Summary
Well that was a heady dose of nostalgia, wasn’t it? Manchester United, fluid and incisive, looking every inch their former selves, and took Tottenham apart in the first half. Time and time again, Tottenham were carved open down their right-hand side. Poor Kyle Walker, he had a torrid afternoon.
Louis van Gaal said pre-match that “For us, reaching the Champions League this season is like a title.” Manchester United now have a five-point lead over Liverpool in fifth place, and as long as LVG plays four at the back and leaves Di Maria out the team (...) they should be just fine.
Tottenham have fallen to seventh behind Southampton, following Saints’ draw at Chelsea. They were awful today, and took 88 minutes to have a shot on target. Kane didn’t have hit best game, but he had no support going forward. Pochettino should shoulder most of the game: tactically, Tottenham got it all wrong.
Thanks for your emails, tweets and goal celebrations – it’s been a hoot. Bye!
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Full-time: Manchester United 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur
All the work was done in the first half.
90 min: Two minutes to be added here.
This is my favourite suggestion of today. Hat-tip Mark Shannon.
88 min: Chance for Kane! It’s the only real chance Tottenham have created. Kane, who is now playing on the right wing now Adebayor is up top, finds some space inside United’s box. From a narrow angle, he fires low and hard from close range, but De Gea makes sure it doesn’t slip under him. Good save.
86 min: Final change for United, Rafael coming on for Carrick. Van Gaal has taken off this three best players today.
Rafael scored this for Manchester United’s Under-21 team this week.
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84 min: Priority for United now seems to be keeping a clean sheet. United are forced to defend a succession of corners and crosses, with Wayne Rooney twice heading clear. Whilst they haven’t set the world on fire this second half, you have to applaud United’s game management, they’ve seen it through well.
82 min: Falcao comes on for Fellaini, and like Mata, he receives a shedload of cheering and applause.
Oh, and this is cute.
81 min: Tottenham get forward through Rose, who delivers a low cross. It misses everyone and Eriksen picks the ball up. He should shoot, but instead crosses weakly, and Jones clears. Eriksen hasn’t looked interested today.
If we’re talking self-deprecation and Spurs, then...
79 min: Spurs also make a change. Adebayor on for Chadli. Adebayor scored in this fixture last season remember, getting the opener in Tottenham’s 2-1 win. A rare appearance for him this season.
77 min: Pereira, a young 19-year-old, comes on for Mata, who receives a standing ovation. You get the feeling that the United fans want to love the Spaniard, even if he hasn’t performed to his full potential since his move from Chelsea.
74 min: This time it’s Walker who is the latest to lose his cool, and he careers into Young, who was going nowhere. It wasn’t malicious, but he really should be booked for that. Instead Clattenburg just has a quiet word.
71 min: Rose is booked for clattering Herrera. He’s obviously getting frustrated, and hasn’t had any chance to bomb forward, something he normally does so effectively. The cross is swung in, with Tottenham defending zonally, which allows Fellaini a full run at the ball, but Dier wins it well.
68 min: Tottenham have had just two touches in the Manchester United area, and their best chance was from a loose Phil Jones backpass. Not exactly inspiring stuff, even if they have looked a little better this side of half-time.
A few of you have flagged Robbie Fowler’s celebration, and Gazza’s dentist chair, but easily the most popular celebration in my inbox is Luis Suarez’s against Everton, after David Moyes had accused the Uruguayan of diving.
65 min: Blind has the freedom of this left flank once more. He whips a brilliant ball in, Dier gets his head on it, but can only flick it onto Herrera at the back post. The Spaniard takes a touch, and fires a fierce shot goalwards, but it goes just wide of the post, hitting the near-post side netting.
63 min: Ryan Mason has come off for Lamela. Perhaps he will provide Blind with more of a test than Townsend did on that right-hand side.
Obviously.
