Mourinho reveals why Tottenham dropped two points against Manchester United

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Jose Mourinho has won none of his last six matches against his former clubs in all competitions. [Photo: Spurs/Twitter]

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Jose Mourinho has revealed why his team dropped two points at the hands of Manchester United on Friday.

Mourinho told Sky Sports News after the match that he had "no bench to react" during the 1-1 Premier League draw with the Red Devils.

Bruno Fernandes' penalty after Eric Dier fouled Paul Pogba inside the box cancelled out Steven Bergwijn's goal as Spurs and United returned to action amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men were also awarded another penalty in the dying minutes, but a VAR check reversed the on-field call by Jonathan Moss.

According to Mourinho, the absences of Dele Alli and Lucas Moura hurt Spurs' depth in attack to snatch away all three points.

"I liked the team attitude, the team organisation, the control, the following of a plan, being very solid, giving to United what they don't like, really happy with that.

"I'm unhappy with the fact that the way I was reading the game, I had no bench to react to it.

"With Lucas and Dele Alli, they would be on the bench or playing, then I would have had on the bench some of our attacking players because they become more dominant because we tired upfront. By being tired we couldn't press, making it easier for them to build,” the Spurs head coach told Sky Sports.

Steve Bergwijn's 27th-minute opener appeared set to give Jose Mourinho a much-needed victory over his former employers, with Spurs aiming to make a late charge to qualify for next season's Champions League. [Photo: Spurs/Twitter]

Mourinho added: "At the same time, we couldn't be dangerous on the counter-attack because we had no legs for that. It was hard for us to manage the game in that sense.”

The former Manchester United boss felt that English referee, Moss, made a huge mistake in awarding Fernandes the penalty kick in the 81st minute.

"I'm also not happy with the penalty and I'm also not happy with the second penalty. I'm unhappy with the VAR, not the referee. The referee in the game can make a mistake, give a cheap penalty. But then the VAR is there to do the job. I'm not unhappy with [Jonathan] Moss, I'm unhappy with the VAR.

"With the second penalty, I'm unhappy with Moss because he didn't give the free-kick on Serge Aurier, again giving a cheap penalty, a non-penalty. In this case, the VAR gave the truth over what happened in the box,” Mourinho pointed out.

United, on the other hand, introduced Pogba, Mason Greenwood and Odion Ighalo off the bench to boost the attack line.

"United had it, Spurs did not. It was not just Pogba. They had Paul, they had Greenwood, they had Ighalo.

"If they wanted to decide, they could have had Jesse Lingard, who can change the face of the game, or one in short spaces who can find something really good.

"That's what five changes can do with a powerful bench with options,” said Mourinho.

Solskjaer’ men have now extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 12 games in the 2019/20 season.

Spurs welcome West Ham at the Tottenham Stadium on Tuesday as Man United host Sheffield United the following day.