Manchester United returned to winning ways at home in the league as they beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0. It was United’s Armenian recruit Henrikh Mkhitaryan who gave them the decisive lead as he latched on to a wonderful through ball from Ander Herrera in the 29th minute to find the back of the net and the goal ended the win-drought at home.
While Tottenham did have the larger share of possession, they never looked threatening for most parts of the evening and United walked out with the all important three points to take their points tally to 27 and just 3 behind their visitors of the evening.
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#1 Ander Herrera is Manchester United’s most important midfielder
While Paul Pogba might grab all the headlines, largely due to the price Manchester United paid to acquire his services, it is Ander Herrera who has made the central midfield position his own. It was Herrera who spotted the space available to him and saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s run to send the Armenian through on goal to score the all-important goal.
A combative and energetic midfielder who has a sound understanding of the game, Herrera has been the go-to man for Jose Mourinho as he has put in effective performance in the middle of the park for the Old Trafford club.
On Sunday, he was his usual best, breaking up plays with a mix of tackles (10 tackles) and interceptions (4 interceptions) to disrupt Spurs’ rhythm through the game. The Spaniard never let the likes of Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, and Harry Kane settle down in the game and could be judged as the architect of United’s hard-fought victory.
The steel he provides to the side is essential as it provides his other teammates the chance to get forward and help their attacking colleagues and the player is increasingly proving himself to be irreplaceable at the club.
#2 Henrikh Mkhitaryan is proving to be his money’s worth
The Armenian, who has been in fine form since breaking into the Manchester United set-up, was the difference between the two sides at the end of the combative 90 minutes.
He saw Ander Herrera’s pass in the first half and coolly finished off the move to score his first Old Trafford goal and add to the solitary goal and two assists he had provided in a Manchester United jersey previously.
While he was a constant threat to the opposition as he constantly tried to get past them it was perhaps his defensive contribution that truly caught the eye of most Manchester United fans. During his time on the pitch, Mkhitaryan made 1 tackle, 2 interceptions, and 1 block while constantly haggling the opposition for time and space in the middle of the park.
It was only a matter of time before the former Borussia Dortmund player would break into the Manchester United side and cement his place and his performance on the evening only strengthens his credential for a starting spot.
However, an injury late in the game, owing to a late Danny Rose tackle might prove to be a dampener and the Manchester United faithful will be hoping that it is nothing serious.
#3 Tottenham Hotspur and Dele Alli, in particular, were unspectacular
Though they might have had the larger share of the possession, Tottenham never really were in the game until the introduction of Moussa Sissoko. They had the ball for a significant period but did very little with it and proved to be easy opponents to deal with for the United defence.
This performance comes after a demolishing performance at home against Swansea and would force the club’s faithful into wondering if they are actually a league winning side or just mid-table bullies.
Perhaps, the form of Dele Alli is the most troublesome area of concern for the club as the Englishman has been inconsistent this season. The 20-year-old was poor with the ball at his feet, often misplacing passes, made very little contribution to his side’s attack and did little to support Victor Wanyama in the middle of the park in order to assert themselves in the middle of the park.
The former MK Dons player was crucial to Tottenham’s chances last season and was a constant threat to the opposition. However, this season has been a different story for the youngster as he has been kept silent on most days. An experienced manager like Pocchetino will be aware of having a midfield that can win games and should Alli not step up his game, he could soon find himself on the bench.
#4 Moussa Sissoko was Tottenham’s best player on the evening
Tottenham looked flat footed and toothless for large durations of the first half and hardly threatened the Manchester United goal with their attacking display. However, that changed with the introduction of French international Moussa Sissoko in the 57th minute.
Matteo Darmian, who was deployed in the left-back position had a rather easy afternoon dealing with Christian Eriksen. However, he was truly exposed by the pace and athleticism of Sissoko, who often got past him with ease. Such was the scenario that Mourinho was forced to deploy the athletic Marcus Rashford as an additional man on the left-hand side of the pitch in a bid to stop the Frenchman from causing any damage.
Sissoko, who impressed with France at the Euro 2016, has found playing time hard to come by since the mid of October, when he made his last start for the Spurs. However, given his performance against Manchester United, where he proved to be a handful for Matteo Darmian, he could possibly push himself ahead of South Korean Heung-Min Son in the Tottenham XI.
#5 Manchester United will need to eke out more wins like this to climb the table
The Jose Mourinho led-side has been in good form over the course of the last few weeks, only for a few individual errors to cost them victory. Be it Olivier Giroud’s 89th-minute equaliser or Marouane Fellaini’s moment of madness, United were guilty of squandering hard earned points but that was not the case against Tottenham.
They were tidy defensively, barring Darmian, who was turned inside out by Moussa Sissoko, and gave very little away to the visitors which would have pleased Mourinho. United made 38 tackles during the game, winning 23 of them, made a whopping 30 interceptions and denied Tottenham any real chance on goal, thus asserting themselves during the 90 minutes.
With the club in transition, it will not always be smooth sailing, but should they learn to adapt to Mourinho’s methods, wherein goals rather than extravagant football is deemed valuable, they could climb rapidly in the league table, especially with the games coming thick and fast. A manager of Mourinho’s pedigree can turn the table upside down and with extended playing time together, injuries permitting, Manchester United could be a force again.
