LONDON — Thomas Frank has defended his substitutions after being booed during Tottenham’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Saturday.
As United led through Bryan Mbeumo‘s 32nd-minute goal, Frank opted to replace Xavi Simons with Mathys Tel for the final 11 minutes.
Loud boos greeted Simons’ exit but just five minutes later, Tel turned smartly in the box and fired a deflected shot past Senne Lammens to equalise.
Spurs looked to have won it when Richarlison glanced in Wilson Odobert‘s shot in the first minute of added time but Matthijs de Ligt‘s 96th-minute header salvaged a point for United.
Frank made five changes in all — including taking off Randal Kolo Muani at half-time — and when asked about whether his decision on Tel paid off amid the negative reaction, the Spurs boss said: “Sometimes you are lucky but of course, I would say that every single time I take a decision to sub a player, it is with one aim: to make the team win, or back in the game, or try to see the game out of whatever.
“One aim: try to win the game. No doubt Mathys did well, great goal, great involvement and in general I think we played a fine game, positive, but also you need a little bit of freshness.”
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Pushed on what he wanted specifically from Tel, he said: “To score a goal.”
Frank also confirmed that Kolo Muani was withdrawn after struggling with a minor unspecified issue while Cristian Romero left the field two minutes from the end through fatigue rather than because of a specific injury.
