Classy Spurs embarrass deflated Manchester United with three nil home defeat

It was a huge game for Manchester United and Erik Ten Hag who were desperate to turn their season around following an underwhelming start leaving them sat 12th prior to last night's fixture. Ten Hag was hoping to bounce back after United played a disappointing draw against Dutch team FC Twente in midweek however this was not the case as it went from bad to worse for the Red Devils.

The away side however came into the game with confidence following on from a three game win streak after a less than ideal start to the season. Young Welsh winger Brennan Johnson had been in fine form leading up to this game netting in each of his last three games. Spurs looked to keep their momentum running and chase after those all important champions league spots which they narrowly missed out on last year.

United made three changes coming into the match at Old Trafford seeing Diallo, Eriksen and Maguire being dropped respectively. This saw fan favourite nineteen year old Kobbie Mainoo and the creative Garnacho brought into the starting eleven by Ten Hag hoping to bring some more energy and creativity into the team and try to avoid a repeat of Wednesday night where they struggled to create chances. Summer signing Matthijs de Ligt also joined the starting eleven in place of ex captain Harry Maguire who wasn’t even featured on the bench.

Spurs played an on paper weaker team during midweek in their comfortable 3/0 Europa league win against Qarabag FK so it was no surprise that they made seven changes to the starting eleven. The biggest loss for Ange Postecoglou was the injury to Son who suffered fatigue in his hamstring during the midweek game. Ange said in his pre match press conference that Son had trained on Saturday but due to the quick turnaround from Thursday's Europa league tie he was not yet ready for action hence why he was left out of the squad. This therefore saw Timo Werner come into the team on the left wing.

It didn’t take long for Spurs to silence Old Trafford as Rashford’s run was intercepted by Micky van de Ven who then proceeded to do a spectacular solo run past three Man United players before driving into the box beating De Ligt for pace and playing the ball across Onana’s goal for the on form Brennan Johnson to tap into the back of the net unchallenged from a few yards out after just three minutes had been played.

After surviving the first fifteen minutes of Tottenham domination Manchester United seemed to find their groove a little with a few half chances. Rashford was unleashed down the left wing multiple times in quick succession however due to bad passes from the Englishman and struggling to stay onside they came to no real threat to the sturdy Spurs backline.

Due to these attacks ,and United piling players forward in order to try to get the crowd involved, the home side switched off defensively allowing Udogie to break away after receiving the ball from a cheeky flick by Werner. The ball eventually found its way to Brennan Johnson who, looking for his second goal of the match, striked the ball cleanly across goal which smashed off the far post and luckily fell to Mazraoui to clear to safety. Spurs weren’t the only ones however who were denied by the woodwork as Garnacho found himself free at the back post ,just after the Johnsons chance, brilliantly volleying a cross from opposite winger Marcus Rashford however this struck the near post and went out for a goal kick.

Sadly for Ten Hag’s men it did not stay positive for Red Devils as it wouldn’t be an Old Trafford clash without some controversy as Captain Bruno Fernandes found himself sent off for a high challenge on James Maddison. From first glance it seemed like a horror tackle as Spurs players surrounded the referee as Maddison was rolling around in pain clutching his knee however after seeing a replay it was discovered that it was not his studs which connected with Maddison as it first seemed but it was instead the back of his heel which caught the Englishman just below the knee. Fernandes also tried to

justify the foul by saying he slipped and did not have control; however VAR agreed with Chris Kavanagh’s decision and the red card stood.

Half Time 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur

The beginning of the second half saw Ten Hag bring on the recently poor Casemiro to replace Zirkzee in order to regain a full midfield. The experienced midfielders addition however could not stop Kulusevski scoring the second goal of the match just two minutes into the half with a very cheeky finish from a deflected Johnson cross after a quick break which instantly silenced Old Trafford once again. This goal seemingly killed off the game for the next fifteen minutes as the United players seemed sorry for themselves and saw comfort in fouling the Spurs players however, there was a brief fightback from the Reds.

The substitute Casemiro found himself on the end of a cheeky chip pass from fellow South American Lisandro Martinez however his half volley trickled past the outside of the post. This chance seemed to flick a switch inside Old Trafford as the crowd began to believe again as the “We’ve seen it all, we’ve won the lot” chants filled the air.

This optimism was however short lived as the substitute Pappi Sar flicked on a header at the near post ,from fellow substitute Lucas Bergvall’s corner, which Dominic Solanke confidently slotted home for his third goal for the Whites since signing for sixty five million pounds from Bournemouth in the summer.

The heavens fittingly opened for the final ten minutes, soaking Erik Ten Hag who seemed stunned by the results as he stood emotionless on the touchline whilst chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning” rang out around Old Trafford. The full time whistle went in the ninety seventh minute where it was met with loud boos from the few Manchester United supporters that remained as the Spurs fans jumped and danced after embarrassing the Red Devils at home once again.

The full time whistle saw Spurs leap three places up to 8th whereas Manchester United stayed in 12th and have only won one out of their last five Premier League matches. Champions league football is now looking very unlikely for Erik Ten Hag in his third season managing the Reds, it is uncertain whether he will even make it to the end of the season as he seems to have made United play even worse than they did last season where they embarrassingly finished 8th in the league.

Full Time 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur

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