Wayne Rooney twice pegged back Tottenham Hotspur as Manchester United earned a point at White Hart Lane this afternoon.
Hosts Spurs went ahead in the 18th minute when Kyle Walker's powerful free kick whizzed under the United wall and was past David de Gea, making his 100th United appearance, before he could react.
Walker then gifted Rooney his first by diverting Phil Jones's cross straight into the path of the England striker to prod home.
Tottenham restored their lead thanks to a dipping Sandro strike from 25 yards after 53 minutes before Rooney levelled once more from the penalty spot after Hugo Lloris had tripped Danny Welbeck.
Below, Sports Mole picks apart the topsy-turvy contest in North London.
Match statistics:
Spurs:
Shots 10
On target 4
Possession 40%
Corners 7
Fouls 9
Man Utd:
Shots 8
On target 3
Possession 60%
Corners 7
Fouls 15
Was the result fair?
Probably, yes. Spurs were by far the best side in the opening half an hour but couldn't score more than one goal as Roberto Soldado and Aaron Lennon wasted good chances. They gifted United an equaliser and from then on it was a fairly even game as both sides had spells of pressure. Both managers are likely to be fairly content with a point.
Spurs's performance
As mentioned, the home side were out of the blocks far quicker than United and looked so dangerous once Walker had scored. A pair of penalty shouts were followed by the glaring openings for Soldado and Lennon, one of which should have been taken. Walker may have been a threat going forward but completely extinguished Spurs's momentum when he got his body position all wrong and diverted the ball into the path of England teammate Rooney to equalise. Michael Dawson and Vlad Chiriches actually dealt quite well with in-form Rooney for the most part and in midfield the energy of Sandro, Paulinho and Moussa Dembele overpowered Tom Cleverley and Phil Jones. Aaron Lennon had the beating of Patrice Evra from the word go but Andre Villas-Boas made the strange decision to sub him off which brought about a load of boos from the home fans.
Man Utd's performance
The visitors are clearly missing Robin van Persie at the spearhead of their attack but his absence has allowed Shinji Kagawa to play in his preferred position in 'the hole'. The Japanese was composed on the ball and often allowed the likes of Rooney and Antonio Valencia to commit further forward. Behind Kagawa, Cleverley and Jones were tidy enough but they didn't support enough in attack as Sandro and Paulinho snuffed out most of United's forays forward. Defensively, David Moyes's men were solid enough apart from Evra, who was made to look silly at times by Lennon.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Sandro: The Brazilian's goal was a fabulous hit but he also made a number of interceptions, notably a vital block to stop Rooney's goalbound shot early in the game.
Biggest gaffe
Walker's skewed clearance to Rooney could take this accolade but we're going to pick on Soldado for his terrible attempt when Spurs were one up. He had flicked into Paulinho beautifully before the Brazilian found him with a perfectly-weighted return pass. The Spaniard just had De Gea to beat but sliced it high and wide from 12 yards.
Referee performance
Mike Dean had a good game with the whistle, rightly waving away some Tottenham penalty appeals and also applying the advantage rule well.
What next?
Spurs: Next up for AVB's side is a trip to West London to face struggling Fulham on Wednesday night.
Man Utd: United, meanwhile, go to Everton on the same night where they will be without Phil Jones, who picked up his fifth booking of the season today.
Pascal Lemesre
