De Zerbi Reveals Why He Kissed Bentancur After Tottenham’s Draw With Man United

Tottenham Hotspur head coach, Roberto De Zerbi has revealed that he kissed Rodrigo Bentancur in the dressing room after his side’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United, explaining that he wanted to see greater character from his players.

The Italian praised Tottenham’s response after conceding but condemned Bentancur’s actions, which earned the midfielder a red card during Saturday’s Premier League encounter.

Bentancur replaced Lucas Bergvall in the 66th minute but lasted only 12 minutes before the referee dismissed him for violent conduct following a confrontation with Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw. The Uruguayan appeared to throw a headbutt in Shaw’s direction.

Despite criticising the incident, De Zerbi said he appreciated the midfielder’s fighting spirit, insisting that Tottenham needed to develop a stronger mentality and refuse to accept defeat.

“Today, we showed we are a team for the first time this season. We play as a team. We suffer, we dominate the game. But in every situation, we were in the game,” he told Sky Sports.

“Football is like this. I think this character, I like the situation with Rodrigo [Bentancur] with the red card. We need it in this moment, this situation. Not to bring a red card, but we have not accepted the defeat. We have to not accept conceding a goal.

“We have to react in all ways we can. It’s a bad way; it’s not the right way, but I kissed Bentancur in the dressing room because we need this reaction, this type of reaction with character. Football is character.”

Manchester United took the lead in the 73rd minute when Bryan Mbeumo finished off an opportunity created by Cunha.

Tottenham, however, salvaged a point in stoppage time when Dominic Solanke headed home in the 92nd minute.

Solanke welcomed the result and praised his teammates for their determination to fight back after falling behind.

“The character shown was magnificent. A few times we haven’t reacted in the right way when going a goal down, but today we showed fight and grit,” the striker said.

The Tottenham forward admitted that he had missed opportunities to score more goals but was delighted to find the net and help his side secure a draw.

“I should have had a hat-trick. I wasn’t clinical enough. I know that. But I kept going. I was getting in the right positions to put one away,” he said.

“It’s my first time being captain for a great club. To score as well. It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my career. It’s something to build on. We haven’t been good enough this season. Hopefully this is the start of something good.”