Guardian:
‘Manchester United survived one of the great goalkeeping blunders last night when Roy Carroll dropped a near 50-yard shot from Pedro Mendes over his own line in the 89th minute, but neither the referee Mark Clattenburg nor his linesman Ray Lewis awarded the goal.
‘The weirdness of that was compounded by the ball being belted back down towards the Tottenham area, where Rio Ferdinand was upended. This meant there was no opportunity for Spurs players to plead about the injustice.
‘Instead Ferdinand - and Sir Alex Ferguson afterwards - claimed that the foul on him occurred inside the box rather than on the edge of it. But Clattenburg awarded a free-kick. That, though, might have been enough because Gabriel Heinze's cute curling shot was destined to sneak in at the near post, but Paul Robinson scrambled across his line once more to tip it away. Ferdinand was first to the rebound but clipped the ball over the bar.
‘With that United's frustration was complete and the thought that they should be 12 points rather than 11 behind Chelsea was hardly a consolation. "Chelsea can only throw it away now," said Ferguson, "but strange things happen in football. One year [1998] we were 12 points ahead of Arsenal."
‘Ferguson said that his team had "battered away" at Tottenham and "deserved the point", and his admiration for the determination Martin Jol has injected into Tottenham was cloaked in ire.
‘Ferguson had watched as Robinson thwarted Alan Smith twice in the first half and then made a decisive 48th-minute block at the feet of David Bellion. A breakthrough then and United would surely have won.'
Independent:
‘On Monday Sir Alex Ferguson argued the case for video replays; last night he benefited from their absence as Roy Carroll dropped a long, high speculative shot from Pedro Mendes, delivered from his own half, a yard over his goal-line.
‘There was perhaps a minute remaining when the Ulsterman allowed a perfectly catchable ball to slide through both of his hands and the failure of the referee, Mark Clattenburg, or his linesman, Ray Lewis, to spot a blatant goal cost Tottenham their first victory at Old Trafford in 15 years. Commentating on television, Niall Quinn called it the most obvious case of a ball crossing the line he had seen and had this been a case of judging a run out, a cricket umpire would not have bothered to call for the third official.
‘To Manchester United, whether they dropped two points or three hardly mattered. The gap with Chelsea is now 11 with time and resources seeping away. "They can only throw it away now," Sir Alex Ferguson remarked about Chelsea.
‘Whatever the result, it would have been tempered by the sight of Ryan Giggs, who has been in peerless form, sitting with his thigh heavily strapped, suffering from a hamstring injury that might take a month to heal and will hurt United more than Wayne Rooney's suspension.
‘United were not short of possession or desire but there was a bluntness about much of their play, especially against a Tottenham side that had not conceded a goal away from home since November.
‘Nevertheless, this was an extremely significant draw for Tottenham, who had not won a point at Old Trafford since March 1995. Then those dropped points cost Manchester United. Two months afterwards, they went to Upton Park needing a win on the final day of the season to retain their title and saw a season's work evaporate in a flurry of misses. Somehow, it is hard to imagine season 2004-5 being such a close-run thing.'
Times:
‘Sir Alex Ferguson is a recent convert to the idea of introducing video evidence for referees, a motion that is certain to gain further support in the coming days, but he had cause to be grateful for the delays in introducing such technology after a remarkable oversight last night by Mark Clattenburg, one of the country's most promising officials, spared Manchester United from the further ignominy of a home defeat on the evening that their title challenge was surely brought to an end.
‘It was an unexpectedly intense conclusion to a match which seemed to have petered out after a lively opening from Ferguson's team. With Giggs to the fore, brimming with confidence after goals and match-winning performances in his previous three outings, they frequently stretched the Tottenham defence in the first half-hour, with Robinson making two impressive saves from Alan Smith, his former Leeds United team-mate, but that was as good as it for United, who lost any sense of cohesion after the loss of Giggs. Cristiano Ronaldo was particularly wretched.
‘Tottenham, having struggled early on, grew in confidence, with Carrick and Mendes protecting a defence in which King was outstanding, while Robbie Keane worked tirelessly in attack, where he faced an unenviable task against Ferdinand. A minute before half-time, the Tottenham forward seized upon Carroll's first handling error of the evening, passing the ball to Mendes, who tried to catch the goalkeeper out of position, but on this occasion he narrowly missed the target.
‘Apart from a miscued clearance from Noe Pamarot, which hit the post, and a shot from Bellion, United did not threaten in the second period and a goalless draw seemed inevitable. But that was before a remarkable finale which is likely to prove a watershed in the debate about video technology.'
Telegraph:
‘Tottenham Hotspur were denied victory last night in hugely controversial fashion when Manchester United's goalkeeper, Roy Carroll, spilled Pedro Mendes' up-and-under a yard over the line before scooping it clear.
‘This fixture has often served up entertaining, high-scoring fare but the absence of so many recognized attacking talents inevitably tempered the tradition of razor-sharp thrust and counter-thrust. United were deprived of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha and soon lost Ryan Giggs, who limped off indicating a pulled hamstring, a real wrench for United given the Welshman's recent brio.
‘Spurs were without the injured Jermain Defoe (knee) and Fredi Kanoute (hamstring), forcing Martin Jol to gather his players in 4-5-1 formation with Robbie Keane as the lone striker, although the willing Dean Marney lent occasional support.
‘With Chelsea winning, United urgently needed to prevail but a lazy Ronaldo surprisingly lacked any venom. Then persistence by Heinze created a chance for Smith, which he lifted into the crowd.'