Solanke Rescues Late Point as 10-Man Spurs Stun Man United at Old Trafford

Dominic Solanke's stoppage-time header earned Tottenham a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, lifting them off the bottom of the Premier League after they had looked set to pay for a string of missed chances in a dominant performance.

Spurs spent three weeks stewing in last place during the international break, following a disastrous start to a £300 million ($397 million) rebuild. Roberto De Zerbi's side had needed until the closing stages of their fifth league game just to score, and again lacked a cutting edge. Solanke fired too close to Senne Lammens and Mohammed Kudus blasted wide from a flowing move before the break, and the chances kept coming afterwards, with Solanke spooning over and Destiny Udogie curling wide, much to the frustration of an animated De Zerbi.

Michael Carrick turned the game on the hour with a triple substitution. Carlos Baleba, making his first appearance since his £70 million move from Brighton, added energy in midfield, while Joshua Zirkzee's arrival let Matheus Cunha drop deeper. United had barely threatened Antonin Kinsky's goal until Bryan Mbeumo was given too much space to spin onto Cunha's pass and fire into the far corner 17 minutes from time.

Tottenham's afternoon then seemed to worsen when Rodrigo Bentancur was sent off for a headbutt on Luke Shaw following an angry exchange. But United again failed to make a numerical advantage count, as they did when Manchester City won 1-0 at Old Trafford last month despite playing more than an hour with 10 men. Solanke outmuscled Lisandro Martinez to glance in Sandro Tonali's cross, ending Spurs' wait for an away goal since May.

The point moves Tottenham up to 18th, with only goals scored keeping them out of the bottom three. United have just six points from their opening six league games, their poorest return at this stage since 1986/87, and sit 12th, only three points better off.

"To not take all the points, everything looks and feels different," said Carrick. "We can defend the whole phase a lot better as a team and be a lot more stubborn and ruthless to see the game out."

De Zerbi was encouraged by the response: "For the first time in this season we showed we are a team. We played together. We believed until the end."

Before kick-off, United supporters had taken aim at local rivals City, who were found guilty of more than 100 breaches of Premier League financial rules.