MANCHESTER UNITED 3 (2) | TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2 (1) |
Date : – Saturday 12th March 2022 | Kick off : – 17.30 |
Competition : – Premier League | Venue : – Old Trafford |
Crowd : – 73,458 |
Referee : – Jon Moss (Leeds) | Linesmen : – Mr. Marc Perry; Mr. Timothy Wood |
Fourth official : – Craig Pawson | |
VAR official : – Andre Marriner | VAR Assistant : – Nick Hopton |
Weather : – Dry, cold | |
Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the Stretford end | |
Playing time : – 90 + 8 minutes |
MANCHESTER UNITED | TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR | ||
GOAL-SCORERS | |||
Ronaldo 11m 53s | Kane (p) 34m 33s | ||
Ronaldo 37m 14s | Maguire (o.g.) 71m 15s | ||
Ronaldo 80m 57s | |||
CARDS | |||
Fred (dissent) 34 | Dier (foul on Ronaldo) 30 | ||
Pogba (foul on Kane) 85 | |||
MANCHESTER UNITED | TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR | ||
1. | David de GEA | 1. | Hugo LLORIS (c) |
20. | Diogo DALOT | 4. | Cristian ROMERO |
19. | Raphael VARANE | 15. | Eric DIER |
5. | Harry MAGUIRE (o.g.) | 33. | Ben DAVIES ( 23. Steven BERGWIJN 87) |
27. | Alex TELLES | ||
2. | Matt DOHERTY | ||
31. | Nemanja MATIC ( 2. Edinson CAVANI 80) | 30. | Rodrigo BENTACUR ( 8. Harry WINKS 88) |
17. | FRED | 5. | Pierre-Emile HOJBJERG |
3. | Sergio REGUILON | ||
10. | Marcus RASHFORD ( 2. Anthony ELANGA 68) | ||
6. | Paul POGBA | 21. | Dejan KULUSEVSKI ( 27. Lucas MOURA 78) |
25. | Jadon SANCHO | 7. | Heung-Min SON |
7. | Cristiano RONALDO ( 2. Victor LINDELOF 83) | 10. | Harry KANE (p) |
Substitutes | Substitutes | ||
26. | Dean HENDERSON | 22. | Pierluigi GOLLINI |
3. | Eric BAILLY | 6. | Davinson SANCHEZ |
4. | Phil JONES | 14. | Joe RODON |
29. | Aaron WAN-BISSAKA | 12. | EMERSON Royal |
8. | Juan MATA | 42. | Harvey WHITE |
14. | Jesse LINGARD | 44. | Dane SCARLETT |
Interim Manager : – Ralf Ragnick | Manager : – Antonio Conte |
Kit Supplier : – adidas | Kit Supplier : – Nike |
Shirt Sponsor : – TeamViewer | Shirt Sponsor : – AIA |
Shirt Sleeve Sponsor : – Kohler | Shirt Sleeve Sponsor : – cinch |
Colours : – |
Colours : – |
Images of kits courtesy of the marvellous Colours of Football website | |
MATCH REPORT |
Much as winning one match and then losing the next is some sort of consistency, I can imagine that it wasn’t the sort that Antonio Conte was looking for and the defeat here, with Manchester United winning 3-2, was one that Spurs had hoped to get something out of. Having been hammered 4-1 in the Manc derby the weekend before, with Spurs arriving with a 5-0 win over Everton in the bank, it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility. But then it’s Old Trafford and we hardly ever win there, although in recent times our results have been better.
