Tottenham Hotspur secured their first victory under Ange Postecoglou in form of a deserved 2-0 victory over Manchester United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
Pape Matar Sarr and Lisandro Martinez’s own goal were enough for Spurs to overcome United in a game that had numerous chances. Both those two goals came after the break following a chaotic opening half.
Despite losing, it’s was United who began on the front foot – using their pace upfront to test Vicario in the Spurs goal.
Garnacho had his effort comfortably saved by the Spurs goalkeeper, before the summer signing from Empoli produced an even better save a few minutes later to deny Marcus Rashford from breaking the deadlock.
After the opening 10 minutes ,on the other end, Andre Onana got his first test when Dejan Kulusevski drilled a low shot on target but the goalkeeper was able to save it.
After that, United had two chances to get a goal but were unlucky. Bruno Fernandes made a brilliant unnoticed run into the box to head wide while Varane had his header tipped over the bar by Vicario.
As the opening half was edging to a close, Spurs almost took the lead on two occasions, only to be denied by the woodwork. First, right-back Pedro Porro smashed his long-range shot against the crossbar before Sarr’s deflected shot off Shaw agonizingly clipped the post.
With the first half having ended goalless, Spurs made a bright start to the second period as they got rewarded just four minutes after the break when Sarr made a run into the box to volley beyond Onana to get the game’s first goal. Kulusevski was crucial in the build-up to that goal as it was his cross that got a deflection off Martinez to fall into Sarr’s path.
After that goal, Spurs continued to attack United’s goal and got a chance to double their lead but Onana was alert to deny Destiny Odogie.
On the other end, United tried to find a leveller soon afterwards, but again, Vicario made a world-class save to deny Casemiro, who headed from close range following a Fernandez free-kick.
The next minutes of the game were dull until Postecoglou made a double change to bring on Ivan Perisic and Ben Davis. for Udogie and Richarlison. The brought-on pair combined for Spur’s second. Perisic made use of the free space on the left wing to curl in a low cross into the box which was met by Davis, who helped it on its way to be deflected past Onana and into the back of the net by Martinez.
With the introduction of Anthony Martial and Facundo Pellistri, United tried to pull a goal back in the closing moments of the game but that wasn’t possible as Spurs defended well to deny all the Red’s attacks.
With the loss, United’s poor away record continues as they have won only eight times on the road in the Premier League since Erik Ten Hag was appointed in 2022.
For Spurs, they have ended their winless run against Manchester United, which lasted for five games before today.
