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Manchester United came from behind to beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 in a Premier League clash this afternoon.
The win puts Manchester United in a strong position for Champions League qualification, while Tottenham will once again be left scratching their heads after throwing yet another lead away.
Manchester United saw a goal disallowed in the first half for a contentious foul from Scott McTominay in the build-up, and a few minutes later, Tottenham were ahead through Son Heung-min.
But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side turned up the heat in the second half, and goals from Fred, Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood were enough to hand them all three points.
On that note, let’s have a look at the ratings for the players of both teams in this game.
Tottenham Hotspur
Hugo Lloris – 7.5/10
Hugo Lloris had a solid game in goal for Tottenham. He made an excellent save from Bruno Fernandes in the second half and also saved well from Edinson Cavani before Fred converted the rebound. The Frenchman could do nothing about any of United’s goals.
Serge Aurier – 5/10
Serge Aurier enjoyed one of his best games in a Tottenham shirt when they beat United 1-6 in October but struggled today. He looked okay going forward but was questionable from a positional standpoint on numerous occasions and lost Cavani badly for his diving header in the second half.
Eric Dier – 6/10
Eric Dier didn’t look too bad for Tottenham in this game. He repelled a number of United’s attacks, was solid in the air and made a crucial block from Paul Pogba’s attempted back-heel flick in the second half. However, the England man was too static for Fred’s goal and failed to track the run of Cavani for his goal, too.
Joe Rodon – 6/10
Joe Rodon essentially replicated the performance of his defensive partner Eric Dier. He made a decent number of blocks, and his passing looked good with a 94% success rate. However, he lacked movement and awareness for Cavani’s disallowed goal and his actual goal while also being too static when Fred scored.
Sergio Reguilon – 5.5/10
Tottenham's Sergio Reguilon failed to make an impact going forward in this game. The Spaniard got into numerous attacking positions, but his crosses almost always failed to reach their target. Reguilon was also left open by United’s attack on his side of the pitch too.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 6/10
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg put in his usual energetic shift for Tottenham in this match. He won more tackles (5) than any other player on the pitch and his passing was generally good. But the lack of movement ahead of him meant that he could not be overly progressive in possession.
Tanguy Ndombele – 6/10
Tanguy Ndombele showed a couple of touches of class, moving the ball forward from tight areas. One touch in the second half eventually set up a decent chance for Tottenham that went to waste. However, he ran out of steam late on and failed to really make an impact on proceedings before he was substituted.
Giovani Lo Celso – 5.5/10
Giovani Lo Celso looked excellent for Tottenham in the early going of the game, making a couple of great sliding challenges, and in fact, he ended his game with a 100% tackle success rate. However, the Argentine failed to make an impact from a creative standpoint and was substituted right after United found their equalizer.
Lucas Moura – 6/10
Lucas Moura worked hard for Tottenham in this match and attempted to give Luke Shaw some problems on United’s left side. He also set up Son Heung-min’s goal with a piece of wonderfully unselfish play. However, Moura also ran down too many blind alleys and was wasteful in possession at times despite getting into some strong positions.
Harry Kane – 5/10
Harry Kane attempted to drop deep and spray passes to his fellow attackers, but in general, Tottenham lacked quality in their attacks today. In the second half, the England captain was forced to feed off scraps, and while he did have one decent attempt on goal, it was well saved by Dean Henderson. With just one shot on target, this was one of Kane’s more ineffective matches.
Son Heung-min – 6/10
Son Heung-min took his goal well and threatened United’s defense throughout the game. However, he also failed to track Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s attacking runs and often left Sergio Reguilon painfully exposed at the back. Son did end the game with a 90% pass success rate, but like Kane was left feeding off scraps for the majority of the game.
Substitutes
Moussa Sissoko – 3/10
Moussa Sissoko entered the game for Tottenham right after Fred equalized, and quite why Jose Mourinho made such a defensive substitution was always confusing. Sissoko then had a stinker, giving the ball away cheaply to allow United to set up Cavani’s goal. The Frenchman was also booked late on.
Erik Lamela – 4/10
Erik Lamela was brought on with about 15 minutes to go to inject some creativity and failed to do this. The Argentine made no impact on the match, although it was always going to be a tricky task by the point he came on.
