An absolute disgrace – Gary Neville fumes at Man Utd’s first-half display

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville labelled his old side “an absolute disgrace” after a first half to forget against Tottenham at Old Trafford.

Brennan Johnson fired Spurs into an early lead after only three minutes, tapping in following a superb forward run by defender Micky van de Ven.

Things went from bad to worse for Erik ten Hag’s side shortly before half-time when captain Bruno Fernandes was shown a straight red card for a sliding challenge into James Maddison, catching the Spurs midfielder with his studs.

Sky Sports pundit Neville was left less than impressed by the whole sorry display.

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“He has gone knee high Bruno Fernandes. I think he slips just before the tackle, but he is not going to get away with it,” Neville said on Sky Sports.

“It is not as bad as I initially thought, but it sums up Man United first half which has been an absolute disgrace.

“It’s one of the worst performances I have seen under Ten Hag – and that is saying something. It is really bad.”

During his early co-commentator duties, Neville had lamented: “It has been as bad as it gets – no urgency, no life in them.

“United have all the bodies back there, but they may as well be statues or mannequins.

“Tottenham are just cutting through at will. Manchester United in this first half-hour are really bad. The crowd aren’t engaged at all.”

Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie Redknapp, speaking during the half-time analysis, also felt United came up well short.

“Spurs have been excellent, but United have been abject – no confidence, no identity. It has been so poor from them,” Redknapp said.

“They have been sitting back and are like the away team, it’s been so poor.”

While referee Chris Kavanagh showed Fernandes a straight red card, Redknapp felt the United midfielder was perhaps a bit unfortunate.

“He slips as he comes in to try to win the challenge,” Redknapp said. “It’s petty, it was a bit petulant. He sticks out his right leg.

“When you actually see it in slow motion, his feet go under him and he just sticks out his leg, I think it’s a yellow card.”

Spurs doubled their lead soon after the restart through Dejan Kulusevski, before Dominic Solanke ended any hopes of a United comeback when he scored a third with 13 minutes left.

Neville said: “You wouldn’t have complained at all as a United fan if Spurs scored six because they have been so much better and had so many chances.

“You only have to look at what has happened over the last 10 to 12 years at Manchester United to know that a result like this needs reversing rather quickly.

“When the snowball starts to move down that hill, it gathers pace and he (Ten Hag) has got to stop it at source, like right now because this is a shocking, sobering day.”

Neville added: “It was an absolutely disgusting performance in that first half in effort, quality, everything you would want in a football team.

“There will be a lot of questions to answer for that group (of players) and the manager in the next week.”