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Manchester United upset Tottenham Hotspur, hand Jose Mourinho a forgetful homecoming

Manchester United started the game on a positive note and within 6 minutes breached Tottenham Hotspur defence to take home the lead.

Manchester United upset Tottenham Hotspur, hand Jose Mourinho a forgetful homecoming

Tottenham Hotspur's Portuguese head coach Jose Mourinho (L) reacts after Manchester United's Welsh midfielder Daniel James (C) collides with him on the touchline after a challenge with Tottenham Hotspur's English midfielder Harry Winks (R) during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on December 4, 2019. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

With Marcus Rashford’s double strike at the Old Trafford on Wednesday, Manchester United handed Tottenham Hotspur their first defeat under new manager Jose Mourinho.

Rashford scored in either side of the half while Dele Ali had netted one for the Spurs as Mourinho failed to make his comeback to his old club a memorable one.

United started the game on a positive note and within 6 minutes breached Tottenham defence to take home the lead. Jesse Lingard did extremely well to deliver the ball to Rashford from the left flank for the later to smash it into the back of the net.

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The visitors owned the lion’s share of possession throughout the first half before their efforts finally paid off in the 39th minute.

Ali, who had already scored 4 goals in the last three matches under Mourinho, was at it again when he flicked the ball past David De Gea to equalise. A short VAR check had delayed the celebrations a bit though.

However, the hosts were up again and this time too it was right after the start of the play. Just two minutes into the second half and Moussa Sissoko pulled Rashford down into the box before the referee signalled to the penalty spot.

The 22-year-old English international continued to excel his skills with the dead ball as he sent the Spurs keeper the wrong way to take the Red Devils 2-1 up.

Mourinho, at the end of the match, praised United’s efforts and conceded that Tottenham were lackadaisical at some point to let the formers play the way they did.

“We started the second half with a goal that it is impossible to concede. We were not alert, sleeping at the throw-in and we let Rashford attack. Once he is inside the box it’s more difficult to defend and he was clever and waited for the touch,” Mourinho was quoted as saying by ANI.

“In the first half they started more aggressive and more intense and deserved to be in front, maybe even 2-0, then we took control of the game. The goal at the start of the second half gave United the chance to play the way they did,” the former Manchester United manager added.

With the win, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can heave a sigh of relief for the moment and feel inspired as he lead his team to the Manchester derby on Saturday. The victory has also taken United up to the sixth spot in the points table, while Tottenham came down to eighth.

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