Fit-again James Maddison and Guglielmo Vicario starred as Tottenham beat Manchester United 1-0 to end their long winless run at home and expose the problems facing Ruben Amorim and his injury-hit squad.
Maddison – who had missed the last five games – pounced when Andre Onana parried Lucas Bergvall’s first-half shot to give Spurs the lead while Vicario, on his first appearance since November 23, repeatedly denied Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund.
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James Maddison scored the winner
In the battle of the Premier League’s two biggest underperformers this season, it was Spurs who looked like they could finally be on an upward curve as key players return from the treatment room after months of injury issues. They celebrated ending a seven-game wait for a league win on their patch and a third win over United across all competitions this term. It’s the first time since 1989/90 they’ve done that.
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Man Utd come close to taking the lead but for Vicario
Spurs are now up to 12th after back-to-back wins in the Premier League for just the second time this season – they also beat Brentford and United consecutively in September.
Amorim’s side had their chances – most glaringly when Garnacho blazed over when unmarked in the box and Joshua Zirkzee nodded wide – but out of possession were regularly stretched open.
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Alejandro Garnacho squandered a huge opportunity at an equaliser
With Amad Diallo likely out for the season, Manuel Ugarte, Kobbie Mainoo and Leny Yoro sidelined, and Victor Lindelof surrounded by teenagers without any Premier League experience on the bench, Amorim’s alternatives were severely limited. He didn’t make a sub until the 90th minute, underlining the point.
United languish 15th in the table and are in desperate need of a spark if they are to make a success of a season in which the FA Cup and Europa League – which also features Spurs – have become their priority. But a significant shift in their performances and results doesn’t appear imminent.
Redknapp: Man Utd devoid of confidence and quality
Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp:
“If you’re having a bad run and there’s a team you want to come to town, it’s Manchester United. They’re a team that’s struggling, devoid of confidence, devoid of quality with loads of injuries.
“Casemiro was the only sort of defensvive midfield player in there. They’re a team that’s really struggling now and there’s going to be a lot of pain with this team.
“They’re so short of top players. It’s going to take a lot of time and these performances are going to be coming thick and fast. They’re going to need time and patience, the problem is when you’re Manchester United, you don’t want to hear that. You want to be winning. You’re used to challenging.
“Zirkzee did alright today, he was a bit of a bright spark, but there weren’t too many others. A disappointing result and performance for them – a difficult watch if you’re a United fan.”
Postecoglou encouraged by Spurs performance
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou:
“[The result] was everything. Our league position is not anywhere near what it should be and today was an opportunity to start addressing that. We had a good week of training and had players back.
“We’ve had it tough the last few months, not for a lack of effort. It was important to gain some traction – we can play better and I think we will once we get the boys back up to speed.
“Our press was better. We made it hard for Man Utd to get out. We looked sharper but still lacked fluency in the final third. It was a decent effort.”
Amorim: My job at Man Utd is so hard
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim to Sky Sports:
“In the end, they scored, we didn’t. That was the big difference in the game. We had a lot of chances but in the end they scored one and we didn’t.
“The first step is to create situations. We have had games where we are around the box and not created situations. This game, we create situations. But in this game with two teams not doing well, one goal was always going to make the difference.
“You start with one idea. We were asking about a long week for so long. And we worked our principles but day after day you lose players that change your approach to the game. I could not play the same way with Joshua [Zirkzee] as I can with Amad [Diallo].
“Sometimes you want Bruno [Fernandes] to reach the ball in the build-up because he’s really good at switching the play. But then you want Bruno also to press and it’s really hard. And when you are changing all the time to get the players to react to the base, it’s really hard.
“4-4-2 in the low block is harder to play against this team than what we did today, that’s my opinion. They are so open and stretch the team. What you see guys and what you discuss every week, I also see. I have a lot of problems, my job is so, so hard here. But I stick with my beliefs.”
