For the third season running, Tottenham were defeated at the Old Trafford and yet again by a single goal, with substitute Anthony Martial being the difference on the afternoon. And with that being done, Tottenham have now lost their last two games without Harry Kane, who missed the fixture due to an injury.
Heung-Min Son was given the nod despite Pochettino having Fernando Llorente at his disposal. Furthermore, the fact that Tottenham had scored at least 3 goals in 5 of their last 6 away Premier League games was an uplifting factor as well. The stats were utterly favouring Tottenham prior to the game given that we had won all of our last six away Premier League games. But all that went down the drain.
The game was evenly poised until the first half, but United soon upped their grip after the break. A physical approach saw United get an eventual upper hand, yet Tottenham managed to keep their slate clean. Tottenham had better possession and more attempts – even more shots on target – but United’s sole goal made the difference.
With United building momentum, they almost took the lead when Jesse Lingard’s well-worked cross found Romelu Lukaku in the box. But the Belgian’s towering header struck the frame and the chance went begging. A series of attempts followed, and eventually in the 81st minute, United took the lead. David de Gea had played his long ball to Romelu Lukaku and the Belgian’s slick header released Anthony Martial into space and the Frenchman made no mistake in putting his side ahead. And that remained the highlight throughout.
With that being done, here is how the fans reacted to the defeat:
https://twitter.com/gouled_99/status/924265455736573952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/LethalLlorente/status/924265162240135168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
@SpursOfficial never turned-up for 2nd half! Always losing possession & clueless in attack w/o @HKane ! #THFC #COYS #PL
— Rocky Gill (@_RockyGill) October 28, 2017
We played better a/ 10 mins & 2nd half woeful. No creativity/attacking threat & need massive improvement for @realmadriden game! #THFC #COYS
— Rocky Gill (@_RockyGill) October 28, 2017
kane FC
— ☘️𓂀أحمد (@psychedelicnoel) October 28, 2017
No Kane no Party.
— Joc (@jocmartinez) October 28, 2017
now never play Sissoko again.
— VB (@VonBlade) October 28, 2017
Me trying to figure out why Sanchez didn’t play pic.twitter.com/HfHYSE4pMc
— Jaron Westbrook (@JaronWestbrook) October 28, 2017
At this rate you might as well copyright “late strike” and “disappointing afternoon.”
— Tom (@COYSTom1) October 28, 2017
United suffocated our midfield play, and we didn’t have an answer. Oh how I miss Walker’s play down the flanks! And the Rose of old on the other side, for that matter. Because they would have really stretched United, and freed up our midfield more. Who cares if Walker was prone to the odd defensive error. He was a world class full back for us, and we replaced him with …Aurier, the 3rd choice PSG player. The man doesn’t get up and down the pitch like Walker, and he can’t beat his man and cross like Walker and Trippier, can. He also gets caught out of position too often and ..well, I just hope he improves under Poch, but at nearly 25, he’s peaking, and I just don’t get what happened with Poch/Levy on that one! Davies played very well today. It’s just a shame Trippier wasn’t on the other flank. Sissoko is at least trying hard in games this season, and there’s a place for him, but he was lost today. Winks wasn’t too influential either, but better times are coming for him, while Eriksen really needs to up his game for these huge matches. We should have battened down the hatches in the Wham game because losing CAN become a habit ..and, despite lengthy dominance in the first half today, we succumbed in the 2nd half again. That’s not supposed to happen. We’re supposed to be fitter than other teams. But more worrying, our imagination in the final third is letting us down. When Kane isn’t playing against the best teams, we need a player with the pace of Son, and the guile of Llorente to cover. Hard to find a combination of those two I know, so maybe we’d better start developing one of our youngster strikers very quickly. Someone who creates their own space up front, like Kane and Alli!
Twitter is filled with half-life who mistake one line ill-conceived codswallop for intelligent debate.
You win games by scoring, you lose games by conceding. Spurs conceded, Spurs !let. That is nothing to do with Harry Kane not playing. It is more the result of one defensive lapse. Dele missed a very good chance just before, and the result could have gone the other way. If he had connected better with Eriksen’s brilliant pass would Spurs have won “because Kane was missing”? It’s silly! United have the best defence in Europe, at home, at present – it’s a Mourinho team. Harry Kane is a brilliant player but there is no guarantee that he would have scored. He could have played and the game still finished one nil to United. Twitter, I call it Twatter!