@michaelbutler18 This was epic from Jimmy Bullard. pic.twitter.com/YajZcQMC0L
— P S Parameswaran (@psparameswaran) March 15, 2015
60 min: After an enthralling first half, this has been pretty turgid stuff since the break. Tottenham have nullified United, and there have been no chances. Tactically, it’s been better, but we’s prefer goals and chaos, please.
56 min: Tottenham have steadied the ship, now Bentaleb is man-marking danger-man Fellaini. United are struggling for fluency, and Mata has gone back to being quiet, but they are 3-0 up...
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54 min: Kane miscontrols it, slips and then falls over completely. It’s not happening for him out there today.
52 min: Tottenham are pressing United really high up the pitch, but Blind, Smalling and De Gea show no small amount of composure to pass the ball out. Just shows what a bit of confidence can do for you.
50 min: Tottenham have actually started the half well, dominating possession. United seem happy enough for them to have the ball for the moment.
“We’re gonna win 4-3! We’re gonna win 4-3!” chant the Spurs faithful. Fair play to those fans, they’re being very vocal in the away section. Not sure what that says for the atmosphere in Old Trafford.
47 min: Dembele has the second half’s first chance, latching onto a Danny Rose cross, but, from 20 yards out, he skies his shot a good 30 yards over the bar.
@michaelbutler18 It's gotta be Bellamy's golfing. Just pips Wazza for the ultimate piss-taking.
— Drew Kenfield (@philosofootball) March 15, 2015
Bellamy allegedly used a golf club to attack his team-mate John Arne Riise, whilst at Liverpool. You can read about the incident here.
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Peeeep! And we’re off again.
After that Rooney masterpiece, what is your favourite ever celebration? Preferably I’d like self-deprecating ones, but I’ll take whatever. Email michael.butler@theguardian.com or tweet me @michaelbutler18.
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I wonder how Di Maria is feeling right now. Manchester United have been at their fluent best without him.
“Putting Rooney and Fellaini up front and dropping the old-timers Falcao and RVP is the way forward, it seems”, writes Mark Turner. “All this time, and it turns out the Everton Feeder Club strategy was the right one. Moyes In!”
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Half-time: Manchester United 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur
‘Glory-glory Man United’ plays through the PA, as the players trudge off for their oranges.
1984 - Manchester United have not lost a league home game after leading at half-time since May 1984 (1-2 vs Ipswich). Over.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 15, 2015
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44 min: Spurs have resorted to lumping it long to Kane, who is completely outnumbered. The latest clearance simply hits Kane on the back, and bounces straight to Valencia, who starts another United attack.
41 min: We’re nearly at the half-way mark and I don’t think I’ve mentioned Eriksen once. Until now. He’s not been in the game at all.
If this were a boxing match they'd have stopped it by now.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) March 15, 2015
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39 min: Louis van Gaal is visibly smug on the United bench, and why not? Is this what happens when you play 4-4-2 Louis?
As a Tottenham fan I´m somehow not surprised by that they day we take on United is the day they get their sh*t together”, writes Matthew Carpenter-Arevalo. “I guess this is what Jonathan Wilson would call “regression to the mean.”
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35 min: Spurs somehow need to get a hold on this game, they are being completely overrun. They are making Fellaini look like Michael Laudrup out there. The big Belgian has all the time in the world to take the ball down and pick out Rooney, who fires wide from around the penalty spot.
“Absolutely abysmal from Spurs. Embarrassing,” emails Spurs fan Mike Nagle.
It’s either mesmeric dribbling from Rooney, suicidal defending from Tottenham, or a combination of the two. Rooney picks the ball up 40 yards from goal and makes a beeline for the goal. He bumps off Rose, feints right and jinks left to dribble past Dier and finishes calmly past Lloris. 3-0!
“Goal celebration of the year,” says Mark Turner. He’s not wrong, that was a genuine LOL moment. His acting unconscious was pretty good, too. Better acting that this, anyway.
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GOAL! Manchester United 3-0 Tottenham (Rooney 33)
What a goal! Rooney celebrates by shadow boxing, before falling to the floor, pretending to be unconscious. Ha. Good lad.
