Manchester United defender Luke Shaw was seen limping out of Old Trafford following the 1-1 draw with Tottenham, sparking fears he may have picked up an injury.
Shaw remained on the pitch until the 95th minute, when he was replaced by Ayden Heaven, but pictures from outside the ground appeared to show the full-back walking with a limp and wincing as he made his way past United fans who had stayed behind after the final whistle.
Fiery altercation and late equaliser
United looked set for only their second league victory of the season after Bryan Mbeumo broke the deadlock with a superb finish past Antonín Kinsky in the 73rd minute. Spurs faced a steeper climb five minutes later when Rodrigo Bentancur was shown a straight red card for a headbutt on Shaw as tensions boiled over.
However, the ten-man visitors salvaged a point at the death through Dominic Solanke, who glanced home Sandro Tonali's cross to send the away end into raptures. Shaw received a booking for his part in the fiery 78th-minute altercation, having shoved the Uruguayan prior to their coming together on the touchline.
Concern over left-back cover
The result lifted Spurs off the bottom of the Premier League table into 18th place, while United remain stranded in 12th ahead of their trip to Elland Road next weekend. With Harry Amass the only other specialist left-back in United's first-team squad, Shaw's apparent injury will be a concern ahead of an important run of fixtures for Michael Carrick's men.
United had identified left-back as an area of focus at the start of the summer transfer window and targeted Newcastle's Lewis Hall, but Newcastle made it clear Hall was not for sale unless they received an astronomical offer. The deadline came and went without United bringing in support for Shaw.
Shaw's workload and fitness update
Shaw started all 38 league games for United last season, and Carrick has made no secret of the club's desire to ease the 31-year-old's workload this term. The former Southampton man missed United's derby defeat to Manchester City last month due to a 'very small' setback and was subsequently given time off from training.
“We just gave him an extra recovery day today,” Carrick told reporters ahead of United's Champions League clash with Sabah. “We'll see by tomorrow how he is, but it's not an ongoing thing or a plan or anything like that. It was just off the back of the game the other day. So, as normal, each individual has different little things that we manage.”
There was also a concerning update on Benjamin Sesko's fitness prior to Saturday's contest, with a chance the striker may require surgery. “It's not the exact issue, it's a similar area. But it's not the exact same thing again,” Carrick explained when asked if Sesko's absence was linked to his shin problem. “And we're kind of still working through it a little bit to see how long the issue will be. We're hoping that it'll be soon, obviously, but at this moment it's still not quite clear.”
When asked if Sesko may be forced to go under the knife, Carrick said: “Yeah, there are different things to look at. I think he recovered really well actually from the initial one, and there was a lot of time, and sometimes things get thrown up. The body does certain things and we've got to react to that and try and get him back as quick as we can.”
United return to Champions League action against Atletico Madrid at Old Trafford on Tuesday night, desperate to end a run of four matches without victory, before facing bitter rivals Leeds in the Premier League five days later.
