For 60 minutes, Tottenham Hotspur looked like they had morphed into one of the best football teams on planet Earth, but unfortunately football matches are 90 minutes long and the final 30 couldn’t have gone much worse for Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
MAN UNITED 1-1 SPURS — Updates, highlights from Saturday’s game
Below is the latest Roberto De Zerbi reaction, speaking after his side bossed Manchester United all over the Old Trafford pitch, only to concede a late goal and finish with 10 men after Rodrigo Bentancur lost his head and butted Luke Shaw in his. Dominic Solanke missed a pair of golden scoring chances in the first 50 minutes, but he put away one that never, ever looked a threat in stoppage time.
Spurs are no longer bottom of the Premier League table (up to 18th), but they are still without a win from their first six games (just three points and three goals scored).
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Roberto De Zerbi reaction: What did Spurs boss say after Solanke’s equalizer, Bentancur’s red card?
“I think we played very well against a great team. In the first half, we had total control of the game. We had many chances — three or four clear chances — to score, but we didn’t score. The second half is normal suffering in this stadium against this quality of players, but I am very happy because I have seen the right spirit, the right character.”
On his team’s togetherness: “We win the game if we play as a team. If we [play] every game like today, we are going to win many games. … We have to believe in ourselves. If we believe, if we improve, if we play as a team, we will score many goals and win many games. If we don’t play as a team, it is impossible to win.”
On Dominic Solanke getting the goal: “I’m pleased for him. He deserves everything because he is a good player. I think for Tottenham, there are not too many strikers better than Solanke and today he was our captain, because he deserved to be captain, especially in this moment. He suffers because [the narrative is] ‘Tottenham didn’t score, Tottenham didn’t win the game.’ He is our striker, he is a great guy, great player and we are all together behind him.”
On equalizing after the red card: “Today we showed [we are] a team for the first time this season. We played as a team. We suffered, we dominated the game, but every situation of the game we were in the game. Football is like this. I liked the [reaction] to the red card, we needed this in the moment — not to get a red card, but we are not to accept the defeat or concede a goal. We have to react in all ways we can. … We need this type of reaction, this character. Football is character.”
