De Zerbi praises Spurs character in 1-1 draw at Old Trafford

Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi said his side's response to being reduced to 10 men was the highlight of a 1-1 draw at Manchester United on Saturday.

Spurs had dominated long periods of the match, registering six shots before United had one, and nine in total to United's two, but fell behind when Bryan Mbeumo scored on 73 minutes.

The situation worsened when Rodrigo Bentancur received a red card following an altercation with Luke Shaw, leaving Spurs a goal down with 10 men for the final 12 minutes at Old Trafford.

Dominic Solanke equalised in the 91st minute, holding off Lisandro Martinez to glance home a cross from Sandro Tonali.

"I like the red card. I like the red card because normally it's a mistake, because one player of that experience can't bring a red card, take a red card - but we need it. We need it a lot," De Zerbi said.

"We have to react, especially in that moment of the game. Maybe it's the wrong reaction. I know, I'm not stupid, but we need to show to be a team, and today was the first game in this season where we showed to be a team."

De Zerbi acknowledged the squad still has room to grow. "We are not ready yet. We have to improve. We have to improve the mentality, the spirit, the courage, the personality, maybe the physical condition, but this is the way, because after the red card, we played not better in terms of quality, but better in terms of character."