Manchester United produced a performance that was instantly recognised as “the best yet” under Erik ten Hag in last night’s 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.
The Dutch coach got off to a slow start at Old Trafford, leading United to back-to-back defeats against Brighton and Brentford in his first two matches in charge. But there’s been swift progress since then, with statement-making victories over top-four rivals Liverpool, Arsenal and now Tottenham.
United came racing out of the traps, producing a dominant first-half performance against the visitors. They peppered Hugo Lloris’ goal with shots in the opening 45 minutes but went into the break level, having not been clinical enough.
But they started the second half in a similar manner and eventually made their superiority count. Fred opened the scoring in the 47th minute with a deflected strike, and midway through the second half Bruno Fernandes doubled the hosts’ lead by putting a superb finish to an incisive counter-attack.
From there, United saw out their well-deserved two-goal advantage professionally and comfortably. Spurs barely laid a glove on Ten Hag’s side, who played with energy, intensity and dedication throughout.
Unused substitute Cristiano Ronaldo stole some of the headlines by flouncing down the touchline before the final whistle, but it failed to dampen a buoyant mood at Old Trafford.
“Against a solid and magnificent Tottenham, we have played and performed very well,” United boss Ten Hag said after the match (via Manchester United’s official site).
“Today was a brilliant performance. We scored two goals and I think we should have scored three or four goals. I’m pleased with the team – it was the best team performance so far this season.
“You can see today that we are developing. We are getting better every time on the pitch. It was enjoyable to see this.”
His opposite number agreed about United’s quality on the night.
“I think the game, United deserved to win. They played a really good game and in this sort of game our level has to be high but we need to improve a lot to try to be better than today,” Spurs manager Antonio Conte told reporters in his post-match press conference.
“United played better than us and created better chances than us. In the pitch we put will and desire but we have to know at this level we have to try to improve and be better because the level was high today and United showed today they were much better than us.
“United…
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