Fred (centre) celebrates taking Manchester United 1-0 up against Spurs (Picture: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Manchester United 2-0 Tottenham
Manchester United moved within a point of the top four after a convincing 2-0 victory over Tottenham at Old Trafford which seemed to undermine suggestions Antonio Conte’s side could be title challengers this season.
Fred and Bruno Fernandes were on target for United in the second half but their margin of victory would have been far greater but for a string of good saves from goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
United had been the better side in the first half and although the nature of their opening goal two minutes after the restart was fortunate, there could be no doubt Erik ten Hag’s men fully deserved their breakthrough.
After a smart move down the right, Jadon Sancho rolled the ball back to Fred whose shot did not look particularly fierce, but a diversion off the oustretched boot of Ben Davies gave Lloris no chance.
Spurs offered precious little so it was ironic that a missed chance from Harry Kane provided the catalyst for United to double their lead midway through the second period.
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This time Fred provided the assist with a pass back to Fernandes, who lashed a first-time strike beyond the Tottenham goalkeeper.
Fernandes had a breakaway goal ruled out for a marginal offside during a final ten minutes that saw Conte make five substitutions but by then the game was long out of Spurs’ reach.
United get a chance to move into the top four on Saturday when they visit Chelsea, who drew 0-0 at Brentford.
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Manchester United 2-0 Tottenham.