100% long balls, 7 ground duels, 7 tackles: United star can hold his head high despite humiliating loss to Spurs

Goalkeeping errors from both sides were the order of the day as Manchester United suffered a 4-3 loss at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.

Both Altay Bayindir and Fraser Forster made two huge blunders that directly led to the opposition finding the back of the net.

Up until the hour mark, Spurs were firmly in the driving seat as they enjoyed a three-goal advantage courtesy of a Dominic Solanke brace and Dejan Kulusevski strike moments after the restart.

However, Ruben Amorim made a number of changes which sparked United back into life. Substitutes Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo both scored to cut down Spurs’ lead to just one goal.

It seemed like the game was headed for an epic finish but Son Heung-min scored directly from a corner-kick to seemingly secure the victory for the hosts.

However, there was another late twist as Jonny Evans headed the ball past Forster in the dying embers of the match. Unfortunately for United, it was a case of too little too late and as a result, they are out of the Carabao Cup.

There were very few United players who turned up for the game, with Manuel Ugarte being one of them.

Ugarte was on the pitch for 70 minutes before he was taken off and replaced by Kobbie Mainoo. Ugarte touched the ball 42 times and found his teammates with 22 of the 26 passes he attempted.

The Uruguayan successfully connected with the one long ball he tried to ping.

He delved into 13 ground duels, winning seven of them. He was not required to contest any challenges in the air.

The former Sporting Lisbon and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder made three interceptions and an incredible seven tackles.

(Stats obtained from Sofascore)

Ugarte certainly didn’t deserve to be on the losing side tonight. The 23-year-old and his teammates return to Premier League action on Sunday when they take on Bournemouth at Old Trafford.

Featured image Alex Pantling via Getty Images


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Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!

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