For the second time in successive home Premier League games, Manchester United failed to beat opponents reduced to 10 men.

For the third time in as many seasons, a United manager finds himself under severe pressure before the clocks have gone back.

Four weeks ago, Manchester City needed an incorrect video assistant referee (VAR) decision to take advantage of an ineffective United performance after Phil Foden had been shown a red card in the 23rd minute for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes.

On Saturday, the damage was self-inflicted as a Spurs side, who had given every indication of being unable to score before Rodrigo Bentancur’s headfirst charge at Luke Shaw just five minutes after Bryan Mbeumo’s opener, came up with an injury-time equaliser.

Centre-back Lisandro Martinez was outmuscled embarrassingly easily by Dominic Solanke, with goalkeeper Senne Lammens failing to read the striker’s deft touch that crept in at the far corner.

The anguish on United faces told its own story.

“A worrying day for Michael Carrick,” observed former United skipper Gary Neville on Sky Sports.

First, a couple of sorry statistics.

Carrick’s side are now winless in four league games and face an always tricky trip across the Pennines to face old rivals Leeds at Elland Road on Sunday, 18 October. Either side of that are daunting Champions League trips to Atletico Madrid and Como.

United officials have repeatedly offered their backing to Carrick in recent weeks.

However, no fan needs reminding that two seasons ago a run of two wins in nine games in all competitions put Erik ten Hag under severe pressure before the axe fell after a defeat at West Ham on 27 October.

Last season, a combination of a shocking EFL Cup exit at the hands of League Two Grimsby and an insipid 3-1 loss at Brentford on 27 September did so much to undermine confidence in Ruben Amorim before he was sacked on 5 January.

The start to this campaign is starting to look increasingly familiar.

“I’m not happy with he amount of points we’ve got so far, for sure, you know,” said Carrick.

“I’m not hiding, there’s no hiding from that. I think it could have been different for a couple of little things here or there, but the reality is the reality, we’ve got to accept it, you know. We need to put things in a direction, in a positive direction quite quickly, that’s pretty plain.”

The ‘little things’ Carrick talks about are the defending for Solanke’s goal, the lack of pressure put on Everton’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles when he smashed another injury-time equaliser at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on 6 September, and the preventable Martinez own goal that nearly gave Fulham victory at Craven Cottage just before the international break.

“We’ve got to be a little bit more streetwise in moments, a little bit more stubborn and a little bit stronger in seeing out certain things,” he added.

“It doesn’t change my belief or the confidence in the players, you know. We’re a really good team and capable of being a really good team, but we’ve obviously got to start getting more points on the board, that’s for sure.”

The problem is with each disappointment, the belief of United being ‘a really good team’ starts to ebb away.

Yet again, a post-match focus centred on how much Carrick’s team ran, even though running for the sake of it has proved to be of little benefit.

“The stats don’t lie when every time the other team runs more than you,” said Sky Sports pundit and former Spurs captain Jamie Redknapp.

“Tottenham ran 5km more than Man United. OK, they had 10 men but that is every game. If you outrun your opposing number, you will win games. I’m not saying they are not trying. It is that physical battle they are losing though.”

While, ex-Spurs midfielder Danny Murphy, added on BBC Match of the Day: “There was a lethargy about Man Utd, this midfield can’t control games. It is partly tactical and partly personnel.

“I don’t understand it. We saw at the end of last season Man Utd were much more organised and much more difficult to play against.

“The space in midfield was incredible and if they were playing against a more competent side, they would have been beaten. Play like that against good teams and they will be cut wide open.”

It feels as though some fans are losing faith already, judging by the way they reacted at moments during the game, aside from the boos that accompanied the end of each half.

Forward Matheus Cunha – one of a number of Carrick’s squad who have failed to reproduce the form he showed in the second half of last season – gestured to the crowd during the opening period. It wasn’t clear whether he was responding to a negative comment or urging more noise, but the Brazilian clearly wasn’t happy.

Carrick’s family are season ticket holders. He knows what it is like to watch United struggle at Old Trafford.

“Obviously, it hurts,” he said. “It hurts a lot. It’s not nice to go through. I care as much as anybody about this place. Sometimes you could say too much because then it overspills. But it’s coming from a good place, really, and so I understand it.”

It is in moments like this that Carrick, who presents such a calm front in public, must be churning inside.

He knows how the pressure can mount around Old Trafford and how fierce the debate around the club in the search for answers can be.

As he said, Carrick cares. And he is certain his players feel the same.

“I don’t feel let down,” he added. “You can make mistakes.

“We’ve all got standards; we’ve all got levels. The players hold their hands up at times when something goes against them.

“It’s not like everyone walks off into the distance tonight like everything’s fine and it’s left on me. It’s not that at all. The players care, for sure.

“I don’t feel let down by them for making a mistake. We’ve just got to all help each other be better, and it’s on me to help them and guide them through it.”