The consistent and concerning trend that should worry Manchester United

To paraphrase Sir Alex Ferguson, lads, it’s Manchester United. A game that Tottenham Hotspur ought to have won instead saw then entering injury time staring at defeat. An eventual draw may have showed some of the shortcomings of two early-season underachievers but reflected far worse on United.

“Massively disappointed with the result,” said Michael Carrick. United’s poorest start to a league season for 40 years has constituted of a series of missed opportunities. Given the lead by Bryan Mbeumo, given a one-man advantage by the stupidity of Rodrigo Bentancur, given the opportunity to turn their dismal first-half display into a second domestic victory of the campaign, they contrived to concede to winless opponents. “We need to do better with seeing out games,” lamented Carrick. As against Everton and Brighton, a lead was lost, along with any thought there was a springboard to their season.

Boos rang around Old Trafford at the end. “It hurts a lot,” said Carrick as the supporters who had begun by decrying Manchester City’s “cheating bastards” soon realised they had more immediate issues. But their Tottenham counterparts were buoyant. They have spent a record amount to fail to win but, in the performance in the first hour and the spirit at the end, there were reasons for optimism. “Football is character,” said Roberto de Zerbi. “We played a great game. Today has been the game where for the first time this season we showed we are a team.”

There is still work to do. Even factoring in Dominic Solanke’s injury-time equaliser, Tottenham still lack ruthlessness. A team with three league goals all season could have been three ahead before they conceded – inevitably, given their recent history – to Bryan Mbeumo. Since they tried to sign him last year, he has three goals in as many games against them.

Part of the script seemed copied and pasted in from Spurs’ previous games. Tottenham were terrific for half an hour and failed to turn that dominance into a lead. Then, as they often do, they conceded in the final quarter. It may be slightly harsh to fault Jan Paul van Hecke for Mbeumo’s well-taken goal but the summer signing, culpable against Aston Villa three weeks ago, did not get tight enough to the Cameroonian.

Yet there was a twist at the end when the stand-in skipper Solanke stooped to glance in a header from Sandro Tonali’s cross; it was a first assist for the Italian since his £100m move from Newcastle but Lisandro Martinez was too busy tugging Solanke to actually try and defend the ball in.

So United remain the only club without a clean sheet in the Premier League this season. They ought to have conceded far sooner; indeed, Senne Lammens had to make a fine second-minute save from Solanke, remedying the error of his own poor pass.

United were slow and sluggish at the start, hassled and harried. The two managers made six changes apiece but there was some method to De Zerbi’s apparent madness, a seemingly strange selection explained by the omission of several who had played all four internationals for their countries and the inclusion of those he had worked with for the previous three weeks. They had a plan and a blueprint; United seemed to have neither. They looked faster, fresher and fitter. They pressed ferociously.

They were summed up by Conor Gallagher, that least creative and most energetic of No 10s, who almost scored by bundling the ball in; it was all graft and no craft. Savio was electric but lacked an end product, a comment that could be made all too often in his career; the wisdom of spending £75m on him remains questionable. Luke Shaw nudged Savio’s low cross-shot off the line. Solanke spooned a shot from six yards over. Tottenham’s spending spree came to over £300m – almost £400m when Omar Marmoush’s loan becomes permanent – but has not bought them a finisher. “I probably should’ve had three goals today,” admitted Solanke.

United’s first-half yielded one shot, from a fit-again Amad Diallo, and an xG of 0.05. They scored after Carrick made a triple change and relocated Mbeumo to the right. Granted a licence to roam infield, he took Matheus Cunha’s low pass, turned and angled a shot past Antonin Kinsky. Ultimately, though, United could rue the chance Mbeumo had to make it two.

But United struggle to beat teams reduced to 10 men and Tottenham had lost Bentancur, sent off for reacting to a push by Luke Shaw by headbutting the United left-back. “I kiss Bentancur in the dressing room,” said a forgiving De Zerbi but, only on for 12 minutes, the Uruguayan will now be banned for three matches. Meanwhile, United’s next three are away at Atletico Madrid, Leeds and Como. They have faced two of the promoted three, two of the current bottom three. They have only won once. It is one more than Tottenham but that will be scant consolation.