In the space of ten minutes, there it all was: two Tottenham goals, three Manchester United substitutions, the abandonment of an ambitious defensive strategy, the recurrence of old problems, the breaking of hoodoos. ‘You’re not special anymore,’ teased the Tottenham fans, as Jose Mourinho stood thunder-faced, but this was; special in so many ways.
Not, strangely, in terms of Tottenham’s performance. They can be much, much better than this, certainly in the first-half when they were largely ordinary.
But it was special performance in terms of what it represented. Just as victory over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley last year showed a club coming to terms with new surroundings – and probably just as well given this season’s circumstances – so this was a landmark result.
Harry Kane celebrates after making the crucial breakthrough with a brilliant header from a corner against Manchester United
Five minutes after the break, Kane made a gigantic leap at the far post before looping his headed effort over David De Gea
Tottenham star Kane was granted huge amounts of space in the box, but his header was superb and unstoppable for De Gea
Spurs then stunned United with a second goal almost immediately, Lucas sweeping home from Christian Eriksen’s low cross
Lucas escaped the United defence to perfectly apply the finishing touch to a sweeping Tottenham move on 52 minutes
Lucas, who had a superb game running at the United defence, wheels away in celebration at a shell-shocked Old Trafford
The former PSG winger deservedly had the final word, finishing powerfully from a Spurs breakaway to complete the win
The Tottenham fans chanted Lucas’ name as he terrorised the United defence – here he celebrates his late second goal
Jesse Lingard, Paul Pogba, Chris Smalling and Romelu Lukaku walk dejectedly back to the halfway line after conceding
It was a dispiriting night for Jose Mourinho, with defeat piling on more pressure amid a poor start to the league season
MATCH FACTS, LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE
Man United (3-4-2-1): De Gea; Herrera (Alexis 55), Smalling, Jones (Lindelof 58); Valencia, Matic (Fellaini 61) Pogba, Shaw; Fred, Lingard; Lukaku
Unused subs: Grant, Young, McTominay, Rashford
Bookings: Herrera 19, Valencia 58
Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Trippier (Aurier 76), Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose (Davies 82); Dier, Dembele; Lucas, Eriksen, Dele; Kane (Winks 88)
Unused subs: Vorm, Sanchez, Amos, Llorente
Goals: Kane 50, Lucas 52, 84
Bookings: Lucas 10, Kane 24, Rose 77
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Lucas Moura perfectly applied the finishing touch to a sweeping Tottenham move on 52 minutes to make it 2-0 away to Manchester United. For more stats and facts, check out our exclusive MATCH ZONE service here.
Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham had not scored a goal or recorded a point at Old Trafford and suddenly they had two and were staring at three. It is 23 matches since a London club last won here – Tottenham too, on January 1, 2014, Emmanuel Adebayor the scorer – and Pochettino’s side have wilted under the pressure of expectation before, not least in last season’s FA Cup semi-final, which United won comfortably.
Yet this was different. Tottenham emerged after half-time with greater energy than in a listless opening 45 minutes and struck twice in two minutes to leave United reeling. The first goal was a reprise of an old England routine in the summer – the second a stroll as Mourinho’s defensive strategy fell apart.
It was a corner that gave Tottenham the lead, and familiar partners making it work. Kieran Trippier sent the ball in from the left, swinging in, Harry Kane battling with Phil Jones in the middle.
Jones is a sizable unit, an old-fashioned centre-half. Here, he got shrugged off like a rube. There was much pushing and pulling but Kane was better at it, smarter with it; by the time Trippier’s ball arrived, he was in space and his looping header defeated David De Gea.
Romelu Lukaku missed a first half open goal after taking Danny Rose’s wayward back-pass around Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris
The Belgian striker reacts with frustration after he sliced his shot wide of the empty net to groans from the home supporters
Tottenham wanted a penalty when Lucas Moura went to ground inside the United area, however the referee waved play on
United made six changes as manager Mourinho looked for a morale-boosting victory, and he was active on the sidelines
Lloris started in goal for Tottenham and kept the captaincy despite recently being arrested for drink-driving in London
Mourinho had played a back three including Ander Herrera in a new role and it had done well, but the experiment ended two minutes later. Christian Eriksen pulled off into space in which a bus could comfortably have turned and cut the ball back for Lucas Moura, arriving late, with a finish that left De Gea no chance.
At which point, Mourinho dismantled his team as comprehensively as Tottenham had done. Off came Herrera, than Jones – injured – finally defensive guard Nemanja Matic. Victor Lindelof was among those introduced, but his first contribution was a woeful back pass that would have given Dele Alli a goal, had De Gea not recovered magnificently.
