WEMBLEY WOE FOR MOURINHO
Spurs hand out a sorry beating to leave Jose under fire SPURS ......................... 2 MAN UNITED .............. 0
THERE have been some wonderful highs in Jose Mourinho’s career but this will go down as one of his all-time lows.
Spurs humiliated United with as comprehensive a beating as the Portuguese manager has suffered during his 18-month reign at Old Trafford.
The home side were fabulous as Christian Eriksen’s quick-fire 11 second strike and a Phil Jones own goal sealed it but it could have been more.
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino said: “It’s a fantastic dressing room after a fantastic display.
“The early goal was good so we could dominate the game. That gave us more confidence and belief.”
Spurs’ lightning start indeed knocked United out of their stride.
It came from a big punt forward, Harry Kane beat Phil Jones in the air, Dele Alli was blocked off by Chris Smalling and the ball squirmed free for Eriksen.
The Danish midfielder raced in, had time to pick his spot and steered the ball past David de Gea.
It was the fastest goal of the season but not as fast as Ledley King’s quickest in Premier League history after just 10 seconds against Bradford in 2000.
United showed some fighting spirit at first through Alexis Sanchez. He made a terrific run, found Paul Pogba and his pass put in Jesse Lingard but Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris was off his line like a flash to block.
He then nearly set up Anthony Martial but Spurs raced up the other end and Alli wasted a great chance to put Heung-Min Son clear through.
Nemanja Matic offered his defence no protection and the only time you really noticed Pogba was when gaffer Mourinho was giving him a rollicking by the touchline.
Spurs got a deserved second goal after 28 minutes. Kieran Trippier burst forward down the right, put in a low cross and Jones got his positioning wrong and mis-kicked into his own net.
Spurs should have had a penalty three minutes later when Trippier found Alli, he was upended by Antonio Valencia and yet ref Andre Marriner waved away the appeals. The TV replays showed it was a spot-kick. Oh for VAR.
Mourinho stormed down the tunnel on 43 minutes but United were not much better after the break. Kane, Alli and Son had openings.
The final humiliation came for Pogba when the £89million midfielder got hooked and yet Marouane Fellaini came on but was also subbed on 70 minutes.
United were a mess, Spurs on a different level and this defeat will leave Mourinho worrying about a top-four place.
He said: “Both goals were ridiculous goals. For a team to win matches it needs to score goals and also defend well – on this occasion we were very bad.”