'I Kissed Rodrigo and Said Thanks' - De Zerbi Backs Bentancur After Tottenham's Man Utd Draw

Tottenham boss Roberto de Zerbi has praised Rodrigo Bentancur after the midfielder was sent off in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United, saying the red card gave his side a spark.

Bentancur was shown a straight red card in the 78th minute for headbutting Luke Shaw, with Spurs trailing 1-0 at Old Trafford. Shaw had raced at the Uruguay midfielder and shoved him off the pitch after a reckless challenge. 

Bentancur reacted by planting his head towards Shaw's face. Team-mates pulled them apart, and referee Stuart Attwell sent the substitute off. Dominic Solanke then headed in the equaliser in the second minute of added time.

De Zerbi called it a "mistake" but said it was the kind of reaction his team needed. "I kiss Rodrigo and say thanks," he said at his 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."

He told Sky Sports: "I kissed Bentancur in the dressing room because we need this type of reaction, this character. Football is character." He added: "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."

Despite the late equaliser, Spurs are still winless after six games and sit in the relegation zone with three points. It is only the fourth time the club have failed to win any of their first six league games of a season, after 2008-09, 1955-56 and 1912-13. They have scored just three goals, and only 19th-placed Coventry have scored fewer.

De Zerbi found positives in the performance, as his side ran United ragged in the first half with fast, fluid football. "Today has been the game where for the first time this season we showed we are a team," he 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."

He added on Sky Sports: "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."

Spurs spent more than £250m on 10 new players over the summer. Because of the poor start, the club have organised a warm-weather training camp in Marbella, with the squad expected to fly out on Sunday to help the new group bond. 

"Now the target is to build the team," De Zerbi said. "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."

Tottenham face newly promoted Coventry on Monday, October 19, then make the short trip to Chelsea the following Saturday.