Bruno Fernandes saw red as Tottenham Hotspur cruised past Manchester United 3-0 and increased the heat on manager Erik ten Hag.
Sunday’s Old Trafford encounter was a chance for these top-four hopefuls to kickstart campaigns that had begun in similarly topsy-turvy fashion.
But a month that started for United with a 3-0 home defeat to Liverpool ended in another Old Trafford loss by the same scoreline as Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke struck for Spurs.
Skipper Fernandes’ sending off for a challenge on James Maddison at the end of a one-sided first half compounded matters, ruling him out of next weekend’s trip to Aston Villa and two further matches.
Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount also went off injured on a nightmare afternoon for Ten Hag, who is under the spotlight as United head to Porto and Villa Park before the international break.
As for Ange Postecoglou, they impressed without injured star Son Heung-min and won consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since March.
Spurs were as impressive as United were disjointed from the outset at Old Trafford, where the visitors went ahead after 155 seconds.
Micky van de Ven capitalised on miscommunication between Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford and drove forwards from his own half having intercepted the ball.
The rapid Spurs centre-back was inexplicably allowed to roar through, eventually sending a low cross to the far post for Johnson to tap home in front of a shellshocked Stretford End.
Bruno Fernandes was sent off for his challenge on Maddison – becoming the fourth United captain to be sent off in a PL game at Old Trafford.
Erik ten Hag responded with an immediate substitution and another before the restart, but that proved futile. Spurs replicated their earlier exploits with a goal inside three second-half minutes, as Johnson roamed forward and played a pass that was deflected off De Ligt and delicately turned home by Kulusevski.
Any hope was removed in the 78th minute, though, as Lucas Bergvall and Pape Matar Sarrcame off the bench and immediately created a chance that Solanke poked home.
The goal ensured that Spurs earned a fourth consecutive win for the first time since last October, having won just one of their opening four games this term.
