Manchester United had no reasons to rue last year’s decision not to pursue Antonio Conte. On a night when the Italian’s Tottenham team could have gone second, they were instead second best. Erik ten Hag, the manager United eventually did appoint instead, constructed a performance with the adventurousness and attacking intent to fit the club’s traditions. Conte has rarely been as bold and his Tottenham could depart Old Trafford thanking the brilliant Hugo Lloris for the fact they only conceded twice.
Old Trafford rocked to the kind of football they have seen too rarely since the watching Sir Alex Ferguson retired. It echoed to the sound of an old tune with new lyrics. “Fred will tear you apart again,” came the chorus from the Stretford End, repurposing a song long used to pay tribute to Ryan Giggs, and the much-maligned midfielder was magnificent. Ten Hag’s time with his midfielders has been a case of trial and error – using Christian Eriksen as a false nine against Brighton and benching Casemiro in a Manchester derby did not work – but he was thoroughly vindicated for choosing Fred instead of a fit-again Eriksen and an available-again Scott McTominay. He was talismanic and terrific.
Ten Hag’s sixth win in eight league games was testament to a turnaround, but the nature of his victims matters more than the number. Spurs were a third notable scalp of Ten Hag’s brief time in England, joining Liverpool and Arsenal among those overcome at Old Trafford. United are up to fifth in the actual table, but the big-six mini-league is looking still more encouraging, even though they shipped six goals at the Etihad Stadium.
For 45 minutes, however, a different side of history threatened to repeat itself. United had been held by Newcastle three days earlier and, during a one-sided first half, a repeat was on the cards. Then Fred was teed up by Jadon Sancho. His shot took a sizeable deflection off Ben Davies on its way in. Perhaps it needed a stroke of fortune to defeat Lloris but United are entitled to argue they earnt their luck. Such was their dominance that a 47th-minute goal came with their 20th shot.
It pointed to their relentlessness but the club who possess the most prolific finisher in the history of football had struggled to apply the decisive touch. Admittedly, Cristiano Ronaldo was blameless as he watched on. The highlight of his second spell at Old Trafford was a hat-trick against Spurs, but last season’s heroics did not dissuade Ten Hag from dropping him.
But United scarcely needed him, with Ronaldo seen heading back to the dressing room before the final whistle. The Portuguese on the scoresheet instead was Bruno Fernandes and, whereas once that was a regular occurrence, this was just his third goal in 27 games. But it was taken beautifully, curled into the corner. Perhaps it was no coincidence, but Fernandes scored when Ronaldo did not play.
Tottenham could argue a minute represented a turning point, the possibility of an admirable point becoming an emphatic defeat. Seconds earlier, David de Gea had made a point-blank save from Harry Kane; he had also repelled an earlier drive from the striker, who was bidding to score for a sixth successive league game.
Had either shot gone in, Conte could claim his gameplan had been a success. But it was not. He had reinforced his midfield with Yves Bissouma as he switched to 3-5-2. It signalled an intention to contain and counter-attack, but if there were hints the latter ploy could work, as Rodrigo Bentancur and Matt Doherty both angled shots from the right just past the far post, they were buffeted by waves of United attacks.
Fred was often the instigator, adding to his mercurial oddness; amid displays of hopeless haplessness, there are days when he looks inspired. This was one and a defence-splitting pass for Marcus Rashford could scarcely have been bettered by the benched Eriksen. A first goal of the season was a reward for an unusually incisive display.
Another Brazilian was also outstanding. Antony ran rings around Ivan Perisic – literally on one occasion - as his tenacity and low centre of gravity more than compensated for his predictability. Knowing he would cut infield to use his left foot scarcely helped Spurs stop him. His assault on their goal included a shot that clopped the foot of the post and a couple that went narrowly wide.
He also inadvertently helped begin a one-man rearguard action. Lloris’s first save was his least convincing, the backtracking Frenchman mishandling as he diverted Antony’s long-range shot wide. Thereafter, he made a hat-trick of terrific stops to deny Rashford, whose pace and movement otherwise illustrated why he was preferred to Ronaldo. He showed his athleticism with an acrobatic effort to claw away Luke Shaw’s volley. While United had celebrated De Gea’s 500th appearance on Sunday, another long-serving goalkeeper was upstaging him in his 501st game.
But he needed to. United simply surged forward time and again. Tottenham were fraying. And then Fred tore them apart.
