Abject United plumb new depths as Fernandes sees red

This is the nadir of Erik ten Hag's Manchester United tenure: a shambolic mess that Tottenham exploited gleefully, pinging the ball about, and punching through their storied host as if in a men-v-kids knockabout.

The manager claims to have a plan and on this showing it seems to be based on waving opponents through.

Towards the end, at 2-0 down, a 10-man United rallied, as Casemiro raided and Alejandro Garnacho darted in: this merely showed what Ten Hag's charges might have done if they were not an embarrassment to their famous shirt.

By then Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevksi had scored and Bruno Fernandes had been handed a red card, so the captain will miss the next three league games. If the latter decision appeared harsh, further insult and injury ensued as Lucas Bergvall's first touch - a corner, from the left - was headed on at the near post by Pape Matar Sarr - his first touch, too - and the unmarked Dominic Solanke touched home.

Ten Hag, drenched in pouring rain, had overseen a duck shoot and this, Heung-min, too, with Ange Postecoglou's men missing the injured Son and who might have given United a six or seven-nil trouncing.