Fixture…
Sunday 16th February, 16:30
Tottenham Hotspur Vs Man Utd
Premier League
Available On…
UK TV – Sky Sports Main Event
UK TV – Sky Sports Premier League
Optus Sport
SuperSport Premier League
Result: 1-0 (Tottenham Win)
J. Maddison (13′)
Match Report…
The return of some key Spurs players proved to be the difference today in what was an important win between two giant clubs uncharacteristically scrapping for points at the bottom of the table.
It was one of those performances where you can interpret how you want, if you are a glass half full person you will look at the chances we created and say we could have won by more. However if you are more on the half empty side of things then you will have seen the gaping wide holes at the back and the chances Utd created without any great difficulty.
I’m trying to be fair and appreciate both opinions but you can’t ignore the fact we were up against a side struggling so much they are even below us in the table following that result. In Ruben Amorim’s post match interview he was asked about the result and his answer was clear, “they scored and we didn’t”. It may sound like stating the obvious but he is right, both teams had chances but only one was clinical on the day.
Don’t get me wrong, it was huge to get the three points and great to do the double over Utd this season (triple with the cup), but they are a struggling Utd side, with injuries of their own and a manager under even more pressure than Ange right now! You could spend all day dissecting Utd’s problems, their ageing midfielder Casemiro and defender Maguire, and striker Garnacho who obviously hasn’t been to specsavers.
Despite their struggles, Utd were still able to create far too many chances against us and had it not been for some heroic goalkeeping from Vicario, it could have been a different story. Nevertheless we have to acknowledge the flip side and when we had the ball, we did look dangerous, creating our share of opportunities as well.
Maddison was in the right place at the right time to silence his critics, who correct me if I’m wrong may have been aimed at Roy Keane the gob s£@te who in all fairness needs putting in his place! Djed Spence received the Man of the Match award and I don’t think too many people will argue with that one but it was the return of Vicario and Maddison that made the difference in my opinion in this close encounter.
Of course there was further positive news with Johnson, Odobert and Udogie all returning from injury and available on the bench. Whatever you may think of these players, the fact is we need them to bolster the squad, especially if we wish to dream of the impossible!