MANCHESTER – By the time Dominic Solanke slid in Tottenham’s third goal, some Manchester United fans had seen enough.
Trailing 3-0 after 77 chastening minutes at Old Trafford, they vacated their seats and headed out into the Manchester rain. In the background were the mocking sounds of the visiting Spurs supporters.
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“Is there a fire drill?” came a joyous chorus from the away end.
There have been many occasions like this under Erik ten Hag. When his team has looked bereft of ideas and confidence. When a stadium known as the Theatre of Dreams has become the stuff of nightmares.
“First we have to deal with this and show resilience. This is not good enough,” Ten Hag admitted afterward. “We have to accept this and get better.”
Tottenham’s victory mirrored Liverpool’s win by the same margin in United’s previous Premier League home game at the start of the month.
Ten Hag said similar things back then, but problems persist.
Goals by Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke consigned United to a third loss in the league already this season. The record 20-time champion, which was reduced to 10 men after Bruno Fernandes’ red card, is 12th in the standings after just one win in its last five games in the league.
United has also failed to win any of its last three games in all competitions and there were boos inside the stadium from some of the fans that remained at the final whistle.
Spurs supporters were even more brutal during the game — directing chants of “You’re getting sacked (fired) in the morning” toward Ten Hag.
The United manager, who only held onto his job after winning the FA Cup last season and being subjected to an end of year review, said such thoughts weren’t on his mind — even in the face of such a troubled start to the campaign and a slew of changes made under new minority owner Jim Ratcliffe.
“No, I’m not thinking about this. We all made, in togetherness, this decision to stay together,” he said, adding that all parties “knew it would take some time”.
As bad as this latest setback for Ten Hag was, it could have been worse, with goalkeeper Andre Onana twice denying Timo Werner in one-on-one situations. He also stopped Solanke from scoring his second when through on goal late on.
While Onana prevented a rout, this was another humbling day for United, which began with Johnson's opener in the third minute.
The forward was left with an open net to aim at after defender Micky van de Ven was allowed to run from his own half and cross from inside the box.
Johnson might have added another when firing against the post as Spurs dominated from the start.
In response Alejandro Garnacho volleyed against the post with a rare chance for United.
But any chance of a comeback was dealt a major blow after Fernandes was shown a straight red for a studs-up challenge on James Maddison shortly before the break.
Spurs didn’t have to wait long to double the lead, with Kulusevski adding a second two minutes into the second half by flicking a shot past Onana from Johnson’s cross before Solanke added a third.
“We were real good. Obviously it is a great victory,” Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou said. “That is everything we want to be.”
Delap double
Aston Villa missed the chance to move level on points with Premier League leader Liverpool after a 2-2 draw at Ipswich earlier Sunday.
Liam Delap scored twice for newly promoted Ipswich to earn a point at Portman Road.
Villa had led 2-1 at halftime, but Delap’s goal in the 72nd ensured the points were shared.
Villa remained in fifth place and Ipswich is 15th after a fourth-straight draw in the league.
Delap fired Ipswich into a surprise lead in the eighth with a low effort at the near post. Morgan Rogers leveled the score seven minutes later as Villa capitalized on the Ipswich defense’s failure to clear the danger from its own box and drilled past goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.
Ollie Watkins headed the visitors in front in the 32nd when rising to meet Leon Bailey’s cross from the right for his fourth goal in as many games.
But Villa’s hopes of leapfrogging Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea were ended by Delap’s second from inside the box.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer