Manchester United moved within a point of the top four spots in the Premier League following a dominant 2-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
In the end, after failing to score the goal that they were able to control during the first period, United broke the deadlock in the 47th minute, when Fred’s effort from 20 yards deflected the direction of Ben Davies. Bruno Fernandes then made the score 2-0 with less than 20 minutes left after he smashed the ball with a wonderful first-time strike past Hugo Lloris from just inside the penalty space.
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The win, with Cristiano Ronaldo being restricted to the role of a spectator from the bench, accelerated United’s momentum in the right direction under Erik ten Hag following an uneasy beginning of the campaign. United remain in fifth position within the Premier League but are now just one point ahead of fourth-placed Chelsea.
Tottenham remain in third place however they missed an opportunity to move ahead of Manchester City and move to just one point behind the leaders Arsenal.
“I am pleased with the team,” Ten Hag stated. “I consider it to be the best team performance we have had this season..
“You can see today how that we are growing. You can see how we would like to perform, we are getting better on the field every moment. Spurs are a magnificent team this season so far I told the boys in the dressing room that it was enjoyable watching you.
“It was a squad performance. What we have seen today, we have 11 players who defend and 11 who attack. I am pleased with that. I will not say that I am totally satisfied. That has to be the standard at Manchester United.”
The only negative in the game for United was Ronaldo taking off his bench and walking through the tunnel prior to the final whistle. Ten Hag promised to “deal with” on Thursday.
The first half was all one-way the first half saw Lloris being forced to make a string of saves inside his Tottenham goal to ensure the game was scoreless.
For the first 25 minutes by himself, Lloris had to be attentive to stop attempts from Fernandes, Anthony, Fred, Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw.
It was Rashford who started in the place of Ronaldo He had the best chance. The forward could have been better after being given a clean pass by Fred but he was able to get just enough close towards Lloris that it let Lloris the French stopper to go down and turn the ball back.
The only time Lloris was defeated in the opening period, Anthony, cutting inside on his left foot before turning towards the far corner, saw his shot hit the outside of the post.
However, after all the United’s disappointment during the first half, it was only 2 minutes in the second half for the home team to achieve their goal with a little luck.
Fred’s first-time strike from Jadon Sancho’s push back outside the penalty box appeared innocent until it was snared on the back of Spurs Defender Davies to cause Lloris to fall flat on his back and unable to find the net.
Tottenham appeared poised to score an unlikely goal at the end of the first half after a cross was able to find the calm Harry Kane alone at the far post. However, the England striker’s effort was blocked with a goalkeeper error by David de Gea before the offside flag rose to make the play unimportant.
Just a minute later Man United’s lead increased by a third. The amazing Fred was once more involved and he stepped into the box just before Eric Dier got a foot into. The ball fell easily to Fernandes who left Lloris the edge with a exquisite precise final.
United might have been able to make their win more eloquent, but Rashford was once again prevented by Lloris, when it was his turn to score.
Ten Hag’s team had 28 shots during the game which was the highest number of shots by an opponent in an Premier League game this season. This was also the biggest number the team that is that is managed by Antonio Conte has faced in an elite game, and it was the 318th league game he has managed with Serie A and the Premier League.
“We have to be honest, United deserved to win,” Conte declared. “They began the game extremely efficiently. For us we didn’t begin the game well. It was very difficult due to many mistakes that were easy to fix.
“The table is quite good but each time we play a top quality game we struggle. I’m trying to be truthful -that is the case with Chelsea. Chelsea we struggled, we fell to Arsenal in the same way, and against Manchester United we lost.
“In this type of game, I think that you need to arrive and not make big mistakes, with great concentration, great focus. You need to be ready to fight a war, or you die against your opponent. The level is very high, we are struggling.”