30 min: Half an hour gone and Pochettino has seen enough. Townsend, who rather than troubling Blind, has failed to give Walker any kind of protection on that right. He is given the hook for Dembele.
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28 min: Tottenham get their first sustained bit of possession, but they can’t seem to get the ball anywhere near Kane. Carrick is playing very well in front of the defence to close the space.
“Spurs fans, don’t despair!” implores Peter Oh. “When Harry Kane hauls you level, singing the LL Cool J lyric “don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years!” will be all the more satisfying.”
25 min: I never thought that I’d write this, but Fellaini is proving a real threat in behind. United counter-attack and Fellaini races clear of the defence, but he’s forced wide. He gets his head up and crosses for Mata, who is sprinting into the box at breakneck speed. He’s got a tap in … no, great challenge from the retreating Rose.
“This is the best Fellaini has played in a Manchester United shirt,” utters Gary Neville.
24 min: More United play down their left, more joy. Young and Walker become embroiled in a foot-race, with the United winger just beating Tottenham’s man to the ball. They go shoulder-to-shoulder and Young goes down … free kick. Fellaini, Smalling and Young are in the box, but the free-kick is cleared.
21 min: Walker is being completely trodden on down that right-hand side. Rooney, Young, Blind and Mata are all taking it in turns to roast the England full-back. This time it’s Rooney who again gets to the byline, but again his cut back is met by nobody. Tottenham living dangerously here, one more goal and you would think the game is dead.
Mata swings a Manchester United corner to the back post, and Dier is helpless as Fellaini gets above him to head goalwards. His effort is blocked, with the ball spinning up into the air. It drops right into Carrick’s path, who himself sends a precise header into the far corner, out of the reach of both Lloris and Townsend, who had just come off the post from the corner. Carrick generated all the pace there, great header from about 10 yards out.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 Tottenham (Carrick 19)
An assist and now a goal for Carrick!
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13 min: Mata has also started the game well, reminiscent of his Chelsea days. He clips a clever reverse pass to Rooney, who is leading the line well. This is like we’ve got back in time to 2011?!
As a Man Utd fan I probably shouldn’t be doing this, but my song suggestions for Spurs supporters would be a bit different,” writes Jerry Parks. “If you want to keep the same R&B/Hip Hop feel, I’d suggest the Little Wayne/Nicki Minaj hit “Knockout”. For the older crowd, there’s of course Pat Benatar’s classic “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” My personal choice, however, would be Britney Spears’ anthemic “Hit Me Baby One More Time”. I know if I were a multimillionaire footballer with a bad hair transplant and poor pugilistic decision-making skills the last thing I’d want to hear is ironic 90s pop lyrics.”
11 min: It’s all United here, as Mata spreads the play to Young. The English winger has looked bright so far, and he backheels a clever pass to release Blind to the byline. Blind crosses, but Rose does well to beat Fellaini at the back post.
It’s great play from United, but horrible defending from Tottenham. Spurs allow Carrick far too much room in the middle of the park, and Verthonghen is forced to step out, leaving a large amount of space in behind. Carrick sees this, and slips a lovely weighted ball into Fellaini. It’s on the Belgian’s weaker left, but he shows considerable quality in thwacking the ball into the far corner, with Dier in close attention. Not a bad celebration either, with Fellaini doing a good Phil Bardsley impression, punching the air. He’s fired up!
@michaelbutler18 Surely only a matter of time until Spurs were undone by the pace of Fellaini #MNUTOT
— Allan Castle (@allan_castle) March 15, 2015
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GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Tottenham (Fellaini 9)
Fellaini scores! With one of his feet!!!
7 min: Young, standing on the left touchline, helps a clever ball on for Rooney, who is playing as a central striker today. Rooney races to the byline and cuts the ball back, but it’s just behind Mata and Bentaleb is able to clear. Great chance!
4 min: From the corner the ball is sent into the near post area. It runs all the way through a crowd of bodies to Kane with his back to goal, but the striker can’t get it under control and Fellaini is able to hack clear. Nervy opening moment for United!
