Paul Pogba made an immediate impact on his return from surgery, winning a penalty converted by Bruno Fernandes that earned Manchester United a 1-1 draw at Tottenham in the English Premier League on Friday (local time).

While the teams have endured three months without games in the pandemic, Pogba hadn’t played since December.

He entered only in the 63rd minute at an empty Tottenham Stadium with the hosts leading from Steven Bergwijn’s first-half strike through goalkeeper David de Gea.

But Pogba, whose United future has been mired in uncertainty, helped to inject some attacking dynamism United had been missing.

The French star was bundled off the ball by Eric Dier and Fernandes netted his third penalty since joining United in January.

United were denied a second penalty when VAR overturned the decision to penalise Dier for another foul – this time on Fernandes.

United are three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea having played an extra game, but fifth place will clinch a Champions League spot if second-placed Manchester City’s two-year ban from
Europe is upheld next month for breaking financial rules.

Tottenham remain four points behind United.

Earlier, Norwich’s hopes of staying in the English Premier League were dealt a blow when they lost 3-0 to Southampton.

Norwich are six points from safety while Southampton moved 10 points clear of the drop zone after second-half goals from Danny Ings, Stuart Armstrong and Nathan Redmond.

-with agencies