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It began so well for the hosts at Old Trafford; Man United won a penalty after 30 seconds and led inside two minutes. Then it all went so, so wrong… This is the story of a remarkable day that saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men humiliated 6-1 by former United boss Jose Mourinho.
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Sure enough, what followed was a bewildering barrage of six unanswered goals from Spurs, with Tanguy Ndombele cancelling out Fernandes’ spot kick in the fourth minute before Son Heung-min put the visitors ahead in the seventh.
United then saw Anthony Martial sent off just ahead of the half-hour mark for a fairly tame slap of Erik Lamela, who somehow managed to stay on the field despite clearly antagonising the French striker with a weak tap moments beforehand.
Lamela vs. Martial.
Only one of them got a red card 🤔 pic.twitter.com/kJbtwlHHkt
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 4, 2020
Ref not fancy looking at the monitor today no?? @premierleague #VAR
— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) October 4, 2020
Much to Jose Mourinho’s muted delight, Spurs continued to ransack United’s rickety defence and rattle goal after goal past David De Gea.
Jose Mourinho once again sending a message to Manchester United’s owners ahead of deadline day.
— Greg Johnson (@gregianjohnson) October 4, 2020
United continued to capitulate after the restart, conceding two more goals in the second half to let six slip for only the third time in Premier League history — all three of their stuffings coming in the dreaded month of October.
3 – Manchester United have conceded six goals in a single Premier League game for only the third time – with each coming in October (1996 v Southampton, 2011 v Man City, today v Spurs). Scary. #MUNTOT pic.twitter.com/w8bFgFpt5c
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 4, 2020
Despondent on the touchline, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came in for heavy criticism as United suffered back-to-back defeats in their first two home games of the season for the first time since 1986-87.
Ole Gonna Go-skjaer
— James Tyler (@JamesTylerESPN) October 4, 2020
Not that it stopped Spurs’ official channels from celebrating a truly momentous victory amid a hectic run of fixtures for the club — five games in 11 days to be precise.
Not one.
Not two.
Not three.
Not four.
Not five.SIX.#THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/0YCqKgrMCW
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 4, 2020
Indeed, it was another particularly bad day at the office for goalkeeper De Gea too, with history hardly smiling on him favourably either.
Manchester United have only conceded six goals in a game at Old Trafford twice since 1930. David de Gea has played in both games.
— Richard Jolly (@RichJolly) October 4, 2020
Predictably, Mauricio Pochettino’s name was being bandied around on social media, with the former Spurs man being touted for United — not as a possible replacement for Solskjaer but as a potential defensive upgrade on Harry Maguire et al.
United should be using this an excuse to bring in Pochettino.
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) October 4, 2020
Yes as a centre-back https://t.co/qCNWiA8ak5
— Manasi Pathak (@ThatUnitedLady) October 4, 2020
Alternative suggestions for the United managerial hot seat were also made (with tongue pressed firmly in cheek). After it was announced that United had tentatively agreed a deal to sign Edinson Cavani, many joked that the ex-PSG striker may now be contemplating a hasty U-turn after witnessing them in action.
Cavani turning up at Man United … pic.twitter.com/8Wys73Lrai
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 4, 2020
Cavani begins his escape https://t.co/k89d3FJ0Nu
— James Horncastle (@JamesHorncastle) October 4, 2020
Can Cavani play centre-back? https://t.co/GHWzkGKQt1
— Tom Williams (@tomwfootball) October 4, 2020
United transfer target Jadon Sancho came in for similar treatment, with some fans querying whether making an expedited offer for the Dortmund winger during the match might not be a bad idea.
Man Utd to put in a €200m half-time bid for Sancho? 😂
— Ronan Murphy (@swearimnotpaul) October 4, 2020
Though of course other, more realistic viewers also questioned why Sancho would want to move to United at all on current evidence.
“Does Sancho play defense?” pic.twitter.com/KVjAusZLIM
— Tony Chow (@Tonyhkchow) October 4, 2020
Id stay at Dortmund if I were Sancho 👀
— Trevor Sinclair (@trevor8sinclair) October 4, 2020
Even Jadon Sancho has turned the TV over.
— Chris Williams (@Chris78Williams) October 4, 2020
Perhaps a quick block on Ed Woodward’s mobile number should be the first port of call for Sancho if he did indeed suffer the misfortune of watching that dire performance like the rest of us.