Tottenham Hotspur claimed a massive win in the Premier League at home against Champions League rivals Manchester United, as Spurs dismantled Jose Mourinho’s side 2-0.

Christen Eriksen scored the third fastest goal in Premier League history as the Danish playmaker went through one-on-one after a smart pass from Dele Alli, allowing the former Ajax midfielder to give Spurs a very early lead.

Spurs doubled their lead 27 minutes later, when a Kieran Trippier cross was poorly cleared by Phil Jones, who bundled the ball into his own net after a poorly timed connection to the cross.

The result puts Spurs six points ahead of North London rivals Arsenal, and firmly puts Mauricio Pochettino’s side back in the race for an automatic Champions League place.

Lighting start for Spurs

Tottenham got off to a lightning start at Wembley, as Eriksen gave the hosts the lead just 11 seconds after the kick-off whistle blew.

The hosts lobbed the ball forward towards the towering figure of Harry Kane, who controlled the ball down to an on-running Dele Alli. The out of form Spurs midfielder played a smart pass to Eriksen, who smartly finished the ball past a stunned David De Gea, to give Tottenham the lead with the third fastest goal ever scored in the history of the Premier League.

Spurs continued to threaten United, who looked like a Sunday league team in the opening 15 minutes, as the pace of Heung-Ming Son was hard for Antonio Valencia to keep track off. Kane’s opting to drop deeper into midfield also proved to cause Mourinho’s side problems in the centre of the park.

Despite the mounting pressure, De Gea remained untested until the 23rd minutes when Kane was played in by Eriksen down the right wing, and the English target man fired a lethal strike towards the near post, but United’s number one keeper got down well, and clutched at the ball to deny Tottenham’s star man.

Nightmare from Jones

A second goal was always coming for Tottenham, and the vital second goal finally came in the 28th minute from an unlikely source through Phil Jones.

United’s narrow defending had allowed Tripper the space to exploit the right wing. The fullback bombed down the flank and whipped in a cross expecting a Tottenham player to be on in the area, but Jones made connection with the ball, and sadly for the Reds’ defender, his clearance flew straight past De Gea, and into the back of the net to double Spurs’ lead.

To add more salt in the wounds for Jones, the former Blackburn defender was booked seven minutes before halftime after a harsh challenge on Mousa Dembele.

A end-to-end second half

The second half began with Spurs still dominating in possession, however United had finally emerged out of their shells after slowly clawing their way back into the game.

Hugo Lloris was finally tested 55 minutes in, when a smart bit of play from Jesse Lingard saw Romelu Lukaku with an opportunity to strike, but the Belgian’s effort from close range was brilliantly tipped over by the Spurs captain.

Mourniho opted to bring on fresh legs 62 minutes in, as the Portuguese manager introduced Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata in replacement for Lingard and Paul Pogba as a way to tighten up the game whilst also giving the United team more creative prowess.

But Spurs continued to dominate, and the north London side nearly had a third goal with 21 minutes to go, as Son found himself one-on-one with De Gea inside the penalty area, but the South Korean’s shot flew straight at the Spanish keeper with the final chance of the game, as Spurs claimed the important three points. 

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About the author
Dylan Walsh
Student at the University of Brighton, 20-years-old, Twitter: @dylanwalsh_