The game got off to a rapid-fire start as Rasmus Hojlund netted his second league goal of the season, thumping the ball into the roof of the goal to beat a helpless Guglielmo Vicario. Spurs responded in the 19th minute courtesy of a header from the in-form Richarlison. There was an extended period after Richarlison's goal in which Spurs dominated possession, but this was halted by a Marcus Rashford goal five minutes before half-time, his 4th of the season.
Any momentum that United had going into the 2nd half was counteracted by a Rodrigo Bentancur goal resulting from some very poor box defending from United. Even though for the majority of the game Spurs were creating more of the dangerous opportunities, it was United who had the chance to steal three points right at the closing curtain with Scott Mctominay leaping for the ball from an Alejandro Garnacho cross, only for the Scot to unceremoniously nod the ball over a grateful Vicario's net.
It was a game that in reality could've ended 3-3 as Spurs managed to hit the post twice, nearly scoring an own goal and nearly scoring an equaliser towards the conclusion of the 1st half. Ultimately the points were shared, and for both teams they would've felt that this was a game that was there to be won.
Here are four things we learnt from this game.
Box defending was a huge problem for United today
United looked very vulnerable defending their box today, whether that was via set-pieces or 3rd man runs. United were already being dominated in possession by Spurs due to their slightly dysfunctional 4-4-2 pressing shape, so United were not helping themselves with their timid defence of their box.
The two Spurs goals were prime examples of United's poor box defending. For the first goal it was obviously a good ball into the box from Pedro Porro into the sea of bodies surrounding Richarlison, but ideally the ball should've never been allowed to dip gracefully onto the Brazilian's head in the first place. The United players should've been more aggressive.
The first goal was the fault of multiple players, but really the second goal was the fault of Jonny Evans. Evans was clearly struggling to keep up with the pace of the game, and his meek defending of Bentancur for his goal encapsulated his overall performance. Evans simply allowed Bentancur too much time to set himself for his shot, when Evans originally should've engaged as soon as Bentancur tried to shift the ball to his left foot.
Evans was a key reason as to why United failed to retain possession
Not only was Evans at fault for the 2nd goal, he just didn't have a good game in general and was rightly hooked just after the hour. Spurs brought the same Ange-indoctrinated intensity that they always bring to games regardless of the opponent, and it was clear that Evans was struggling to keep up.
Spurs generally found more attacking joy on the left-hand-side as opposed to the right, and this was largely due to Timo Werner and Destiny Udogie's overloads down the left being many times too much for Garnacho, Diogo Dalot and Evans to handle. Dalot was tending to invert next to Kobbie Mainoo in midfield, so this dragged Garnacho deeper to aid Evans, but due to Garnacho's obvious defensive flaws it meant that Spurs could continue flanking the left-hand-side.
The more that Spurs could drag Evans up the pitch, the more license it gave Spurs to find Werner and Richarlison in behind. This remained the case even when Evans had possession of the ball and was tasked with progressing play, which he simply couldn't do today because he wasn't quick or mobile enough to play out against Spurs' press.
The Spurs full-backs were brilliant
Quite a few Spurs players played well today, but their standout performers were their full-backs: Udogie and Porro. If there are two players in the Spurs squad that you can class as 'quintessential Ange-ball' players, it's the two full-backs who played today. Udogie in particular as he is more well-rounded of a modern full-back than Porro, evidenced today by his blend of ultra-attacking threat down the left flank, tactical adaptability to invert into midfield and his sound defensive capabilities to stifle Garnacho at times.
Porro is a lot more attack minded and it showed today. Porro is one of the most effective final third full-backs in Europe, and a big reason is the qualitative frequency of his crosses into the box. Porro peppered United's box with crosses today, and was always the corner taker. United could've defended a number of the crosses better, but the crosses were difficult to defend because the Spurs players were always able to make the most out of them due to the crossing quality.
Ange Postecoglou's philosophy shone through yet again despite key players missing.
Dejan Kulusevksi, James Maddison, Son Heung-Min, Yves Bissouma: The names of a few key players who were missing tonight who Spurs could've massively used. Still, despite missing their superstars, they didn't compromise their principles, which is a quality that has become synonymous with Postecoglou this season.
In possession the fluidity of Spurs was brilliant to watch. Spurs were intent on playing out from the back as often as they could, and even when play restarted with Vicario and he ended up going long with a pass it usually hit a white shirt, not a red one. United had to press in a 4-4-2 to combat Spurs' settled possession (and Spurs' usage of inverted full-backs) yet Spurs more often than not were able to easily take advantage of the cracks in United's pressing structure.
Spurs have been one of the best 'cutback' teams in Europe, tending to score a lot off goals via cutback, and even though this wasn't really evident today, the consistent attacking patterns were clear to see as Spurs were really pushing the 8s high and engaging the full-backs as often as they could to create overloads on the flanks. Spurs may have drawn the game, but it was undoubtedly a brilliantly coached performance by the Lilywhites.