Premier League 2019/20: Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur - 5 talking points
Jose Mourinho’s big return to Old Trafford ended on a sour note tonight, as his Tottenham Hotspur team were defeated 2-1 by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United. It was a strangely flat showing from Spurs that felt more reminiscent of the later reign of Mauricio Pochettino than any of the three games under Mourinho thus far, while for United, this represented a big improvement on their weekend draw with Aston Villa.
Marcus Rashford opened the scoring on 6 minutes, capitalizing on a defensive error from Davinson Sanchez to fire the ball past an unaware Paulo Gazzaniga at the near post. Tottenham were under the cosh for the majority of the first half, but somehow conjured a goal from nothing when Dele Alli was able to flick the ball between Fred and Ashley Young before turning to volley home.
The second half saw Rashford win a penalty after a poor challenge from Moussa Sissoko, and the England international dispatched with ease. From there Tottenham huffed and puffed, but simply couldn’t break United down.
Here are 5 talking points from the match.
1. Has this win saved Solskjaer’s job?
Coming into this match, Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was under immense pressure. His side were disappointing at Old Trafford at the weekend, drawing with Aston Villa 2-2 in a game they could easily have lost, and with Mauricio Pochettino now looking for a new job, a bad loss here could easily have pushed the Norwegian over the edge and out of the hotseat.
Thankfully for the United legend, his side delivered one of their best performances to date tonight. From the very start of the game they were the more aggressive side, harrying and chasing Spurs every time the away side had the ball, and when they attacked, United looked full of menace with Marcus Rashford appearing to be capable of scoring at any time.
The Red Devils might’ve been edged out when it came to possession – 46% to Tottenham’s 54% - but they had more shots, more attempts on target and generally looked like a side who were more up for the game.
Judging by this, United’s players are all behind Solskjaer with no exceptions. Perhaps he really does need more time after all.
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