Gareth Bale – 4/10
Gareth Bale came into the fray with about 10 minutes to go, but it simply wasn’t enough time for him to have an impact on proceedings. The Welshman probably should’ve been introduced sooner.
Manchester United
Dean Henderson – 8/10
Preferred to David De Gea, Dean Henderson enjoyed an excellent afternoon in goal for Manchester United. His awareness and positioning allowed him to cut out some Spurs chances before they really began. Henderson also made two excellent saves in the second half. He could do nothing to keep out Son’s goal.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 7.5/10
Aaron Wan-Bissaka was defensively solid throughout the game, but his attacking output was perhaps the most impressive thing about his showing. He consistently made raids down Tottenham’s left side and was involved in the build to Cavani’s goal. Perhaps he could’ve tracked Son better prior to his goal, though.
Victor Lindelof – 5/10
Victor Lindelof struggled when Tottenham did get on the attack in this game. He missed the ball and allowed Lucas Moura to cross to Son Heung-min for Tottenham’s goal, and generally failed to make any kind of impact at the back.
Harry Maguire – 6.5/10
Harry Maguire lost the ball cheaply on a couple of occasions, in particular being mugged by Harry Kane in an incident that saw him booked for a subsequent foul. However, he won all four of his aerial duels, was generally decent in his passing range and didn’t let Tottenham’s attack get beyond him on many occasions.
Luke Shaw – 7/10
Manchester United’s left-back looked good in the first half, attacking Serge Aurier on Tottenham’s right side while also keeping things tight at the back. A pinpoint accurate ball from him almost allowed Wan-Bissaka to find what would’ve been an excellent goal. Booked for a cynical foul on Aurier in the second half.
Scott McTominay – 6/10
Picked to add bite to Manchester United’s midfield, Scott McTominay was booked early on for a poor tackle and had to rein himself in after that. His flailing arm to the face of Son Heung-min cost United what would’ve been an excellent opening goal in the first half. Overall, this was not McTominay’s best game, although he did succeed with five tackles.
Fred – 7/10
Fred was comfortably the worst player on the pitch in the first half. He was seemingly unable to pick an accurate pass, gave the ball away on numerous occasions and looked lost going forward. However, the Brazilian improved dramatically in the second half, worked extremely hard and deserved his goal. A mixed bag from the midfielder overall.
Marcus Rashford – 6/10
Marcus Rashford had a largely ineffective game today. He switched flanks with Paul Pogba in the first half but still struggled to make any kind of impact. The England man had a chance to score in the second half but fluffed his lines somewhat and failed to have a shot on goal.
Bruno Fernandes – 6/10
Bruno Fernandes failed to make his usual impact on the game, as he couldn’t really pull many strings in the center of Manchester United’s attack. He did test Hugo Lloris with a second-half shot and was involved in Fred’s equalizer. But overall he ended the match with a pass success rate of just 73%.
Paul Pogba – 8.5/10
Paul Pogba enjoyed an excellent game today. He struggled early on before switching flanks with Marcus Rashford, and from there, his movement gave Tottenham’s defense a lot of problems.
Some wonderful footwork allowed him to set up Edinson Cavani’s disallowed goal, and he was heavily involved in Fred’s equalizer. Pogba got into some dangerous positions in the second half, completing more dribbles (6) than any other player. The Frenchman also assisted for Mason Greenwood’s late goal.
Edinson Cavani – 9/10
Edinson Cavani was Manchester United’s best player today. His movement constantly gave Tottenham’s defense issues, and he took his disallowed goal brilliantly after getting behind Joe Rodon.
The Uruguayan drifted away from his marker time after time and, after escaping Serge Aurier, took his diving header excellently to put United in front. If the Red Devils can’t sign a new striker in the summer, handing Cavani another one-year deal would make a lot of sense based on this performance.
Substitutes
Mason Greenwood – 8/10
Mason Greenwood replaced Marcus Rashford on 72 minutes and made a huge impact, giving Sergio Reguilon plenty of problems on Tottenham’s left flank. He came close with a left-footed shot and then took his goal wonderfully in the dying moments of the game.
Nemanja Matic – N/A
Nemanja Matic came on in the 90th minute for Bruno Fernandes to protect United’s lead and didn’t have enough time to make an impact.
