Spurs twice come from behind to deny Manchester United

Manchester United 2 Tottenham Hotspur 2

ERIK ten Hag had to settle for a point as his audition under new boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe started in earnest with an entertaining draw against Spurs.

Goals from Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford had put the Red Devils in the driving seat with Ratcliffe in attendance for the first time since he bought 25 per cent of the club before Christmas.

But poor defending twice allowed the visitors to level, first through Richarlison and then Rodrigo Bentancur with a goal which came within a minute of the restart, as ten Hag was still walking along the touchline to take his seat on the United bench.

Ratcliffe will have the ultimate say on how much longer ten Hag will hold that position and, at least, the growing form of Rashford and Hojlund suggests the second half of the current campaign may not be as dismal as the first had been.

Three goals, and both sides hitting the woodwork, made for a thrilling first half, even if the quality of the two defences left something to be desired.

And after Richarlison’s opening goal for Spurs had been sandwiched in between efforts from Hojlund and Rashford, it took just 50 seconds of the second half for Bentancur to equalise.

Spurs broke and loanee debutant Timo Werner cut in from the left, picking out Bentancur who ran on and beat Jonny Evans and Andre Onana from the edge of the six-yard box.

United’s defence had already shown how porous it could be in conceding a 19th minute equaliser, when Richarlison rose unmarked to head in Pedro Porro’s corner from inside the six-yard box.

And Spurs might have levelled before the interval when Christian Romero met another Porro corner and powered a header against the bar, again from close range.

But despite their