With the hamstrung Ryan Sessegnon missing, Reguilon came in to play in his left wing back, but otherwise the team was the same as the Everton match. The first threat in the match came from a standard ball forward that Son got in behind the home defence, but didn’t get to it before de Gea, who came out of his box to clear. Spurs were working the ball forward and a fifth minute move gave Kane the ball just outside the D, but he tried to move the ball right to Doherty, but it was blocked. United’s first move into the Spurs box ended with Ronaldo chipping a weak cross behind the goal and then, in the ninth minute, they wanted a penalty when Ronaldo mis-hit a shot that he claimed hit Eric Dier’s hand. Despite prolonged nagging of the referee, he didn’t get his way. When the Portuguese striker got the ball in too much space 25 yards out, he struck a rocket of a shot with his right foot that left Lloris diving to his right, but not likely to get near the ball. It was out of context with the play in the game that had gone before, with both teams lacking any incisive movement. Doherty played the ball across the pitch 18 yards out, with Son touching it on to Reguilon, who returned it, but Son’s shot was blocked. United hit back with Pogba trying to curl the ball around Dier, but the ball went wide of Hugo’s left post before Pierre Hojbjerg won the ball 30 yards out and decided to take a shot, but it was low and straight at de Gea. In the 18 th minute, it looked like Tottenham had levelled. Reguilon played the ball inside to Son whose first-time pass played Davies through to beat de Gea at his near post, but the Welshman had gone beyond the United line and was flagged offside. With Son’s low cross not finding Kane it did win a corner, which the Korean took and after being flicked on at the near post, Eric Dier rose at the far stick to head it on target, but Telles headed it off the line with 25 minutes gone. The ball dropped for Hojbjerg but under pressure, he lifted his shot over the top. Tottenham continued to attack with Doherty having a shot blocked and Kulusevski pulling the ball back from the right dead ball line for Bentancur, but he was closed down and his shot was blocked. As United broke, Dier pulled Ronaldo down, which was nothing worse than Pogba had done to Bentancur minutes earlier, but the Spurs man had a yellow card waved at him. Consistency … what consistency ? Matic took Kane down late and although Moss originally waved play on, he did pull it back for a free- kick 25 yards out. It was hardly worth having as the referee was more worried about Son being in the wall than the wall being a yard in front of the foam line. Dier’s shot hit the wall and when play continued, Kukusevski’s cross hit Telles’ arm that was sticking away from his body and a penalty was given. Fred got booked for dissent before Kane stepped up to power the spot-kick past de Gea’s right-hand dive to level the score. United broke down their left wing and Sancho put a cross in front of goal for Ronaldo, criminally unmarked, to soot past Lloris from close range. It was a little annoying, as it was only the second time they had produced anything and Hugo had no chance of saving it. The second half started with Spurs making inroads into the United area after Romero had thundered the ball into Pogba’s head on the halfway line, but Kulusevski’s pull back from Kane’s touch went behind all the white shirts moving forward. Dejan then fizzed in a cross from the right that Dalot had to glance out for a corner before Reguilon got on the end of it, so only a corner, but when the cleared ball in was continued, Hojbjerg almost picked out Son’s run into the left side of the box, but it was just a little too strong for him to reach. While United players were going to ground at any touch, Spurs were moving the ball well, but without causing too much concern to the United defence. Just after the hour, Kane and Kulusevski linked to set up Son, but his shot went wide of the near post. Chances were few as moved foundered on each other’s defence, with Ronaldo getting a shot on target from a sharp angle on the right, but Lloris’ parry fell to two white shirts and the danger was averted. Any momentum Spurs had going forward was broken when passes were under-hit or crosses blocked. When Kane seemed to be pulled back by Varane just outside the box, the ball went left to Regulion and he put a low ball across, aiming for Romero who had joined in with the attack. It didn’t get to him, though thankfully Maguire got there first to put the ball past de Gea from a couple of yards out and Romero gleefully congratulated him as he ran past. United had been sitting back a bit and while Spurs had been comfortable on the ball, the home side had been coping, but Maguire changed all that and saved an offside flag going up if the ball had got through to Romero. Hugo