‘I kissed Rodrigo’ – De Zerbi ‘thanks’ Tottenham star for red card vs Man Utd
Roberto De Zerbi “liked” Rodrigo Bentancur’s red card in Spurs’ 1-1 draw with Manchester United as “for a long time Tottenham played without this blood, this character.”
Spurs looked to be heading for their fourth defeat in just six games this season when Bentancur was sent off for head-butting Luke Shaw in the 78th minute, shortly after Bryan Mbeumo had given United the lead.
But Dominic Solanke flicked in a header in the second minute of stoppage time to salvage a point for Tottenham, who remain in the relegation zone on just three points, but had plenty of positives to take away from the game.
“I kiss Rodrigo and say thanks,” De Zerbi said in his post-match press conference.
“In that moment maybe with 10 players we played with more courage, more energy.
“For a long time Tottenham played without this blood, this character.”
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After Bentancur slid in recklessly on Shaw, the Red Devils left-back shoved the Uruguayan in the chest and sent him sprawling.
Bentancur reacted by planting his head in Shaw’s face, leaving referee Stuart Atwell no option but to send him off.
De Zerbi admitted it was a “mistake” by Bentancur, but insisted it was a moment of “character” that Spurs sorely needed.
“I kissed Bentancur in the dressing room because we need this type of reaction, this character. Football is character,” he told Sky Sports.
“I liked the situation with the red card. We need at this moment the situation, not to bring a red card but we need to not accept the defeat.”
‘We showed we are a team’
Tottenham should have been out of sight after a first half in which they created several big chances, only for their finishing to let them down, and De Zerbi grew increasingly frustrated on the touchline as they again missed opportunities after the break to take the lead.
This is just the fourth time the club have failed to win each of their opening six games of a league season, after 2008-09, 1955-56 and 1912-13, but Zerbi was pleased with the performance of his side.
“Today has been the game where for the first time this season we showed we are a team,” De Zerbi said.
“We played for the team-mates, we played together, we stayed inside of the game in every situation and we attacked as a team and defended as a team.
“I’m very happy because I’ve seen the right spirit, the right character and I want to start from this character, this reaction, this behaviour.”
“Now the target is to build the team,” De Zerbi added.
“We are a great group of players but we are not a team yet and to be a team is to play for the team-mates, suffer together, attack together.”
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