Player ratings as Ratcliffe watches first-half thriller at Old Trafford

Manchester United’s new minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe was at Old Trafford to see his investment duke out a 2-2 Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.

Despite being outplayed for large swathes of a wild first half, United twice took the lead through their rejuvenated frontline of Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford. Richarlison and Rodrigo Bentancur equalised for the visitors on either side of half-time before a tepid conclusion.

A draw left Tottenham outside the top four and nudged United into seventh place.

How the game unfolded

Hojlund had needed more than 1,000 minutes to score his first Premier League goal but found the net within 200 seconds of his next appearance at Old Trafford. United’s saviour against Aston Villa on Boxing Day broke the deadlock on Sunday, battering the ball past Guglielmo Vicario at the end of a swift forward thrust.

Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs are geared towards attack whatever the game state, leaving the door open for United in transition but providing a threat of their own.

Richarlison, Tottenham’s newly in-form forward, climbed above a grounded gaggle of red shirts inside United’s six-yard box to guide a 19th-minute corner inside the far post. Spurs had threatened to score but when do they not? This was the 33rd consecutive league match in which Tottenham have scored, the longest run in the club’s history.

Just as Tottenham threatened to stroll into the half-time interval in the ascendancy, United were back in front. Marcus Rashford had the beating of Pedro Porro from the first whistle and stamped his authority all over the duel in the 40th minute. Exchanging passes with Hojlund inside Tottenham’s box, Rashford shrugged off Porro before picking out the bottom corner.

Cristian Romero came within the width of the crossbar of equalising for Spurs on the cusp of half-time, crashing a header from another corner against the woodwork, but sparked the move for Tottenham’s second equaliser within a minute of the restart.

United somehow manage to appear hopelessly unorganised even when the entire back four is in place. Rodrigo Bentancur had plenty of room to saunter into the penalty area and fire through Andre Onana, adding another loop to a rollercoaster opening 46 minutes.

The ride levelled out over the remainder of the second half as Spurs took control of possession without offering the penetration of earlier in the contest. Scott McTominay steered a late header over the bar, denying the onlooking Ratcliffe…