3 min: Another Jones error! And but for the quickness of mind and foot of De Gea, he would have scored a terrible own goal! Under no pressure whatsoever, Jones mullers his backpass but it’s nowhere near where De Gea wanted it, and was creeping into the near post before De Gea got a desperate toe to send the ball behind for a corner.
1 min: Jones nearly makes a very costly mistake, taking a heavy touch and nearly allowing Mason to pinch the ball, but a slide tackle helps him recover. As at Southampton last season, Pochettino’s teams press the ball excellently, that’s exactly the kind of situation which Tottenham will look to exploit.
Peeeep! And we’re off!
It looks as though Daley Blind is going to be playing at left-back/wing-back today in a back four. A back four! Whatever next. Van Gaal’s tinkering continues. You really get the sense that he has no idea what his strongest team is. Not that anybody else does. Tottenham on the other hand are very consistent in their line-up: 27 of the last 29 matches, they have been exactly the same.
Blind will be marking Townsend today, who has the pace to beat the Dutchman to the byline. That battle should be interesting.
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“I’m a die hard Arsenal fan,” writes Vance Williams, “but even I will give those Spurs fans mad kudos if they serenade Wayne with a song to the tune of LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out.”
Any excuse to post a bit of LL. Enjoy.
Tottenham-wise, much of the credit this season has gone to Harry Kane, and rightly so, but can we also give it up for both Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb. The young central midfield duo set the tempo on which the entire Spurs team run. Their combative, clever and have bags of energy. Mason’s eye for a pass is excellent too, I would not be surprised if he joins Kane in earning an international call up for England later this month.
Well this should be interesting. If Louis van Gaal doesn’t count Rooney as a striker any more, which he has alluded to in the past, Manchester United have named a team without any strikers. Fellaini looks as though he’ll again be the lightning rod for United’s long-ball game.
Angel Di Maria is suspended, after his red card against Arsenal. Juan Mata comes into the team at his expense.
“For us, reaching the Champions League this season is like a title,” says Louis van Gaal in his pre-match interview.
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Team news
Manchester United: De Gea, Valencia, Jones, Smalling, Young, Carrick, Ander Herrera, Blind, Mata, Fellaini, Rooney.
Subs: Da Silva, Falcao, Januzaj, Lindegaard, Blackett, Pereira, Wilson.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose, Bentaleb, Mason, Townsend, Eriksen, Chadli, Kane.
Subs: Chiriches, Paulinho, Adebayor, Lamela, Vorm, Dembele, Davies.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)
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It’s getting to that stage in the season where each result seems to have far-reaching consequences. Manchester City losing? They’ll never win the league now. Aston Villa winning 4-0 you say? They’ll definitely stay up. Tactics Tim is a genius!
It may be a tad premature for this to be mooted, but if Tottenham lose today at Manchester United, it’s probable that they will fail to qualify for the Champions League. If that is the case, Daniel Levy and co might have a long summer fending off interest in Hugo Lloris and Christian Eriksen.
However, Tottenham’s recent history in this fixture is encouraging– they travel to Old Trafford today looking for their third successive win. Prior to 29 September 2012, Tottenham had visited Old Trafford 26 times and not won a single game but after enjoying just 25% of possession, they came away with a 3-2 win, thanks to a Jonny Evans own goal, a Gareth Bale solo effort and a Clint Dempsey tap-in. A season later on 2014’s New Year’s Day, Tactics Tim masterminded a 2-1 victory. There are lots of reasons why Old Trafford is no longer the fortress it once was – the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, the fact that Antonio Valencia is still playing at right-back among them – but it is no longer a place to be feared.
As with this preamble’s league predictions, broad brush strokes have long been applied to a post-Fergie Manchester United. The facts remain: they have a very strong team with a vastly experienced manager. They are lacking in confidence but if they are on their game, should win today.
We’ll see which United shows up today.
Kick-off: 4pm GMT
