Tottenham Hotspur held by Manchester United as Friday night football returns

Premier League football is back in full effect and so also is Paul Pogba who got off the bench to help his team derail Jose Mourinho and Tottenham’s hopes of catching them in the race for the Champions League places, winning a penalty for Bruno Fernandes to cancel out Steven Bergwijn’s opener.

Tottenham’s Bergwijn went all by himself to catch David De Gea off in the first half and looked like it would end United’s unbeaten streak on their Premier League return, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side after the break was much improved with the introduction of fit-again Pogba, and Spurs could not withstand the onslaught as it ended 1-1.

Manchester United created lots of chances and looked to score every time they were in Tottenham’s half but it was the Frenchman who would create United’s most important chance of the game. He skipped past Tottenham’s Eric Dier and the Spurs defender clumsily brought down his opponent for Fernandes to convert a deserved equaliser from the spot.

VAR spared Spurs at the 90th minute of the game when United was awarded a second spot-kick following a collision between Dier and Fernandes and was deemed to not be a foul.

Mourinho’s team would have closed the gap between them and Manchester United to one point in a bid to qualify for the Champions League if they secured a victory but the draw leaves the visitors two points ahead of Sheffield United in fifth and two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.

Tottenham have now gone four Premier League games without a win and hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season seems bleak unless they spring up a couple of wins back to get themselves back in contention.

Related: Europe’s football weekly recap – Fixtures, results and updates

Facts and stats from the game

• Harry Kane, who suffered a hamstring injury, made his first start for Spurs since New Year’s Day.
• Heung-Min Son also got back in the fray after a broken arm that kept him out for a while.
• Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford also played for Manchester United after being out injured.
• Manchester United have scored more penalties than any other Premier League side this season. Taken 23 and scored 16.
• Bruno Fernandes has been directly involved in six Premier League goals since his debut in February scoring 3 and also providing on 3 occassions – two more than any other player in that time.
• Tottenham haven’t won in seven games in all competitions (D3 L4), their worst run since November 2016.
• Manchester United are unbeaten in 12 games in all competitions (W8 D4), scoring 30 goals and conceding just three in that run.
• Steven Bergwijn became only the second player to score in his first three home Premier League appearances for Spurs, after Rafael van der Vaart in 2010.
• Jose Mourinho hasn’t won any of his last six matches against his former clubs in all competitions (D2 L4), taking just one point from four Premier League matches against Chelsea and Man Utd this season (D1 L3).

Watch highlights of Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-1 Premier League draw against Manchester United.

https://youtu.be/ZGIeLgJY0mE