Spurs 0 – 1 Man Utd

Spurs v Man Utd Previous Fixture

Spurs 0-1 Manchester United – 13th January 2019

A fine goalkeeping performance from David De Gea ensured that Manchester United took all three points at Wembley Stadium despite an impressive performance from Spurs in which they peppered the Man United goal in the second half.

A tidy finish from Marcus Rashford after a wonderful through ball from Paul Pogba was enough to give the Red Devils victory and ensure that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer became the first Manchester United manager to win his first five league matches in charge.

FULL-TIME: We're unable to find a way past De Gea in the second half and United take the points on a frustrating afternoon at Wembley. #COYS pic.twitter.com/5DlpDObnvD

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 13, 2019

David De Gea Inspires Manchester United to Victory

Spurs had a couple of early chances in the encounter through holding midfielder Harry Winks. He snatched at the first after being put through by Heung-min Son and a few minutes later he blazed over after a cleared corner landed at his feet at the edge of the area.

United looked dangerous on the counter attack throughout and the first instance of this was after twelve minutes. Rashford had a chance after being fed through by Anthony Martial but he could only aim his shot comfortably at Lloris. The England striker may have been better off passing to Jesse Lingard who was unmarked at the back post.

There were other half chances in the first period for both sides and Harry Kane had a goal ruled out for offside but it seemed like both would head into the break all square. However that was not the case as Spurs were hit with two big blows before the break.

The first was an injury to Moussa Sissoko, which forced him off and the second was the opening goal for United courtesy of the lively Rashford. Kieran Trippier gave the ball away for Spurs and Paul Pogba was able to pick Rashford out with immense accuracy, needing just two touches to set him on his way. Still with a lot to do, the United striker struck the ball across Lloris and into the corner to give The Red Devils the advantage at the interval.

Spurs created chance after chance in the second period but were constantly thwarted by David de Gea. The first came inside five minutes after a Dele Alli header forced him to go down to his left. At the other end Pogba had a header of his own saved by Lloris, who also had to flick his fellow Frenchman’s shot over the bar to keep Spurs just one behind.

But after that the De Gea masterclass started. The Spaniard saved from Harry Kane and then brilliantly denied Alli with his feet after the Spurs man was put through by Kane. The feet of de Gea were starting to become more important than his hands as he again denied Spurs, this time from an effort by Toby Alderweireld from a Spurs corner.

Fernando Llorente was brought on to give Spurs a more direct approach and he nearly grabbed an assist. His cushioned layoff to Kane looked like it would set up the equaliser but again de Gea got down low to save with his feet.

Best goalkeeping performance you've seen in recent seasons?@D_DeGea #TOTMUN #PL pic.twitter.com/VBGARjoTB3

— Premier League (@premierleague) January 14, 2019

At the end, Llorente just over hit a pass to Kane which he desperately stretched for but could not reach. With that, the victory for Man United was all but confirmed. To rub salt into the wounds for Spurs, Kane went off injured at the end. With Son heading off to the Asian Cup for possibly the next five Spurs fixtures an injury to Spurs’ talisman could not have come at a worse time.

Spurs remain third in the Premier League table but their title ambitions have suffered a massive blow. They are nine points behind Liverpool, who won at the weekend, and could go five points behind Manchester City if they beat Wolves on Monday night.

Spurs v Manchester United Teams

Spurs victorious at the Theatre of Dreams

Tottenham Hotspur thrashed Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford as the home side’s troubled start to the campaign got worse.

It was a glorious result for Spurs who go equal with Liverpool, Chelsea and Watford on nine points at the top of the Premier League, with the visitors tearing the home side to shreds in the second half.

Harry Kane’s clever header when it looked difficult to generate sufficient power put Spurs in command, aided by a superb chance by Kieran Trippier. The surprise star of the World Cup is continuing his run of good form and we can’t wait to see what he does in Spurs’ upcoming games.

Harry Kane moves into the top 20 all-time PL scorers, level with Emile Heskey on 110 goals pic.twitter.com/xhdP8wLsVX

— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) August 27, 2018

Lucas Moura’s angled drive doubled their lead and late on the Brazilian rounded off the victory, surging past Chris Smalling to plant his shot beyond goalkeeper David de Gea to make it the fourth league win for Spurs at Old Trafford in 40 years.

Tottenham Hotspur have been breaking barriers in the opening games of this Premier League campaign. The ’Kane-can’t-score-in-August’ jinx has been well and truly trashed as have claims that the side struggles to win games against the rest of the Big Six, particularly away at their closest title rivals. Before this, Spurs had won only one of 12 Premier League games against their top competitors, so it’s no wonder then that players and supporters alike celebrated a superb achievement.

🍾 Man of the Match, @SpursOfficial’s Lucas Moura 🍾
35 touches
26 sprints, most in match
2 shots, both goals
Is now Spurs’ top scorer in their 27 PL visits to Man Utd – no other player has scored more than once pic.twitter.com/vhfVxlFhL4

— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) August 27, 2018

It could all have been so different had Romelu Lukaku not spurned an early gilt-edged chance.

The Belgian striker intercepted a wayward pass, rounded Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris but with an empty net gaping slewed his shot wide.

Pretty much from there in it was all Tottenham aided by an impressive defensive display by Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Trippier and Rose.

Was it a landmark moment for Mauricio Pochettino’s team? Even though they were misfiring beating such a strong team is a huge acheivement for Spurs but bigger challenges are still to come against the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea. It must surely boost self-belief however, and bodes well for the rest of the season if this run of good form can be kept up.

Jose Mourinho spent much of the close season screaming for central defensive reinforcements despite previously spending £60 million on Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof, both dropped. Instead there was the strange sight of midfielder Ander Herrera lining up on the right hand side of three central defenders alongside Phil Jones and Chris Smalling.

Is Mourinho losing the plot? Is this third year syndrome, when Mourinho either leaves clubs or is moved on, about to bite again?

Far too early to call but the fans seem frustrated by what they see as negative Mourinho tactics.

We predicted it was possibly a good time to play them and so it proved.

Starting Line-Ups: Spurs v Man United

Spurs: Lloris, Rose, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Trippier, Dembele, Alli, Dier, Eriksen, Kane, Moura

Man Utd: de Gea, Jones, Smalling, Herrera, Shaw, Fred, Matic, Pogab, Valencia, Lingard, Lukaku

Poch’s Comments

They (United) didn’t create too many clear chances but I think the belief and our belief and the trust in the way we play together was good. In the end the result was fair. Of course the players deserve all the credit and their belief and their faith was fantastic. In a very difficult stadium like Old Trafford against a great team it’s not easy to win. Of course our record was so bad in the last four years. After that it was our, or my, fifth year in playing here and to win 3-0 away from home is a fantastic result for us.

Player of the Match

Lucas Moura is our pick – arriving in the January window it has taken him time to find his feet for Spurs but he has come back from the summer off looking like a highly improved player. With a key role played in 2 games already, he’s more than making up the deficit created by an absent Son Heung-Min.