Premier League matchday 29
Following the Premier League restart earlier during the week that saw Man City easily beat Arsenal, fans around the world had the chance to see two other English superpowers facing each other. Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United took on the pitch which saw both teams dominated each half.
The Spurs gave the first blow to their opponent when Bergwijn ran through the Manchester United defense to conclude his 40 yard rush smashing the ball in the net, 1-0 at the break.
Pogba sparks Man United offense
The Frenchman made his returned to the pitch for the first time this year after suffering an ankle injury in January. The 2018 World Cup winner was the catalyst for his club. His returned amongst his teammates gave an overall boost to the team who seemed to be more aggressive and looked to level the game.
Paul Pogba got the best of Dier who had to stop him irregularly in the penalty area awarding Man United a chance to comeback at one goal a piece. Bruno Fernandes converted the opportunity, 1-1. Then, the Red Devils kept on pushing but the Spurs resisted thanks to Lloris.
The French goalkeeper denied Man United and coach Solskjaer an away win for their first game since the restart. Both teams are stuck behind the top 4 at respectively the 5th place for Man Utd and a disappointing 8th spot for the Spurs with just 8 more games to play.
Post-game reactions
Mourinho (Tottenham Hostpur) and Solskjaer (Man Utd) react post-game to the tie.
Coach Mourinho (Tottenham Hostpur):
“I thought we were very, very good, strong, fresh in our attacking units. And then in the last 20 minutes when they started making their changes and pushing a bit more… I didn’t have on the bench Lucas and Dele, or if they’d started, Son or Lamela or Bergwijn. So for us it was difficult.
We wanted to press like we did in the first half and our four attacking players. They were a little bit in trouble. Even so, the team fought in the last 20 minutes. The team was very compact and only a very strange penalty gave them a goal.”
“Everyone was, in my opinion, fantastic in their effort. I’m very proud of them during the lockdown period, the work they did, and also today, everything they tried. It’s not the result we wanted, but it’s not the result that kills our ambition and our desire to fight until the end.”
coach Solskjaer (Man Utd):
“I’m disappointed, to be fair. I think the performance deserves more than one point. I can’t remember them threatening us in the second half. Not too much in the first half either. They get a goal out of more or less nothing and they have a good chance after. David makes a good save from Son’s header, but apart from that it was only a matter of time before we scored.
We need to be more clinical. But then again if you look back to last season when we played Tottenham and won 1-0, you came off delighted because we got three points but the performance wasn’t close to this one. This was a dominant performance. I think we showed in the second half that we can play against teams that defend deep and create chances.”
