, and was hunted down by Amad for the second strike, who closed down his clearance.
Spurs won the game after Son Heung-min scored directly from a corner, with Bayindir failing to punch the cross away, although he arguably was impeded by Lucas Bergvall. Looking at the post-match statistics show United perhaps deserve credit for their performance.
Statistics from Spurs vs. Man United
The fact that Spurs ran out winners and Ruben Amorim’s side conceded four goals is perhaps not a fair reflection of how the game actually panned out. The stats on Sofascore show that the Red Devils were actually the dominant force at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
In terms of the possession numbers, the visitors slightly dominated the ball, with 54% to Spurs’ 46%. They were especially dominant in the second period, having 60% possession which is perhaps unsurprising given they were chasing the game.
United peppered the Spurs goal, taking 20 shots but finding the target just five times. In contrast, the home side had nine shots but got six on target, and were pretty clinical too, scoring four times. Amorim’s side perhaps should have capitalised more, creating four big chances and missing three of them.
It’s also interesting to read into the expected goals stats from the game, which again, can paint a better picture of the game. As per the xG Philosophy on X, Ange Postecoglou’s team had just 0.78xG, with United creating far more, 2.58xG to be exact.
The Red Devils will surely be disappointed that they could not capitalise on such dominance, with defensive errors costing them. Lisandro Martinez was one player who struggled.
Martinez’s stats vs. Spurs
It was a tough night at the office for Martinez. He was the culprit for the tame clearance which led to Kulusevski’s goal, and was at fault for Solanke’s second, too.
Firstly, he didn’t step up which played the Spurs striker onside and couldn’t get near him to even make a challenge, merely getting swatted out of the way by the England international.
It was not a night in which the 2022 World Cup winner covered himself in glory. Football writer Henry Winter explained that he looked like “a shadow of his old self”; the Martinez of old would not necessarily have made those errors.
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He received a scathing rating of 4/10 from the Manchester Evening News journalist Samuel Luckhurst, which was reflected in his stats from the game.
The defender had 71 touches, completing 87% of his passes and even that is a drop from his usual standards, having averaged 91% pass accuracy in the Premier League this season. He won just 50% of his tackles and won just four from seven duels.
Stat
Numbers
Touches
71
Pass accuracy
87%
Passes completed
54/62
Number of times possession lost
9
Ground duels won
2/4
Aerial duels won
3/4
Tackles won
1/2
Next up for the Red Devils is a visit from high-flying Bournemouth. Amorim might well decide to rotate him out of the side. Given the fact he struggled against former Cherries man Solanke, Martinez could also struggle against his replacement, Evanilson, and the likes of Antoine Semenyo.
The Portuguese boss is not short of options if he chooses to make a change. Jonny Evans played just over half of the game against Spurs, and Harry Maguire was rested. Young prodigy Leny Yoro performed well once again, and Amorim will be hoping to have Matthijs de Ligt back from illness.
It remains to be seen if Martinez can keep his place against Bournemouth. However, after a performance which arguably cost United a place in the Carabao Cup semi-final, it might well be that Amroim rotates things against the Cherries.
Not just Bayindir: Man Utd's "abysmal" 4/10 dud must never feature again
Manchester United were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Tottenham Hotspur last night.
ByEthan LambDec 20, 2024