Tottenham’s hopes of Champions League qualification are well and truly alive after they began perhaps the most crucial spell of their season with a dominant 2-0 win over Manchester United.
Alexis Sanchez was handed his Premier League debut in a United shirt against his former club’s most fierce rivals, but was left just as frustrated as in his final weeks at Arsenal.
It was almost a perfect night for Tottenham, who went ahead through Christian Eriksen after just 11 seconds before a Phil Jones own goal doubled their lead, but for one element. Harry Kane will once more have to wait for his century of League goals, though given his form this season it’s a doubt it’ll cause him too much concern.
For the majority of this season, Spurs have struggled to break down visiting sides at Wembley, making it difficult for themselves and creating a touchy atmosphere in the stands.
In Pictures | Tottenham vs Manchester United | 31/01/2018
With Manchester United visiting, though, there was hope things could be different. Spurs haven’t lost to the Red Devils at home since 2012, and will have had memories of the 3-2 win in the final game at White Hart Lane fresh in their minds at kick-off.
It took just 11 seconds to rekindle those memories of Jose Mourinho’s last clash with Spurs as, after Jones struggled to deal with a long ball from Jan Vertonghen, Dele Alli’s deflected cut-back fell to the feet of an unmarked Eriksen, who slotted home with aplomb.
The scrappy opener set the tone for the first half. Both sides struggled to get a grip on the game as a Premier League record 81,978 fans watched on from the stands.
Tottenham were cutting through a loose Manchester United midfield at will, but were lacking cohesion in the final third as Kane went in search of his 100th Premier League goal.
The hosts needed something to settle their nerves a little and, just before the half-hour mark, Jones was once again on hand to help.
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After Eriksen found the on-charging Kieran Tripper in space on the right, his low cross was turned past David de Gea by the England defender to take his evening from bad to worse and ratchet the noise up inside Wembley.
Moments later and Spurs should have had the chance for a third when Antonio Valencia chopped Alli down in the penalty area, to the surprise, and anger, of the crowd however, Andre Marriner was unmoved.
The visitors looked as if things were on the up after the break, with Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez switching wings after the former had struggled on the right. That was not to last however, as Spurs regained control and continued to find holes in the United midfield.
Mourinho looked to address that problem with both Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini introduced in place of Jesse Lingard and Paul Pogba, though the Belgian lasted just seven minutes before heading down the tunnel due to injury.
From there on it was Spurs who looked to add to their lead, with Heing-min Son and Kane both testing De Gea.
The visitors, who fell 15 points behind Manchester City, will have been relieved - and Tottenham buoyed - buy Chelsea’s shock defeat to Bournemouth.
Tottenham, who kept the gap to the top four at to just two points, can now head to Anfield this weekend with a renewed confidence after a testing time on the road of late, knowing a win will fire them back into the Champions League places.