Tottenham hosted Manchester United in the top flight of English football at Wembley on Sunday evening. Both teams were looking for the win, as it would bolster their ambitions for the current campaign. Spurs wanted to win this home game to keep their title race alive, while the Red Devils were keen on ensuring that they would remain in the hunt for a top four finish.
The two teams did not disappoint with regards to a quick game of flowing football, though it was the visitors that took the lead from a Kieran Trippier error. Paul Pogba played one of the passes of the season to release Marcus Rashford, who controlled the ball and placed it into the corner, beating Lloris to score the only goal of the game.
There were many chances for the two teams to score, though they failed to capitalize on them. On the other hand, for the north London giants it can be said, the wall in front of goal aka David De Gea, did not let them through.
The Spaniard made some brilliant saves to keep the opposition attack out and was surely the man-of-the-match, with 11 saves in total. If anyone had a doubt as to who the best goalie in the Premier League is, not anymore. It rarely happens that the Londoners fail to score and this was one such night, all thanks to Big Dave.
Here are the talking points of this match-
5. Pogba- the midfield magician
The Frenchman manager to create a gorgeous chance for Rashford to finish off, out of a nothing move. Though Trippier did give away the ball cheaply, there move only happened as the former Juventus man played the perfect pass for his team-mate. Had it possibly been anyone else, they would have probably lacked the vision to find the England international so perfectly, that all he had to do was take a few steps and shoot.
4. Sissoko injury
The injury to Sissoko forced Pochettino to change his tactics a bit, as he brought on Lamela, far before he would have actually liked to. The Tottenham boss did not have any more cards to play and this did have an impact on the way that his team eventually played. Though Sissoko is not a goal-scorer and Lamela is, the former does have an impact in midfield and could have influenced the game more than his team-mate did.
Lamela is a quality player too, but he is generally used best as a super-sub and this was not something that he would have been expecting too.
3. Spurs’ inability to finish off the chances created
Spurs got a lot of chance and though credit has to be given to United for keeping their calm and also to De Gea for his superb saves, it is also true that some of the chances that they got, should have been finished off. Any other game, any other time, there were at least 3-4 goals that the hosts would have scored. However, it was just not meant to be this time, as they failed to open the scoring.
Song, Alli, Kane and the others looked a little rusty and possibly tired too, though there is no excuse for their inability to add to their tally.
2. The Red Devils were the better side on the night
United were the better team on the night and manager Solskjaer would have been proud of the way that his team kept their nerve. Pogba also had a good chance to add to his tally, though failed to finish it off. The defending was better than before and though they needed De Gea to save them quite a few times, the overall play was better than Spurs.
1. David De Gea, the best keeper in the world
The difference maker in the game. He made some really good saves to deny some of the Spurs’ players, who were trying their best to equalize. Going to Wembley away from home and keeping a clean-sheet is now an achievement that any goalie would be proud of.
Also, Lloris should have also saved the goal that went in, as he got his hand to Rashford’s shot. Had it been De Gea at the other end, things would have surely been different, it can be said.
