Tottenham Hotspur were seconds away from jubilation and a come from behind victory against Manchester United at home on Matchday 11 of the 2025/26 Premier League season, but they ended up leaving Matthijs de Ligt unmarked at the death despite having a man advantage due to Benjamin Sesko's injury.
Richarlison ended up scoring the winning goal by virtue of a fortunate flick off a brilliant Wilson Odobert effort, but many Spurs supporters felt he should not have even been on the pitch at that point in the game.
After a disasterclass in the Champions League despite Spurs winning 4-0 over Copenhagen, Richy drew the start on the left wing and was predictably terrible. Yet at the half, it was striker Randal Kolo Muani who got hooked off instead of Richarlison, and that had Spurs fans ready to riot. Richarlison may have saved his day with that goal, but no true Spurs fan will be fooled by that performance.
But the bigger concern right now is Kolo Muani. As it turns out, Thomas Frank had a very legitimate reason for substituting the promising French striker, as Kolo Muani actually suffered an injury and had to be taken out of the game.
Tottenham man may be injured
According to top French journalist Fabrice Hawkins of RMC Sport, Randal Kolo Muani suffered a blow to his jaw during Tottenham's game against Manchester United and needed to be taken off at the half for that reason. He will now underdo scans on Sunday to determine if he has an injury or not.
The good news is that Hawkins says Tottenham aren't currently concerned about Kolo Muani's status, so they don't believe he is injured. Blows to the jaw or any part of the head can be serious, but if a player isn't obviously hurt, it's not as concerning, as, say, a knee or hamstring injury.
That said, Kolo Muani was hurt enough to necessitate being substituted, and Tottenham fans know better than to count on lady luck. Expecting the worse has become par for the course for Spurs supporters at this point, and with various forwards, including star man Mohammed Kudus, already injured, Spurs fans will wait with baited breath until they actually hear words of 100 percent clearance for Kolo Muani after the scans. Going forward, he is going to be the guy at striker until Dominic Solanke finally comes back, because Richarlison's fluke goal won't save his job.