Deadbat
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2009
- Messages
- 5,947
- Reaction score
- 31,435
It was desperately cruel ending to the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the Blades as they led until the 98th minute but were undone by two late, late goals. Richarlison and Kulusevski goals in the 98th and 100th minute saw Spurs take an incredible win at the death. Gus Hamer’s second goal for United seemed to have given them their first win of the season but in the end they left with nothing and remain on only a single point from five games.
United made changes with Luke Thomas making his Premier League debut and James McAtee back at the club also getting the start. United were without both Egan and Baldock, injured whilst on international duty. In came Bogle and Basham with Ahmedhodzic moving to a central role. Tom Davies was on the bench alongside Anis Slimane. Spurs had stated the season in excellent form and had garnered both manager and individual player of the month honours with a new brand of football exciting the home fans thus far.
United wearing all yellow began with a solid enough start and tried to move the ball around and get up the pitch in the opening stages. McBurnie’s hold up was a feature and they looked to get Hamer and McAtee on the ball. The home side had the first effort with Sarr hitting a shot at Foderingham before Son had to be held up well by Robinson. A nice move from the Blades saw McBurnie hit his own man Archer preventing a save being made but Spurs slowly started to take control and United started going deeper and playing longer. A flurry of half chances came for Tottenham with the first seeing Bissouma get away from Souza too easily but Foderingham made the smart save at the near post before Son had an effort into the keeper hands.
Despite this, United created maybe the best chance of the game so far as Bogle pulled the ball back and Vicario had to save from McAtee. Spurs came at United for another spell with shots from Maddison and Solomon. Maddison was becoming increasingly influential and often on the ball. United kept a solid shape but were not able to get up the field as much as the half wore on. Basham was booked and so was Archer soon after for challenges. Another card came as Foderingham misjudged his positioning and was given a yellow card for handling outside the box. The free kick came to nothing and McBurnie then had a header at the keeper from a corner at the other end. The half time whistle came after three minutes of stoppage time which probably seemed insufficient considering the number of stoppages in the game and would be a talking point later in the game.
After the break Spurs started to dominate the ball and United were penned in for long periods. Most of the chances were long range efforts and the Blades kept a solid shape even if they were careless the few times they had the ball. Ahmedhodzic covered round twice and Robinson made a good block and the home fans were getting frustrated. Foderingham went down twice in close succession and in the eyes of the Spurs fans United were being quite cynical with time wasting.
The bookings continued with van De Ven, Maddison, McBurnie and Robinson all going into an ever-increasing full note book. Peter Bankes certainly seemed to want to get involved a lot in what was not a particularly dirty game. McAtee’s finish was weak after Archer’s good build up in a rare United break and Spurs now were patiently probing but not really creating too much despite dominating this half.
Norwood came on for McAtee as United tried to get more of a foothold in midfield and on 74 minutes, the opening goal came against the run of play for the visitors. Robinson sent a long throw over and it fell at the far post for HAMER who expertly guided his low shot through bodies into the far corner via the post. The United fans behind the goal were sent into raptures as the team celebrated right by them. Spurs made a triple chance with Johnson coming on his debut along with Richarlison and Perisic. United countered with Davies on for Hamer.
United were defending resolutely as the fury of the Spurs players and fans at the time United were taking over set plays continued. United were struggling to get out and players were getting treatment as fatigue seemed to be setting in. Maddison’s poor ball out of play and Bissouma’s wayward cross also drew frustration in the stands. Trusty came on for Bogle who went off with cramp. It was surprising Heckingbottom did not make another change or two at the point as a number of players seemed to be dead on their feet. On 87 minutes it seemed Spurs were level as Johnson broke to score but was adjudged to be offside and United looked like they had survived.
The assistant referee put up 12 minutes of extra time which drew groans from the United fans but for the first part of this, United continued to defend well in numbers and the clock ticked down albeit slowly from the away fans’ perspective. Sadly on 98 minutes, the Spurs goal came and it was once again poor defending with a cross coming in and RICHARLISON heading home from the Maddison corner. After defending so well for the entire game, they had switched off and it was costly. With still time left, the home fans sensed they could completely turn it around and so it proved. Ahmedhodzic tried to play it out and it was intercepted and Richarlison fed KULUSEVSKI who smashed home to wild scenes. The game restarted and McBurnie’s appeals for a foul saw him booked for dissent and he was off, getting his second red card. The game carried on and now Spurs players went down maybe mocking what the United team had been doing earlier to laugher from the home fans.
