Christian Eriksen is quick out the blocks and other things learned as Tottenham beat Man United

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Christian Eriksen celebrates his early goal for Tottenham against Man United.

    Christian Eriksen scored the joint-third fastest goal in Premier League history and the awful Phil Jones rocketed in an own goal as Tottenham blew Manchester United away with a deserved 2-0 victory on Wednesday night.

    Mauricio Pochettino’s men dominated from the off at Wembley, inflicting a miserable Premier League debut on – for added joy – ex-Arsenal superstar Alexis Sanchez.

    Here, we examine three things from Wembley:

    ERIKSEN WASTES NO TIME ON RETURN

    The Denmark playmaker required only 11 seconds to remind Spurs what they had been missing in his absence.

    Eriksen popped up in the right place to calmly take advantage of the chaos in the United defence and slot in the vital opener. Only club legend Ledley King has scored a quicker goal in the top flight for Tottenham, taking 9.9 seconds in 2000 to score past Bradford City.

    Eriksen was taken ill after Everton were torn apart 4-0 on January 13. In the interim, they’ve meandered to 1-1 draws with struggling Southampton and League Two minnows Newport County in the FA Cup.

    In a dominant second half, Eriksen consistently probed. He also showed no lack of match fitness as the collective might of Spurs shut United down.

    He truly is a great Dane.

    Christian Eriksen was back in action for Spurs.

    Christian Eriksen was back in action for Spurs.

    CALAMITY JONES STRIKES AGAIN

    The ticking time bomb at the heart of the United defence went off at Wembley.

    Jones was all at sea for Eriksen’s first, before his ungainly control saw him disastrously go with the wrong foot and fire into his own goal.

    There is a defender of real ability within Jones. He’s shown it plenty of times this season as his injury problems have, mostly, been put to one side – this 20th Premier League appearance of the season already beats his tallies from the previous two seasons.

    But at the age of 25, he still can cause self-inflicted wounds. Ivory Coast international Eric Bailly’s return cannot come soon enough.

    A sorry Phil Jones gets a booking for Manchester United.

    A sorry Phil Jones gets a booking for Manchester United.

    SANCHEZ CONUNDRUM YET TO BE SOLVED

    The addition of Sanchez from Arsenal promised fresh impetus for United, yet on this evidence it’s left manager Jose Mourinho with a real headache.

    A bold 4-3-3 formation was utilised from the start, with the Chile superstar Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial and Romelu Lukaku all crammed into it. This was a break from the norm for Mourinho, whose negative tactics receive such castigation in these top-six clashes.

    United’s performance wasn’t a bad one, not by any stretch. Yet harried anchorman Nemanja Matic was noticeably exposed and the visitors had only six shots to the host’s 22.

    In the coming weeks, he’ll need to live up to his nickname as the ‘Special One’ to pull off this balancing act.

    Alexis Sanchez had a miserable return to London.

    Alexis Sanchez had a miserable return to London.

    Recommended