He could do nothing about the third, though. Moura through again and Chris Smalling, the last member of the starting three on the field, missing his tackle as he skipped through to confidently defeat De Gea once more.
Old Trafford emptied, Tottenham rejoiced. Three games, three wins. United don’t look as if they can buy one right now – or a solution to this defensive crisis until January at the earliest.
Spurs winger Lucas was booked after 10 minutes when he accidentally kicked home defender Phil Jones in the head
Ander Herrera extracted revenge for Jones on Lucas nine minutes later with a reckless challenge that also saw him booked
Harry Kane – who did not take the Spurs armband as expected – was the third player in the referee’s notebook for this tackle
Cynics may claim it was another coded message to Ed Woodward about Manchester United’s defensive deficiencies, but Mourinho is not the politician he is made out to be, so the simple explanation for the starting defensive formation is probably the correct one. Mourinho didn’t like what he saw at Brighton, and he wanted to give Tottenham something to think about.
So he started three players that had not featured all season, including Ander Herrera on the right of centre. It was unexpected, it was radical, it was very Mourinho: he has never been the conservative of popular myth.
For the most part, in the first-half before the wheels came off, it worked. Herrera was booked for a crude tackle on Lucas in the 19th minute, throwing something of a spanner in the works but, that aside, United coped with Tottenham very well at first. Kane was kept at arm’s length, his most notable intervention early on a booking for a foul on Antonio Valencia, although replays showed he got the ball quite cleanly and caught United’s captain only in the follow through, more by accident than design.
Herrera did the job as planned, his mobility and reading of the game an asset against Moura and Dele Alli. Tottenham’s chances were limited to United aberrations: first, a mistake by Nemanja Matic setting Alli away before he was thwarted by an outstanding piece of defending from Smalling. Shortly before half-time, Alli found considerable space on the left, but on this occasion it was Herrera’s quick-thinking that kept him out with a block.
Christian Eriksen picked up on a clearance in the 40th minute to try his luck from 15 yards, but his shot was comfortably saved, and with Moura rightly denied a penalty appeal after coming together with Phil Jones, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino cannot have returned to the dressing room at half time happy with what he saw, and clearly what he said therein had an impact.
United started on the front foot, with defensive midfielder Fred shooting narrowly wide after just 14 seconds had elapsed
Dele almost found a way through in the first half for Tottenham, but was denied by a superb challenge from Chris Smalling
Rose slides in on Paul Pogba as the two Premier League heavyweights faced off on Monday evening at Old Trafford
Nemanja Matic reacts after flicking a good first half opportunity for United wide – which summed up their poor evening
Neither will Mourinho have been entirely happy at the halfway stage – but only because his players wasted several very good opportunities to take the lead. Romelu Lukaku, alone, had three decent chances – and one absolute snorter.
That came in the 16th minute after some horribly sloppy play from Tottenham. Danny Rose may have harboured ambitions to one day be creating chances for a Manchester United striker at Old Trafford but, if he did, one imagines he was wearing a red shirt in the visualisation, too. Not this time.
He badly under hit a back pass to goalkeeper Hugo Lloris – who kept the captaincy despite his drink-driving charge and speculation that Tottenham would take a moral stand – Lukaku rounding the Frenchman with the goal now open albeit it from a tight angle. It was probably harder than it looked, but should have been easy for a striker who commands the fee of Lukaku last summer. Instead, he sent the ball the wrong side of the far post.
More wastefulness followed three minutes later when Jesse Lingard played a long ball from deep to Luke Shaw on the left and his cross found Lukaku, only for the striker to miskick and give Lloris a soft attempt which he gladly snaffled up. A Fred cross in the 26th minute completed a miserable ten minutes, Lukaku steering his header wide.
Yet this was initially much better from United than the insipid display at Brighton, a statement of intent coming after just 14 seconds when an error from Toby Alderweireld – another who might have hoped to be playing this game in a red shirt – was pounced on by Fred, curling a shot just wide.
The summer signing got away from Tottenham in the 29th minute, too, cutting inside from a Valencia pass but sending his shot on a similar trajectory. Fred’s involvement was more impactful than that of Paul Pogba, at least, whose 46th minute shot was a rare moment of import, before the game got away from United.
Jesse Lingard nearly pulled one back for United after they went 2-0 down, but Toby Alderweireld got a vital touch on the shot
Kane should have made it 0-3 with the United defence in disarray, but headed wide when completely free from a corner
Kane reacts after missing a golden chance to wrap up the three points, with Dele also knowing how close it was to 0-3
Pogba, who had a quiet game, looks despairing as United were torn apart by rampant Spurs in the second half