Second played third in the Premier League as Manchester United welcomed Tottenham to Old Trafford for the Saturday lunchtime kick off. The visitors were without talismanic striker Harry Kane due to injury but headed into this game in scintillating form. Jose Mourinho’s side meanwhile suffered a shock defeat to Huddersfield last weekend and needed a bounce back performance in this game in order to keep pace with their cross-city rivals. Before today United had a 100% record at home and Spurs likewise away from Wembley, so something had to give when the two sides met.
A cagey start to a crucial game
This high profile and star-studded fixture got underway after a minute’s silence for Remembrance Day and it was Manchester United who started the brighter. Romelu Lukaku almost managed to find Marcus Rashford for a tap in after just 90 seconds but Huge Lloris cut out the Belgian’s cross at the last moment. After this initial scare the game settled slightly but the home side dominated the early possession and pressed Spurs high up the pitch. In the opening ten minutes Harry Winks was the only Tottenham player playing with any real calmness and composure on the ball as the visitors struggled to get a foothold in the game.
Rashford had another chance when he struck a free kick from 40 yards out but once again Lloris was equal to it and turned the shot round the post. While United were limited to half chances the visitors struggled to put together any cohesive attacking moves, though they did see a lot more of the ball as they grew in confidence and started to take the game to Manchester United. Moussa Sissoko managed Spurs’ first shot on target of the half on the 20-minute mark but it was hit straight at David de Gea.
Tottenham dominate but can’t break the deadlock
After half an hour it became clear that United were losing the midfield battle, so much so that the defenders looked to bypass the middle of the pitch entirely with long balls to Lukaku. The frustration that accompanied a lack of attacking success from both sides began to boil over between two sides who were fully aware of the importance of his game. Ashley Young and Dele squared up to one another and the atmosphere in the stadium became tense as the game heated up. The frantic tempo seemed to suit Tottenham and they began to look much more threatening, targeting the nervous Phil Jones in the United defence.
Despite their dominance the visitors failed to create anything clear-cut. The best chance of the half fell to Eric Dier who connected with a half volley from a corner, but De Gea dealt with the shot with relative ease. On the balance of play from the first half neither side deserved to be ahead, but it was Tottenham who could take more positives from the first period having out-played United on their home turf.
Manchester United have their own fruitless dominant spell
Jose Mourinho had clearly used the half time break to drill into his players the importance of winning this game, especially with their tough upcoming schedule. Unsurprisingly Manchester United came out for the second period as the brighter side once again but faced an uphill battle trying to break down what is an incredibly well drilled Tottenham defence. Henrikh Mkhitaryan had two good chances to do just that in quick succession but the combination of a Lloris save and some outstanding defensive work from Ben Davies managed to deny the Armenian.
United had their best spell of the game around the hour mark and it was all Spurs could do to keep the home side at bay. Antonio Valencia almost replicated his spectacular goal from a few weeks ago at Old Trafford but this time the United captain blasted his shot just over the bar. As Mourinho’s side searched for an opener Tottenham began to look like a threat on the counter, and Mauricio Pochettino introduced both Mousa Dembele and Fernando Llorente in an attempt to end Manchester United’s spell of dominance.
Martial grabs a late winner for Mourinho
The return of Dembele after a spell out injured seemed to lift Tottenham and they started to play with the belief that they could grab a winner. Christian Eriksen had a good chance with Spurs’ first real opening of the game after a frustrating 75 minutes, but the Dane lashed at his shot and it flew high and wide over the crossbar. However Eriksen’s chance paled in comparison to the one that fell to Dele Alli just moments later. Eriksen played a sumptuous ball over the top and Alli stretched to flick it on past De Gea, but the England international couldn’t quite pull off the intricate move and the ball trickled a few inches wide of the post.
After two brilliant chances went begging for the visitors Romelu Lukaku had an excellent opportunity of his own to open the scoring, but the Belgian’s header came back off the post. However just a minute later the deadlock was finally broken following the introduction of Anthony Martial, another inspired substitution by Jose Mourinho that paid off big time for the Manchester club. A simple header on by Lukaku from a De Gea goal kick cleared the Tottenham defence and Martial slipped in to put a simple finish past Lloris. The late goal, which one the balance of play was perhaps somewhat undeserved, was to prove the difference between the two sides as Manchester United ran out as narrow winners.
Final Thoughts
This was an extremely hard fought victory for Manchester United and provided the perfect bounce back after their uncharacteristically poor performance against Huddersfield last weekend. Grinding out wins like these will be crucial for Mourinho’s side if they are to challenge a Manchester City team who are looking like real world beaters this season.
Tottenham probably deserved a draw from this game but in the end they looked blunt going forwards without world-class striker Harry Kane. With the Manchester clubs in such fine form this season it will take a huge effort from Pochettino’s men to put up a challenge. When Kane returns Spurs will be back at their best and the North London club have looked like a better team than Manchester United overall, despite this result.
Match Report
Manchester United: De Gea; Bailly, Smalling, Jones, Valencia, Young (Darmian, 90+3); Herrera, Matic, Mkhitaryan (Lingard, 65’), Rashford (Martial, 70); Lukaku
Tottenham: Lloris; Alderweireld, Dier, Vertonghen, Aurier, Davies; Eriksen, Winks, Alli, Sissoko (Dembele, 62’); Son (Llorente, 62’)
Goals: Martial (1-0, 81’)
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Yellow Cards: Valencia (74’)
Red Cards: None
Player Ratings
Manchester United: De Gea 6; Bailly 7, Smalling 6, Jones 6, Valencia 6, Young 6 (Darmian n/a); Herrera 6, Matic 6, Mkhitaryan 6 (Lingard 6), Rashford 6 (Martial 8); Lukaku 7
Tottenham: Lloris 6; Alderweireld 6, Dier 6, Vertonghen 6, Aurier 7, Davies 7; Eriksen 7, Winks 7, Alli 7, Sissoko 6 (Dembele 6); Son 6 (Llorente 6)
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