Manchester United stance on sacking Michael Carrick revealed after hitting 40-year low

The struggling Red Devils were comfortably second best to a Spurs side who sat winless and bottom of the Premier League table ahead of Saturday evening’s high-profile fixture at Old Trafford - with Roberto De Zerbi’s team having taken five matches just to score their first goals of the campaign despite a lavish summer transfer spend in excess of £300million.

However, United appeared to be on course for a valuable victory - just their second in six top-flight games so far this term - after Bryan Mbeumo broke the deadlock 17 minutes from time.

Tottenham’s hopes of snatching a late point appeared to be over after Rodrigo Bentancur was sent off five minutes later following a heated clash with Luke Shaw that saw him headbutt the England left-back, who had initially taken exception to a heavy challenge from his rival and pushed him to the ground.

Under pressure: Michael Carrick must turn things around at Manchester United

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However, 10-man Spurs showed renewed fighting spirit by going on to claim a deserved draw, with Dominic Solanke glancing in a header from Sandro Tonali’s cross in the second minute of stoppage time - increasing the mounting pressure on Carrick, whose side sit down in 12th place.

United were booed off by frustrated home fans both at half-time and full-time, with six points from six matches representing their worst start to a league season since 1986/87, when a disappointing opening following a failed title challenge led to Ron Atkinson being sacked and replaced in the dugout by Sir Alex Ferguson.

However, despite their dismal start and being booed from the pitch in successive home games, United owners INEOS are not currently planning to remove Carrick from his post, according to TEAMtalk.

Ex-Middlesbrough boss Carrick originally saw off competition from fellow United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to be named as interim manager following the sacking of Ruben Amorim in January, guiding the club to a third-place finish in the Premier League and Champions League qualification.

United now face a tough run of fixtures in October, starting with Tuesday’s trip to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, which is followed by meetings with Leeds, Como, Bournemouth and Chelsea.