Troubled Tottenham Undone By United

Manchester United came from behind to win 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium following a second-half collapse by Jose Mourinho’s Spurs.

Having taken a 40th-minute lead through Heung-min Son, Tottenham were swept aside after the interval as Fred, Edinson Cavani, and Mason Greenwood exploited the brittle home defence. This was the seventh time in this increasingly disappointing season that Spurs have failed to convert a half-time lead. It is also a sequence that has contributed to the North Londoners surrendering a staggering 18 points from winning positions as they have tumbled down the Premier League table.

Following last weekend’s draw with Newcastle, where Spurs had also been pegged back, Mourinho was at pains to divest himself of responsibility. Comparing the fragility of his current charges to the miserly defences of his previous successful teams, the Tottenham manager remarked: ‘same coach different players’. Here it was a case of different players, same coach, as Aurier and Dier came in from the cold to replace Tanganga and Sanchez. Long gone is Mourinho’s once stellar reputation for meticulously building impregnable back lines. His Tottenham rearguards increasingly resemble a Sunday League outfit where selection has been determined by who was first to grab a shirt from the kit bag.

Full-backs Reguilon and Aurier did offer some attacking impetus down the flanks early on as Spurs forced a series of corners and tried to assert themselves on United. But with the visitors content to contain, there was little by way of goalscoring opportunity in the opening half an hour.

Paul Pogba was fortunate to escape unpunished when the elbow he thrust into Serge Aurier’s face was deemed accidental by referee Chris Kavanagh. The official seemed similarly satisfied to allow Scott McTominay to play on after the rangy midfielder had batted off Son to launch a United attack in the 33rd minute. As the Tottenham forward lay on the floor clutching his face, the Scotland international exchanged passes with Fred before finding Pogba on the edge of the Spurs box. The thoroughbred Cavani’s stealthy run behind an oblivious Dier was matched by Pogba’s perfect pass, which allowed the Uruguayan striker to slide the ball past Lloris without breaking stride. The incensed Tottenham players surrounded the referee, who eventually received word from Stockley Park to review the goal. It was now United’s turn to feel aggrieved as Cavani’s strike was disallowed.

In short order, the visitors’ sense of injustice threatened to boil over as Spurs took the lead. Lo Celso started a sweeping move deep in his own half, craftily finding Ndombele with the outside of his boot. The Frenchman – who possess a passing range that could locate a wanted fugitive – sent a cleaving ball into Kane. The England captain deftly steered an instant pass beyond Lindelof to the onrushing Moura. Rather than shooting himself, the flying Brazilian pulled the ball across the six-yard box where Son was on hand to thump home past Dean Henderson.

The first half ended in fractious fashion, with players from both sides rattling into challenges while casting furtive glances towards the referee. The United players, however, regained their composure after the break and immediately seized the initiative. Pogba’s influence on the match grew with each minute that elapsed. Only alert defending from Rodon prevented the French World Cup winner from picking out Cavani with a low cross as the striker stalked the near post. On 55 minutes, Pogba escaped Aurier’s attentions and lofted a deep cross towards Wan-Bissaka. The right-back teed the ball up for McTominay on the edge of the area, whose powerful shot was beaten away by Lloris.

Moments later, United were level. Fred exchanged passes with Pogba at the base of the Tottenham area before slipping in Cavani. The forward’s shot for the far post was parried well by Lloris, but Fred had continued his run and snaffled the rebound.

Spurs almost restored their lead immediately as Aurier burst forward. His shot was blocked by Lindelof, the ball ricocheting to Son on the corner of the six-yard box. The Korean dipped inside Wan-Bissaka and fired for the bottom corner but was denied by Henderson’s jutting leg.

Responding to United’s dominance of the midfield since the restart, Mourinho attempted to buttress his side in that area of the pitch. Sissoko replaced Lo Celso on the hour. It did not work. Hojbjerg, who has struggled in recent weeks, gave up possession cheaply on the halfway line, allowing Fernandes an unobstructed path to the edge of the box. United’s talisman’s low strike looked destined for the far corner until Lloris, stretching every sinew, managed to fingertip the ball round the post.

The keeper, however, was powerless to prevent United from taking a thoroughly deserved lead on 78 minutes. Fernandes’s impudent nutmeg on Reguilon created space for substitute Mason Greenwood to tease an inswinging cross into the Spurs area. Dier and Aurier proved no match for Cavani, who ghosted between them to plant a diving header beyond Lloris.

Mourinho threw on Gareth Bale with nine minutes remaining in search of an equaliser. The Welshman dashed to meet Erik Lamela’s near-post corner but was beaten in the air by the jumping Pogba. The United man, however, could only flick the ball across the face of his own goal. Fortunately for him, Cavani managed to divert his teammate’s header onto the post and away to safety.

This was as close as Spurs came to salvaging a point, and in the sixth minute of injury-time, United sealed their victory with a third. Pogba effortlessly danced beyond the weary Hojbjerg to set Greenwood in for a shooting chance, which the youngster gleefully blasted beyond Lloris from close range.

With faint hopes of Champions League qualification all but extinguished by this result, there is a growing sense that the Tottenham manager has entered the end days of his tenure. The vibrancy of this United display – two seasons after their own painful parting with the Portuguese – may well have convinced Daniel Levy that there is life after Mourinho.