The final whistle finally came some 15 minutes after the 90 minutes had ended and the reactions of both sets of players, and fans said it all. Most Blades player lay prostrate on the ground stunned they had gone from three points, to one, to none in 2 minutes from the 98th minute. Football can be a cruel game but for United the wait for a win goes on.
United made changes with Luke Thomas making his Premier League debut and James McAtee back at the club also getting the start. United were without both Egan and Baldock, injured whilst on international duty. In came Bogle and Basham with Ahmedhodzic moving to a central role. Tom Davies was on the bench alongside Anis Slimane. Spurs had stated the season in excellent form and had garnered both manager and individual player of the month honours with a new brand of football exciting the home fans thus far.
United wearing all yellow began with a solid enough start and tried to move the ball around and get up the pitch in the opening stages. McBurnie’s hold up was a feature and they looked to get Hamer and McAtee on the ball. The home side had the first effort with Sarr hitting a shot at Foderingham before Son had to be held up well by Robinson. A nice move from the Blades saw McBurnie hit his own man Archer preventing a save being made but Spurs slowly started to take control and United started going deeper and playing longer. A flurry of half chances came for Tottenham with the first seeing Bissouma get away from Souza too easily but Foderingham made the smart save at the near post before Son had an effort into the keeper hands.
Despite this, United created maybe the best chance of the game so far as Bogle pulled the ball back and Vicario had to save from McAtee. Spurs came at United for another spell with shots from Maddison and Solomon. Maddison was becoming increasingly influential and often on the ball. United kept a solid shape but were not able to get up the field as much as the half wore on. Basham was booked and so was Archer soon after for challenges. Another card came as Foderingham misjudged his positioning and was given a yellow card for handling outside the box. The free kick came to nothing and McBurnie then had a header at the keeper from a corner at the other end. The half time whistle came after three minutes of stoppage time which probably seemed insufficient considering the number of stoppages in the game and would be a talking point later in the game.
After the break Spurs started to dominate the ball and United were penned in for long periods. Most of the chances were long range efforts and the Blades kept a solid shape even if they were careless the few times they had the ball. Ahmedhodzic covered round twice and Robinson made a good block and the home fans were getting frustrated. Foderingham went down twice in close succession and in the eyes of the Spurs fans United were being quite cynical with time wasting.
The bookings continued with van De Ven, Maddison, McBurnie and Robinson all going into an ever-increasing full note book. Peter Bankes certainly seemed to want to get involved a lot in what was not a particularly dirty game. McAtee’s finish was weak after Archer’s good build up in a rare United break and Spurs now were patiently probing but not really creating too much despite dominating this half.
Norwood came on for McAtee as United tried to get more of a foothold in midfield and on 74 minutes, the opening goal came against the run of play for the visitors. Robinson sent a long throw over and it fell at the far post for HAMER who expertly guided his low shot through bodies into the far corner via the post. The United fans behind the goal were sent into raptures as the team celebrated right by them. Spurs made a triple chance with Johnson coming on his debut along with Richarlison and Perisic. United countered with Davies on for Hamer.
United were defending resolutely as the fury of the Spurs players and fans at the time United were taking over set plays continued. United were struggling to get out and players were getting treatment as fatigue seemed to be setting in. Maddison’s poor ball out of play and Bissouma’s wayward cross also drew frustration in the stands. Trusty came on for Bogle who went off with cramp. It was surprising Heckingbottom did not make another change or two at the point as a number of players seemed to be dead on their feet. On 87 minutes it seemed Spurs were level as Johnson broke to score but was adjudged to be offside and United looked like they had survived.
The assistant referee put up 12 minutes of extra time which drew groans from the United fans but for the first part of this, United continued to defend well in numbers and the clock ticked down albeit slowly from the away fans’ perspective. Sadly on 98 minutes, the Spurs goal came and it was once again poor defending with a cross coming in and RICHARLISON heading home from the Maddison corner. After defending so well for the entire game, they had switched off and it was costly. With still time left, the home fans sensed they could completely turn it around and so it proved. Ahmedhodzic tried to play it out and it was intercepted and Richarlison fed KULUSEVSKI who smashed home to wild scenes. The game restarted and McBurnie’s appeals for a foul saw him booked for dissent and he was off, getting his second red card. The game carried on and now Spurs players went down maybe mocking what the United team had been doing earlier to laugher from the home fans.
The final whistle finally came some 15 minutes after the 90 minutes had ended and the reactions of both sets of players, and fans said it all. Most Blades player lay prostrate on the ground stunned they had gone from three points, to one, to none in 2 minutes from the 98th minute. Football can be a cruel game but for United the wait for a win goes on.