Ole Gunnar Solskjaer extended his extraordinary winning streak as Manchester United interim manager to six games, but he had David De Gea to thank for a miraculous performance at Wembley.
Spurs were denied again and again by De Gea during a second-half onslaught after Marcus Rashford had struck.
It proved the only goal of a high-octane game that saw United draw level in the Premier League with fifth-placed Arsenal and Spurs fall further behind in the title race.
GOOD
Tottenham
The result may suggest United are ready to claim superiority over Tottenham once more but, in truth, they looked every bit as dangerous as they were in their 3-0 sacking of Old Trafford earlier this season.
Don’t believe me? Back then Spurs took nine shots, five on target, and had a 43 per cent share of possession. This time Mauricio Pochettino’s side peppered De Gea 21 times, 11 of those on target, and had the ball 61 per cent of the time.
The finishing from Harry Kane – who at full-time was nursing a worrisome limp – was poor in particular. However, the interplay between their No.10, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Asian Cup-bound Son Heung-min is the equal of virtually any team in Europe. Strangely enough, the defeat only underlined it.
United
David De Gea
🍾Man of the Match, @ManUtd’s David De Gea 🍾
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) January 13, 2019
✋11 saves (all in the 2nd half), the most by any keeper in a PL fixture this season
✋13.75% of his saves in PL this season were in the 2nd half
✋Back-to-back PL clean sheets for the 1st time since a run of 4, Dec 2017-Jan 2018 pic.twitter.com/zJnmcHNPgF
Yes, United are far easier on the eye and of course, they are a better team than under Jose Mourinho. But without their one constant source of joy through their post-Fergie years on Sunday night, no way would they have come away with victory.
De Gea came under much scrutiny in Spain for his form both in the build-up and during a disastrous World Cup campaign and he didn’t start his club campaign particularly well, either.
This was best-in-the-world stuff once more. Not only did the 28-year-old produce an astonishing 11 saves but his work was so clean, either catching or clawing the ball from harm’s way.
Perhaps all Dave needed was a team to believe in.
BAD
TOTTENHAM
Depth
While United were planning their assault on Wembley at Dubai’s state-of-the-art Nad Al Sheba Complex last week, Spurs were still slogging away in wet and windy London.
Their first-leg EFL Cup semi-final win over Chelsea was hard-earned, and it is clear all those minutes are taking a toll.
Moussa Sissoko – who played the full 90 in midweek – pulled up not long with a muscle strain past the half hour, and with midfield stocks depleted, Pochettino was forced to introduce an attacker in Erik Lamela. In even worse news, Kane left the field in serious trouble with his ankle.
It is to their vast credit that Spurs’ energy levels didn’t dip and Eriksen performed admirably in a deeper role. One wonders what their coach could do with a little more support in the transfer market.
UNITED
Worries out wide
United’s defence was stoic for the most part and, against the quality of a side such as Spurs, periods of pressure are inevitable. Especially with the Red Devils just a trifle more partial to attacking these days.
Every time the hosts worked it wide, however, Luke Shaw and Ashley Young found themselves exposed with chief whippersnapper Ander Herrera unable to be everywhere at once.
Phil Jones lost many of the aerial battles with Kane and only profligate finishing and – you know who – De Gea – ensured a clean sheet. It’s a weakness for Solskjaer to work out.
Harry Kane in all sorts of trouble, can barely walk. Looks properly injured.
— John Cross (@johncrossmirror) January 13, 2019
Key moments
9th min CHANCE – Winks somehow pulls his left-footed shot from short range wide after great work from Son.
12th min CHANCE – Rashford is through, but gets pushed wide and his tame effort is held by Lloris.
18th min CHANCE – Pogba releases Martial and fancy footwork sees him make space, but angle is too tight to trouble Lloris.
31st min OFFSIDE – Ball is in the back of the net but Kane is adjudged offside.
45th min GOAL – Stupendous Pogba pass. Rashford races onto it and drills low past Lloris.
48th min CHANCE – Spurs come out of the traps quickly and Kane drills a fine chance at De Gea.
50th min GREAT SAVE – Alli heads through traffic and De Gea pounces to claw it away.
56th min GREAT SAVE – Pogba bulldozes through Spurs and Lloris does fantastically to tip it over.
59th min CHANCE – Kane beats Jones in the air but directs ball into ground too close to De Gea.
62nd min CHANCE – Lloris beats away Pogba’s shot from outside the box.
66th min GREAT SAVE – Alli clean through after Pogba loses it, De Gea stands up to the shot.
70th min GREAT SAVE – Alderweireld meets a corner at the near post and again, De Gea is there.
74th min GREAT SAVE – The masterclass continues as De Gea saves from Alli.
86th min GREAT SAVE. How long are De Gea’s legs? Another gymnast act denies Kane.
89th min CHANCE – Spurs Sub Llorente can only poke at a golden chance.
VERDICTS
Spurs – B-
No keeper – not even one of De Gea’s quality – can absolve Spurs from creating so many chance yet failing to score. The good news in defeat is that they continue to look the part.
United – B
A wonderful result that was fortuitous in the making, especially while under the cosh in the second half. Solskjaer clearly needs to tweak his defence to attack ratio against the better teams.
