Michael Plant gives his verdict from Old Trafford as Manchester United draw 2-2 with Tottenham Hotspur, a game Sir Jim Ratcliffe watched from the stands.
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00:00 The action has finished here at Old Trafford where this afternoon Manchester United and Tottenham played out quite an entertaining 2-2 game.
00:07 Certainly for the first hour it was a really exciting attacking display from both sides, plenty of chances due to a number of factors.
00:14 I think Spurs highline certainly offered United plenty of opportunity to attack in behind but also their pressing from the front made it a really exciting end to end game.
00:23 United's inability to defend set pieces effectively was a big problem today and of course as always when United are playing the opposition are allowed to dominate the ball and possession.
00:33 Certainly that was the case for the first hour, Spurs were certainly the better side in that first hour but then in the last half it was a very different game, not as many chances.
00:41 Ultimately both sides were deserving of a point and probably happy enough to take a point from this game.
00:47 With Sir Jim Radcliffe watching off from the stands I think it was a game that spoke of the fact that United are progressing and developing after a difficult start to the season.
00:55 Sessandra Martinez came on, that's an encouraging sign, Casemiro came on as well, Rasmus Hoyland, Marcus Rashford in the goals, something that they've struggled with in recent, well throughout the entire season really.
01:05 I think that's plenty of positives and United are definitely getting a little bit better under Ten Hag but there's still these issues that impact the play, just how open they are in midfield, how they can't control games.
01:14 There's certainly plenty for Sir Jim Radcliffe to assess and to think about here today.
01:18 Obviously his first match at Old Trafford since it was announced on Christmas Eve that he has agreed to purchase a 25% stake in the club.
01:26 We were told pre-match that we're expecting everything to be confirmed in that matter by the middle of February, early to mid-February it was said.
01:32 So encouraging news there for Manchester United fans.
01:35 But when the game got underway it was Rasmus Hoyland who netted actually after three minutes, a fantastic goal from him.
01:40 He's needed a ball to roll fortuitously into his path this season.
01:44 That happened after Marcus Rashford was tackled in the box but great finish from Hoyland, took two touches to set it just out wide and he smashed the ball past the Spurs goalkeeper.
01:55 It didn't last too long but Charleston scored from a corner soon after.
01:59 Spurs more and more started to dictate the pace of the game and the flow of the game.
02:04 United then came back and made it 2-1 just before half-time, really against a run of play.
02:10 They finished the half strong anyway but proud of that, Spurs had been on top.
02:14 It was Marcus Rashford who grabbed the goal, some really nice interplay between him and Hoyland and he just placed the ball into the Spurs net.
02:21 At the start of the second half, with actually just 50 seconds after the second half started, Benton Kersh scored for Spurs.
02:29 At that point you thought surely that's not the end of the goals but it was actually and that was due to a number of factors.
02:34 I think the big one was two good substitutions from Eric Ten Hag, bringing on Lysandre Martinez, Scott McTominay.
02:40 It made it more difficult for Spurs to operate at the same level they had before to create as many chances and impact the flow a little bit of their performance.
02:49 Ultimately I think a result United will be happy enough with.
02:52 They have struggled to beat the sides and struggled to take points from the sides and the top half of the table.
02:56 Spurs probably just shaded it but at the same time a point probably just about fair enough here at Old Trafford.