Erik ten Hag wastes Jadon Sancho's resurgence! Winners and losers as Man Utd manager's appalling second-half decisions invite Tottenham comeback

The United manager has a habit of making too many changes and making them too early and this was not the only time his substitutions came back to bite him.

Tottenham's second-half comeback brought memories of the last-gasp capitulation at home to Sevilla flooding back.

But while Ten Hag had his reasons for making those changes against Sevilla, such as Bruno Fernandes and Antony being on yellow cards, most of his substitutions here made very little sense, apart from to rest players against Aston Villa.

Jadon Sancho was enjoying his best performance of the season and while Antony was not causing much of a threat, he was still keeping Tottenham on their toes and linking up well with Rashford.

Anthony Martial and Wout Weghorst, the front men brought on, were toothless in attack and the lack of threat encouraged Tottenham to pour forward.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka was on a yellow card and that might have been why he too was taken off but bringing on Malacia, who been flimsy against Sevilla, was as risky as leaving the right-back on.

From an ideal position, United contrived to drop two points and are now under extra pressure to beat an in-form Aston Villa side who have won eight of their last 10 matches.

For much of the first half this felt like an arduous exercise for Tottenham fans, who were lashing out at their team and raging against chairman Daniel Levy.

Their humiliating 6-1 defeat to Newcastle was obviously fresh on fans' minds and the players also looked to still be reeling from the result.

So for them to come out fighting as they did in the first half said a lot about the team's spirit and caretaker manager Ryan Mason's capacity to get them to believe in themselves, something his predecessors Antonio Conte and Cristian Stellini lacked.

This may be the Dutchman's first season at Manchester United but his recent showings cast doubt on his suitability to play for the club.

When the team needed someone reliable to weather the storm, he again lost concentration, straying out of position and being beaten by Harry Kane to the loose ball.

He is making a worrying habit of switching off in crucial matches.

His lack of awareness against Sevilla to leave the ball and let it drop to Jesus Navas ended up paving the way for the Spaniard's fightback and to United's eventual elimination from the Europa League.

And here his poor positioning cost United two crucial points.

These are huge mistakes to make and unless he can deliver some big performances, his season will be tarnished by them.

Harry Maguire's FA Cup semi-final suspension has been a blessing in disguise as it has allowed Shaw another run at centre-back.

He was impressive against Brighton and even better here, even given what happened in the second half.

He was on top of every Spurs attack, making a a number of important blocks and interceptions, such as when he chased down Son Heung-min and cleanly swiped the ball from his feet, halting a dangerous counter.

His passing was impeccable too, and United looked far more confident in possession than with Maguire.

The club captain was absent from the squad and the sad truth for him was United were better without him, even while playing a key player out of position.

United's second half was not just frustrating due to the dropped two points, it also compounded their utterly miserable away form in the league this season.

Ten Hag's side have played 10 of the top 12 teams in the Premier League away from home and have only managed to win once, beating Fulham thanks to a last-gasp goal from Alejandro Garnacho.

They have been battered at Brentford, annihilated at Anfield, monstered at Manchester City and outplayed at Newcastle.

They have been unable to beat underwhelming Chelsea and Tottenham sides away from home.

The fact that United are still in the top four owes a lot to their incredible form at Old Trafford.

If they want to have any chance of fighting for the league title next season, however, they badly need to improve their results away from home.

On Thursday nighht we saw shades of Sancho from his Borussia Dortmund days, the player United targeted for two years and eventually paid £73 million for.

He played with confidence and bravery, something he has lacked for so much of a campaign in which he was so ineffectual he was taken out of the team for over two months.

His goal was spectacular, weaving past two Spurs defenders before drilling the ball into the bottom corner.

And he could have scored again, denied only by a header off the line from Ivan Perisic.

Even when he was not causing danger, he was helping United keep the ball and it was telling that when he was taken off, Tottenham began to win the ball back more easily in defence and launch wave after wave of attacks.

It was baffling that Ten Hag took him off, although the Dutchman said he was worried United were not pressing Tottenham enough. But neither Anthony Martial nor Wout Weghorst offered the danger Sancho was creating.

The winger is a confidence player and this performance, against a top opponent, should do him the world of good.