Danny Welbeck Inspired Manchester United Romp Home Against Tottenham

Danny Welbeck: The in form man

Danny Welbeck scored one goal and assisted another, as Manchester United strolled through to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur today at Old Trafford.

In what was expected to be Manchester United’s first real test in their quest to defend their Premier League crown, Tottenham and United fielded sides that wouldn’t naturally be their strongest. It speaks volumes about the depth of the current United squad that they began the game with a makeshift defensive line with only Patrice Evra from the usual back four. Sir Alex Ferguson put his faith in youth on Monday night and was rewarded with a fine goal from Danny Welbeck, good shifts from Tom Cleverley and particularly Phil Jones and a clean sheet for David De Gea.

United came into this game on the back of an unconvincing win over West Bromwich Albion while Tottenham had won 5-0 against Heart of Midlothian and were playing their first League game of the season. Pre match comments by manager Harry Redknapp about the future of Luka Modric didn’t help Spurs cause either. It only led to Harry fielding a midfield consisting of Jake Livermore and Niko Kranjcar.

United began the game positively but lacked the final ball as Tottenham held forth. At the other end, David De Gea who has had an unconvincing start to his United career was tested by Rafael Van der Vaart and Jermain Defoe from range. The Spaniard looked much more comfortable in front of his home fans than he did last week at the Hawthorns. The only incidents of note in the first half hour were a smart save by Brad Friedel, now 40 years old to deny Tom Cleverley and Ashley Young looping a header wide. Although Spurs tried to make something out of every chance they got, it wasn’t going to be easy considering United were unbeaten at home since April 2010, when Chelsea took full points.

It was upto United to gain a firm footing in the match and pressurize Spurs, but they visitors were resolute. With Nani wasteful and Anderson trying to ape Paul Scholes’ diagonal balls, United didn’t really look threatening and the half ended with the two sides deadlocked.

The second half began with a Spurs substitution with Vedran Corluka coming on for Kyle Walker, the latter feeling unwell. Van der Vaart tried a shot from range immediately after the restart which went over the bar. That was a regular feature in the match. Any incidents of interest took place in Spurs’ penalty area where Friedel did well to blow repeated efforts from Welbeck, Anderson and Rooney in a period of continuous pressure by United.

The efforts paid off in the 61^st minute when Cleverley whipped in a good cross from the right, but Spurs’ marking was lax. Welbeck got in front of Dawson to head it into the far corner and give United a deserved lead.

United then pressed for the killer goal. A freekick from Rooney was tipped over be Friedel. The American shotstopper was in superb form as usual against United and denied Welbeck and Nani in quick succession. Welbeck tried an overhead kick, down to the confidence from his goal but hit it straight at Friedel.

Redknapp rang the changes, Tom Huddlestone and Roman Pavlyuchenko coming on as Jake Livermore and Kranjcar were removed. Losing 1-0, Redknapp had to gamble. Spurs tried time and again to test De Gea from range. Either their shots were blocked, or they had the ball nicked from them.

The second goal was Manchester United at their very best. It started from De Gea’s quick throuw to the brilliant Ashley Young who played it to Anderson. Then some magical passing between Anderson, Rooney and Welbeck left Tottenham’s defence in tatters before Welbeck’s backheel invited Anderson to make it 2-0 in the 76th minute and effectively kill the game.

Spurs were lacking a cutting edge and were severely missing the likes of Crouch and Modric. Adebayor’s loan move might help resolve the problem to some extent, but they need quality in midfield. Huddlestone did test De Gea’s frailty against long rangers late on but to no avail.

Sir Alex brought on Chicharito, Ryan Giggs and Park Ji Sung to freshen things up. Wayne Rooney, who had been instrumental in all of United’s play hadn’t got a reward for his perseverence. Then in the 87^th minute, Giggs, as we’ve seen over the years looped a ball from the right to Rooney who headed it in to earn a due reward and seal the tie for United, 3-0.