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Mourinho suffers first Spurs defeat to much-improved United

Man Utd 2 – Spurs 1
by Simon Williams
at Old Trafford

JOSE MOURINHO’s Old Trafford return ended in defeat on Wednesday night, as his Tottenham side were beaten 2-1 by Manchester United.

Marcus Rashford netted twice — once from the penalty spot — either side of a superb Dele Alli goal to ease the pressure on United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and condemn Mourinho to his first defeat as Spurs boss.

The Portuguese was sacked by United a year ago after the club picked up just 26 points from their opening 17 games.

With a fresh start in north London following the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino, Mourinho had seen his current side pick up three wins from three matches in all competitions prior to kick off.

But, speaking after the game, he was forced to admit that his former side dominated large portions of the game.

He said: “For 30 minutes United were not just better than us, they were much better than us. They were much better in the intensity, in the aggression, they were winning first balls, second balls, 50-50 duels.

“I told the players about the way United approached their home matches with strong starts and people running and pressing and trying to lift the crowd. We only have to blame ourselves.”

With Spurs on an improved run of form under Mourinho, the spotlight before kick-off was on Solskjaer. His side had accumulated a mere 18 points from their opening 14 Premier League matches this season — United’s worst start to a league season since the 1988-89 campaign.

And with rumours that Pochettino was being lined up to take over the reigns at Old Trafford, Solskjaer was looking for a performance from his side.

He said after the game: “One of the best performances of the season, definitely.

“We’ve had spells against Liverpool, Chelsea and Leicester but the first 40 minutes were excellent.

“But the reaction after they scored was even better at the start of the second half. That is always the concern because this season we’ve been winning, gone to a draw and then stayed at a draw. But the players never gave in, trusted themselves and we deserved to win.

“The players enjoyed themselves, we haven’t been good enough breaking teams down but today some of the build-up play and penetration was excellent.”

Rashford had clearly understood the enormity of the game as he fired his side into the lead on six minutes with a low drive from just inside the 18-yard-box — though Spurs keeper Paulo Gazzaniga should have done better.

The Argentine stopper did redeem himself, denying Mason Greenwood from close range before tipping a 30-yard effort from Rashford onto the bar.

But the home side would rue those missed chances as Alli levelled the score on 39 minutes, with a fantastic individual effort from just in front of goal.

United seemed to be more awake when they returned from half-time and caught their visitors out when Rashford was tripped in the box by Moussa Sissoko. The England striker stepped up to take the resulting penalty which he duly converted, sending Gazzaniga the wrong way.

Despite a late flurry from Spurs, United held on to pick up three precious points to move them into sixth in the Premier League table.

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