Rampant Spurs pile more misery on 10-man United
Tottenham Hotspur claimed a dominant win at Old Trafford to pile the pressure on Erik ten Hag as it beat 10-man Manchester United 3-0 in the Premier League.
Micky van de Ven opened up United's defence with an excellent run to set up Brennan Johnson with just three minutes on the clock, and it never got better for United from then on.
Alejandro Garnacho struck the post before Bruno Fernandes received a straight red card in the 42nd minute for a late tackle on James Maddison, giving United a mountain to climb.
It was a challenge it was unable to overcome, with Spurs capitalising on their numerical advantage early in the second half through Dejan Kulusevski before Dominic Solanke tapped home a third, and it could have been more, if not for some big Andre Onana saves.
Ange Postecoglou's side is up to eighth with 10 points, while United slipped to 12th, behind Brentford on goal difference.
Fernandes accepted that he made things harder for Manchester United by being sent off, but insisted it was "never a red card".
Fernandes's dismissal in the 42nd minute as he slipped into a tackle on James Maddison, catching him high on the shin.
It is the first time in 242 appearances for United in all competitions that Fernandes has been shown a red card, while he became the fourth Red Devils captain to receive his marching orders at home in the Premier League.
"Part of slipping going in, I didn't go in with the studs, I take him with my ankle," Fernandes said.
"It's a clear foul but never a red card. Even Maddison when he gets up, you can see in the [replays], he said it's a foul but not a red card. In the eyes of everyone, you can see it's never a red card.
"If this is a red card, we have to look at every incident. I've never seen a red card come so quickly.
"If he wants to give me a yellow because it's a counter-attack, I agree, but I don't understand why the VAR doesn't call the referee to the screen, it's a poor decision."
Even before United went down to 10 men, it struggled against Spurs in truth.
Postecoglou's side had 24 shots, hitting the target with 10 of those as it racked up an impressive 4.67 expected goals (xG). They also created nine big chances, the joint-most in a Premier League match on record.
Fernandes was quick to praise his team-mates though, accepting the blame for his role in the defeat.
"I left them with one man down. I appreciate it made everything tougher for them," he added.
"We didn't start the game well, obviously we had the situation with the red card. They did very well, they tried, we conceded two more goals, but it was difficult to cover the spaces.
"There [are] good things to take away, the resilience was there and I'm really proud of the team.
"Nobody likes to be sent off, it's not a good feeling seeing my team-mates running a lot to try and score – they tried everything."
