Tottenham head coach Roberto de Zerbi offered an unusual take on Rodrigo Bentancur's dismissal after the Uruguayan's sending-off failed to prevent Spurs from securing a dramatic 1-1 draw against Manchester United.
Bentancur was shown a red card in the 78th minute for headbutting Luke Shaw during a heated exchange at Old Trafford, with Tottenham trailing 1-0 at the time following Bryan Mbeumo's opener five minutes earlier. The flashpoint occurred after Shaw confronted Bentancur over a reckless challenge, shoving the midfielder, who responded by making contact with his head towards Shaw's face. Players from both sides intervened before referee Stuart Attwell produced the red card.
Rather than reduced to ten men, Spurs appeared to find fresh urgency, and their resilience paid off when Dominic Solanke headed home an equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time, earning a point that lifted Tottenham off the bottom of the Premier League table.
De Zerbi was remarkably forgiving of his player's indiscipline, going as far as to embrace Bentancur afterwards. "I kiss Rodrigo and say thanks," the Italian told reporters following the match. He elaborated further to Sky Sports, saying he valued the response it triggered from his team: "In that moment maybe with 10 players we played with more courage, more energy. For a long time Tottenham played without this blood, this character."
While acknowledging the sending-off was not something to encourage, De Zerbi framed it as a necessary wake-up call for a side still searching for its identity under his management. "I kissed Bentancur in the dressing room because we need this type of reaction, this character. Football is character," he said. "I liked the situation with the red card. We need at this moment the situation, not to bring a red card but we need to not accept the defeat."
Despite the point gained, Tottenham's wait for a first Premier League victory this season continues after six matches, with only three points collected so far. It marks just the fourth time in the club's history they have failed to win any of their opening six league fixtures, following similar starts in 2008-09, 1955-56 and 1912-13. Their attacking struggles have also been evident, with only bottom-side Coventry managing fewer goals than Tottenham's tally of three this campaign.
Nevertheless, De Zerbi took encouragement from his side's overall display, particularly during a dominant first-half spell in which Spurs pressed United relentlessly. "Today has been the game where for the first time this season we showed we are a team," he said. "We played for the team-mates, we played together, we stayed inside of the game in every situation and we attacked as a team and defended as a team."
The draw represented Tottenham's first away league goal of the season, a modest but meaningful marker of progress for a squad that underwent major changes over the summer, with more than £250million spent on ten new signings. De Zerbi stressed that cohesion remains a work in progress. "Now the target is to build the team," he said. "We are a great group of players but we are not a team yet and to be a team is to play for the team-mates, suffer together, attack together."
With results yet to turn in their favour, Tottenham's hierarchy have arranged a warm-weather training camp in Marbella this week in an effort to strengthen squad unity. Spurs next face newly-promoted Coventry City at home before travelling to Chelsea the following weekend, with De Zerbi hoping the spirit shown at Old Trafford can translate into results.
Based on reporting from BBC Sport and the Standard.