Manchester United's struggles at Old Trafford deepened on Saturday as a late collapse against ten-man Tottenham Hotspur left manager Michael Carrick facing growing scrutiny, with fans booing at the end of both halves.
It marked the second consecutive home Premier League fixture in which United failed to beat an opponent reduced to ten men, and the third campaign running in which a United manager has found himself under intense pressure before autumn has even taken hold.
The pattern echoed a similar collapse four weeks earlier against Manchester City, when Phil Foden's 23rd-minute red card for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes should have given United a clear path to victory, only for a mistaken VAR call to let City off the hook amid a flat United display.
This time there was no refereeing controversy to point to. Tottenham, who had struggled to threaten United's goal, lost Rodrigo Bentancur to a red card just five minutes after Bryan Mbeumo had put the hosts ahead, following a reckless headfirst challenge on Luke Shaw. Yet despite the numerical advantage, United could not hold on. In stoppage time, Dominic Solanke muscled past centre-back Lisandro Martinez with surprising ease, and his delicate touch crept past goalkeeper Senne Lammens at the far post to snatch a draw for Spurs.
The result added to a troubling run of late lapses from Carrick's side. Only weeks earlier, Everton's Ainsley Maitland-Niles had scored a stoppage-time equaliser at Goodison Park after United failed to close him down, while a Martinez own goal had almost cost them victory at Fulham just before the international break.
Former United captain Gary Neville described it as