Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur was sent off twelve minutes after coming on as a substitute during Saturday’s away match at Manchester United for a silly foul. His manager reacted unexpectedly.
Tottenham Hotspur are still without a win in the new Premier League season after six matchdays, but for once on Saturday, it was the opposition who were on the receiving end of the referee’s whistle. Following the 1–1 draw at Manchester United, the Spurs could at least feel like the moral victors – and that had a lot to do with Rodrigo Bentancur.
The 29-year-old Uruguayan had put his team in a tight spot with a loss of composure in the closing stages. After making two rough challenges within seconds of each other before clearing the ball off the touchline, Luke Shaw shoved him to the ground. The Spurs player immediately got back to his feet, stood face to face with Shaw and eventually thrust his head forward.
A frenzied scuffle broke out straight away, resulting in Shaw receiving a yellow card, whilst Bentancur was shown a red for his headbutt. Twelve minutes after coming on as a substitute and twelve minutes before the final whistle, he had to leave the pitch once again. A disservice? A stupid move? Manager Roberto de Zerbi chose very different words after the match: “I kissed him and said thank you.”
The reason: whilst Man United, who were leading 1–0 at that point, squandered good chances to seal the win, Spurs – despite being a man down – still managed to score a deserved equaliser to make it 1–1 after full time. “That was a mistake by Rodrigo,” de Zerbi admitted, “but after that, Tottenham had to react. From that moment on, down to ten men, we perhaps played with more courage, with more energy. We changed the game a little. For a long time, Tottenham had been playing without that fire, without that character.”
And so, regardless of the league table, de Zerbi predictably boasted of “many wins and many goals” in the coming weeks – provided his team maintains this passion. For the time being, Bentancur can only show this passion in training. He is facing a suspension.
