Tottenham Hotspur striker Dominic Solanke scored the equalizer late to help a 10 man Spurs rescue a point at Old Trafford against Manchester United, but Spurs honestly would not have needed to be in that position for Solanke to score a lucky goal off a brilliant Sandro Tonali cross had he been more up to the races.
Solanke missed two obvious goals in the first half, even skying what was essentially an open net instead of doing what any legitimate starting striker in the Premier League would have done, which is bury the ball into the ground.
The fundamentals are clearly lacking for Solanke, and many Tottenham fans were quite miffed to see that he even started this game against Manchester United in the first place. Solanke was Spurs worst player - on a team that is dead last in the Premier League - before the international break, and starting him over Omar Marmoush made little sense. And even Mathys Tel would have had a better case for starting in the middle.
Dominic Solanke is still not doing enough for the team
Roberto De Zerbi can't fall for the narrative that Solanke scored the winner, because everyone who actually watched the game closely from start to finish could see the same problems with Big Dom crop up again and again.
Not only does he flub the amazing chances that Savio creates for him and that the others put on a platter through their hard work, but for a striker who was signed for 65 million pounds from Bournemouth in 2024 in part because he was sold to Spurs fans as an all arounder, he does very little to help his teammates on the wings or in the attacking midfield score.
Dominic Solanke had one key pass and two fouls drawn, which is actually more than what he has done in other games this season, but in terms of his actual decision making in the penalty area or his quality on the ball, he was really lacking. And for all the possession Spurs had in the final third, he did very little to be a proper focal point or a table setter.
It's hard to see what role he fills in the Tottenham attack, and it is even harder to justify starting him over two more dynamic players in Omar Marmoush and Mathys Tel, who both have a better track record of creating shooting opportunities for themselves. Solanke may have scored, but he was not impressive.
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