Michael Carrick admitted he regretted not being able to kill another team with 10 men after their 1-1 draw with Tottenham in the Manchester United camp.
United spent long periods under pressure in front of a disgruntled Old Trafford crowd on Saturday, with Spurs missing a number of chances to take the lead.
But Bryan Mbeumo turned and slotted into the bottom right-hand corner after 73 minutes and Rodrigo Bentancourt was sent off shortly after for a header on Luke Shaw as the Red Devils’ second Premier League win of the season was out of reach.
However, in the second eight minutes of second-half stoppage time, Dominic Solanke took advantage of Lisandro Martinez’s poor marking to head home Sandro Tonali’s cross.
The result leaves them 12th in the Premier League table with just six points on the board after five matches and welcomes the full-time whistle.
United have now failed to win any of their last three games against bottom-of-the-table Premier League sides, drawing 1-1 on all three occasions, with Wolves in December 2025, Fulham last month and Spurs on Saturday.
They have lost to Manchester City last month and Newcastle United in March, as they are winless in their last three league games against red-carded teams.
“A really mixed game. We found it difficult in the first half. It was a difficult opening period,” Carrick told Sky Sports afterwards.
“It wasn’t quite there with the little plays and we kept getting the ball.
“We couldn’t find a pass, we were a little late to the press, we left a gap, a number of things happened.
“We warmed up to the game and got better in a lot of different ways in the second half. We put ourselves in a really good position to show that spirit and fight back to go 1-0 up.
“Then it’s a game we had to kill and we didn’t find a way. Sometimes we turned the ball over too easily and it opened the game up.
3 – Manchester United have failed to win any of their last three Premier League matches against red carded sides (D1 L2). Disadvantage?
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 10, 2026
“It’s obviously a bad goal and it sums it up. We’re very disappointed to be in a position like that and not get away with the game.”
Things aren’t looking up for Carrick’s under-fire side either, after visiting Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, having lost just once all season – before facing old rivals Leeds United in the Premier League next weekend.