(Football news) Manchester United’s attacking prowess was on full display as the hosts overcame Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Old Trafford. The scoreline flatters Antonio Conte’s team as it could have easily been 4 or 5-0 if the Red Devils were more clinical in front of goal. Fred scored the opening goal in the 47th minute when his deflected strike which came off Ben Davies struck the back of the net. Bruno Fernandes then doubled the advantage in the 69th minute in what can be considered to be the club’s best performance since Erik ten Hag’s arrival.
The Red Devils thoroughly outplayed Spurs with Hugo Lloris being the only reason the scoreline didn’t exceed the two goals they conceded. While the result didn’t affect the league standings as Tottenham remained in third place while Manchester United is fifth, it was a very convincing display by the Red Devils who look to have made significant progress since their poor start to the season. Such was Manchester United’s attacking display that the team had 19 shots in the first half, the most by any team in the Premier League this season and the most the club have managed since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. One of the talking points of the match was Cristiano Ronaldo walking off down the tunnel late in the game, presumably upset at not having featured in the match after being an unused substitute.
When asked about Ronaldo walking off, Ten Hag said “I don't pay attention to that, I will deal with that tomorrow. I want to keep the focus on the team. It was magnificent from all 11 players. I have to correct myself. It was also a performance from the substitutes who came on. Once again, it was a squad performance. I think what we have seen is 11 players who defend and 11 who attack. I was pleased. Against Tottenham, you need good pressing, good counter-pressing, from there you can create chances. So you need good pressing players. Offensive wise you need that dynamic. That is what Marcus brings. We saw that from the last 20 minutes against Newcastle, when it changed the game and all the players got the benefit of it."
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte said “You can lose this type of game but at the same time we have to show much more. I think we can do much more than today. We have to be honest and say United deserved to win, they started well and created chances to score. Instead, on our side, we didn't start the game. It was really difficult also because we made a lot of simple mistakes. I have to be honest, this was not the first time for us this season. The table is good but every time we play a high-level game we struggle. Against Chelsea we drew, but we have to be honest. Against Arsenal we lost. Today against United we lost. For sure, when the level is high we are going to struggle. This means we have to continue to work to improve. Sometimes I hear we are title contenders. I think we need time. In 11 months you cannot pass from ninth place to a year later title contenders."
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