had to be alert five minutes after the goal when Sancho returned Ronaldo’s pass and the shot that he hoped would bring him his hat-trick was pushed aside for a corner. Spurs made a change with Kulusevski leaving the pitch for Lucas Moura to come on, while United had thought about bringing Cavani on, but changed their mind. While Spurs were keeping the ball in the United defensive third, Ragnick eventually took off Matic for Cavani to come on. The only player in the United side who looked any threat punished Spurs again, when he rose above Romero and Doherty to head in his hat-trick goal with ten minutes to go. Immediately, United stiffened their defence by taking the scorer off and bringing on Lindelof. Moura broke forward and passed to Son, who slipped (not for the first time) and the move broke down. Kane had his ankle stamped on when Pogba lost control of the ball ten yards outside the box and was shown a yellow card, but it was a coward’s challenge and a cynical one. As expected nothing came from the free-kick as Spurs players were pushed to the ground without any review. Winks floated a ball into the left side of the area, where Reguilon attacked it, but couldn’t reach it, despite Lindelof letting the ball go. Dier’s straight ball into the area was simple for de Gea, who launched a move that Reguilon did enough o put off Sancho, who looked certain to score from Cavani’s ball across from the left. In the end, Spurs were beaten by one man not the team. Without Ronaldo (on his day), they have little else to commend them, but they ground out a win without too many chances. Rashford was invisible, Pogba and Sancho played in flashes, Maguire was all over the place and Fred was chasing shadows and although Spurs had a lot of possession, there were few saves for de Gea to make. Conceding soon after making it 1-1 didn’t help, as it handed the initiative back to United, when a period at that score would have built the pressure on the home team to come out and force the game. It was a match we should have got something out of, but it is still win one lose one. Better to do that than keep drawing, but we need to turn the defeats into draws at least to keep in the running for a European place. As with all the remaining matches, the Brighton game is now a must win one, but the one after is one we mustn’t lose. Keith Mandement |
MATCH NOTES |
Cristiano Ronaldo became the highest all time goal-scorer in world football according to FIFA’s records with his second goal of the game. |
OTHER RESULTS | |||
Brighton & Hove Albion | 0 | Liverpool | 2 |
Brentford | 2 | Burnley | 0 |
Chelsea | 1 | Newcash United | 0 |
Everton | 0 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1 |
South Coast Big Club | 1 | Watford | 2 |
Leeds United | 2 | Norwich City | 1 |
West Ham United London | 2 | Aston Villa | 1 |
Woolwich Wanderers | 2 | Leicester City | 0 |
Crystal Palace | 0 | Manchester City | 0 |
Premier League Table 2021-22
Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Points | Goal difference | ||
1 | Manchester City | 29 | 22 | 4 | 3 | 68 | 18 | 70 | +50 |
2 | Liverpool | 28 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 73 | 20 | 66 | +53 |
3 | Chelsea | 28 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 57 | 19 | 59 | +38 |
4 | Woolwich Wanderers | 29 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 43 | 29 | 51 | +8 |
5 | Manchester United |
29 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 48 | 40 | 50 | +12 |
6 | West Ham United London | 25 | 14 | 6 | 9 | 48 | 36 | 48 | +12 |
7 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 27 | 14 | 4 | 11 | 29 | 23 |
46 | +6 |
8 | Tottenham Hotspur | 28 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 42 | 35 | 45 | +7 |
9 | Aston Villa | 29 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 41 | 39 | 36 | +2 |
10 | South Coast Big Club | 29 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 36 | 45 | 35 | -9 |
11 | Crystal Palace | 29 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 39 | 38 | 34 | +1 |
12 | Leicester City | 25 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 40 | 45 | 33 | -3 |
13 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 28 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 26 | 34 | 33 | -8 |
14 | Newcash United | 28 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 32 | 48 | 31 | -16 |
15 | Brentford | 29 | 8 | 6 | 15 | 32 | 45 | 30 | -13 |
16 | Leeds United | 29 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 31 | 65 | 26 | -34 |
17 | Everton | 26 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 28 | 47 | 22 | -19 |
18 | Watford | 29 | 6 | 4 |
19 | 29 | 55 | 22 | -26 |
19 | Burnley | 27 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 22 | 38 | 21 | -16 |
20 | Norwich City | 29 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 18 | 63 | 17 | -45 |