Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag highlighted key mistakes his team made during their 3-0 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday, marking their second consecutive 3-0 home loss after also being beaten by Liverpool.
Tottenham opened the scoring when Micky van de Ven made a 50-yard run to set up Brennan Johnson for a tap-in at the far post. Three minutes before halftime, United captain Bruno Fernandes was shown a straight red card for a tackle on James Maddison. In the second half, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke added two more goals for Spurs.
Speaking to BBC Match of the Day, Ten Hag said:
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“To concede a goal after two or three minutes like that hurt our belief—totally unnecessary. The centre-half stepped in, passed through the whole team, and the winger tapped in at the far post. It was the same mistake as in midweek against Twente. It should have been stopped in the first moment.
“From then on, we were stressed on the ball and couldn’t find our rhythm. We had some good moments but struggled to gain control. Even after our mistake, we should have stayed calm.
“We had chances to get back in the game, especially with Joshua Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho, even after the red card. Before halftime and in the second half, despite being down to 10 men, we had opportunities. I don’t think it was a red card.”
Ten Hag concluded, “We need to show resilience. This performance isn’t good enough. We have to accept it, improve, and focus on the next game.”