Roberto De Zerbi has given a surprising reaction to Rodrigo Bentancur getting sent off late in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.Much to the frustration of Spurs fans, it appeared that their clash against Man United was following a familiar script.Despite dominating proceedings and creating several chances, the Lilywhites failed to score, and Bryan Mbeumo punished them for their wastefulness when he put the home side 1-0 up in the 73rd minute.It appeared that Spurs had crumbled under the pressure when substitute Bentancur was shown a straight red for headbutting Luka Shaw just five minutes later.However, the North Londoners rallied again and fought back, with Dominic Solanke heading in a deserved equaliser in stoppage time.Credit: @thefrederikkejensen / InstagramRoberto De Zerbi reveals why he thanked Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur after his red cardThe Spurs head coach has now remarked while Bentancur’s reaction to being pushed by Luka Shaw was not the right one, the team needed someone to have an emotional reaction to spark them into action.De Zerbi shared that he gave the Uruguayan a kiss and thanked him after the full-time whistle.When asked what he told Bentancur after the game, the Tottenham boss responded (via Football.London): “I kissed Rodrigo, and I said thanks, because it’s clear it’s a mistake from Rodrigo, because it’s not the right reaction in football, but now Tottenham needs to react.“Sometimes the reactions are not nice, not positive for the team, but I think in that moment, in 10 players, maybe we played with more courage, we played with more energy, and we changed the game. From a long time Tottenham played without this blood, this character, and I want it.“Now I am the coach, and I want to see this character every game, because Manchester United in the second half showed character, not just the quality. Just with the quality, we can’t win the games. With the qualities, with the character, with the right energy, I think we are going to win many games, and we are going to score many goals.”De Zerbi delighted to see Spurs correct their mistake against Aston VillaThe Tottenham boss was very critical of Villa’s first goal in their 3-2 win over Spurs, just ahead of the international break, with the Lilywhites failing to regroup when they were temporarily down to 10 men.De Zerbi was delighted to see the opposite reaction from his players at Old Trafford, admitting that Bentancur’s sending off galvanised the side.He added: “Listen, the last game, we played one minute behind, with 10 players, because Van de Ven was injured and we conceded a goal. We spoke, we spent big time to speak, to be stronger than 10 players, because it can happen in the game to stay one minute or 45 minutes or 60 minutes.“You can win anyway, one player less, you can score anyway. It’s the mentality, it’s the character, it’s the energy, the passion of the players. I think the red card today gave us the switch, the spark.”READ MORE: One Roberto De Zerbi quote aged horribly within 24 hours after Tottenham’s draw with Man UnitedThe post ‘I kissed Rodrigo’ – De Zerbi reveals why he was actually pleased with Bentancur appeared first on Spurs Web.