Manchester United's hopes of turning their season around after a three-week break were dealt another setback as Michael Carrick's side delivered an underwhelming performance in a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur. Despite facing a Spurs side sitting bottom of the Premier League table, United once again failed to deliver a convincing display.

The result continues a worrying trend for United, who have now gone three consecutive matches without a win against teams that have had a player sent off. While the hosts struggled to find their rhythm, Tottenham had chances to take control in the first half, but poor finishing kept them from making their chances count.

The sides went into the interval goalless, but United showed signs of improvement after the restart. Their persistence paid off in the 73rd minute when Bryan Mbeumo found space inside the box and fired a precise, low effort across the keeper and into the bottom corner to put United ahead.

United were given another chance to secure all three points after Rodrigo Bentancur was dismissed for headbutting Luke Shaw. However, the extra-man advantage proved insufficient once again, repeating the frustrations of their previous encounter with Manchester City. Tottenham refused to give up, and a cross from Tonali found Dominic Solanke, who got away from Lisandro Martínez as the defender dropped deeper before directing the ball into the net. The equaliser denied United the win and left Carrick's side with more questions about their inability to capitalise on favourable chances.

The midfield pairing of Youri Tielemans and Kobbie Mainoo was completely overrun by Spurs in the middle of the park, and while they have rightfully attracted deserved criticism for their display, they could have benefited from extra protection from the players ahead of them.

Mainoo and Tielemans had limited options to pass to, as the Spurs midfield regularly dispossessed them, and they could have done with support from players like Bruno Fernandes, who offered little in terms of tracking back and contributing defensively.

Speaking on Match of the Day, Danny Murphy suggested that the pairing of Tielemans and Mainoo could work if a third midfielder were added by dropping a forward.

  “There was a lethargy about Man Utd,” declared Murphy. “This midfield can’t control games.  

“It’s partly tactical, partly personnel. They’ve got to get back to basics, being harder to beat, close the distances.

“Maybe you drop a forward player into midfield to create a three, a more solid three next time they play.

“But if they play like that against good teams, they’re going to get cut wide open because that’s impossible.”

Apart from perhaps Leny Yoro and Carlos Baleba, the Manchester United side was, on the whole, poor on the night, as they looked second best to Spurs in every aspect of the match.

Perhaps most worryingly, the club's captain, Bruno Fernandes, was virtually invisible for large portions of the match, taking 23 minutes to complete his first pass against the away side, the longest wait of his Premier League career.

Going into the international break, it emerged that Fernandes had been nursing an injury in the weeks leading up to the Nations League fixtures, missed a game during the break, and still doesn't look at 100%.

While it's clear that Fernandes is undoubtedly United's best player, Michael Carrick needs to find a way to rely on the rest of his squad, rather than keep Fernandes on when he's clearly not having a good game.

Against Spurs, the team was crying out for more mobility and possession of the ball in the middle of the park. Carrick had a natural replacement in Mason Mount on the bench, and Marcus Rashford could have replaced Fernandes, allowing Matheus Cunha to return to his preferred role.