Ranking Manchester United's 5 best players against Tottenham Hotspur| Premier League 2021-22
Cristiano Ronaldo rolled back the years to score a mesmerizing hat-trick and fire Manchester United to a crucial 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday. The win in their Premier League matchday 29 fixture saw the Red Devils climb back into the top-four, leaving rivals Tottenham in seventh place.
Having endured a harrowing 4-1 defeat to reigning champions Manchester City in their previous outing, Ralf Rangnick's side needed a positive showing against Spurs. In front of a packed Old Trafford, United’s majestic No.7 made sure they returned to winning ways in the most sublime fashion.
After weathering Tottenham's attack in the opening minutes, Manchester United pulled ahead in the 12th minute, courtesy of Ronaldo’s sublime strike from range. The visitors pushed hard to equalize and eventually restored parity just after the half-hour mark through a penalty.
Alex Telles handled Dejan Kulusevski’s cross inside the United box and the referee had no choice but to point to the spot. Spurs’ talisman Harry Kane stepped up to bury the chance from the resultant spot kick.
Three minutes after Spurs’ equalizer, United once again put their noses ahead. This time, the Portuguese show-stopper applied the finishing touch from close range, giving Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris no chance whatsoever.
A Harry Maguire own goal put the north Londoners back on level terms with 20 minutes left on the clock. Thankfully for the hosts, they had a certain Cristiano Ronaldo in their ranks, who took it upon himself to be their messiah on Saturday.
In the 81st minute, he rose to meet Alex Telles’ inswinging corner, slotting his thumping header past Lloris to help United win the game.
On that front, here are five Manchester United players who proved their mettle against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday:
#5 Alex Telles
United left-back Alex Telles conceded a penalty just past the half-hour mark on Saturday evening. However, the Brazilian refused to let that mistake define his game.
He pushed hard to turn his fortunes around and ultimately produced the goods in the final stretch of the match.
🏻 We fought until the end and we achieved a great result. Congrats to the whole team. Now it's time to rest and start preparing for tuesday. thanks for everyone's support! 
🏻 See you next week 
@ManUtd
What an energy! 🙏🏻 We fought until the end and we achieved a great result. Congrats to the whole team. Now it's time to rest and start preparing for tuesday. thanks for everyone's support! 🙌🏻 See you next week 🔥 @ManUtd https://t.co/hqmgbS5Gx2
His corner-kick delivery to Ronaldo in the 81st minute was sublime and more than made amends for the handball incident.
Apart from assisting Ronaldo’s third goal, Telles produced two key passes, won five ground duels, and attempted two tackles.
#4 Nemanja Matic
Despite not being in the thick of things this season, former Chelsea star Nemanja Matic produced a sublime performance on Saturday evening. He was calm and collected on the ball, rarely giving it away, which allowed Pogba and Fred to be more adventurous going forward.
The 33-year-old also produced an inch-perfect ball for Sancho in the build-up to United's second goal.
A decent CDM will automatically elevate this team.
It's evident how much we improve whenever Matic plays.
Against Spurs, Matic completed 42 passes with 95 percent accuracy, won two tackles, registered six recoveries, and only lost possession four times.
An industrious outing from the Serb.