Tottenham 0-1 Manchester United: 3 Tactical factors which were crucial in United's win

#2 United forwards made good use of the space left behind by Tottenham’s fullbacks

Marcus Rashford

Tottenham played Son as a left winger and he mostly stayed up front. Therefore, Tottenham’s left-back Ben Davies had to repeatedly go up to fill in the gap created in the left midfield. On the other hand, Tottenham’s right-back Kieran Trippier has natural attacking instincts and likes to go into overlaps frequently.

United’s management knew this and therefore, their forwards were instructed to exploit the space left behind by the Tottenham full-backs. Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial made repeated forays through the right and left flanks for United, respectively.

Martial penetrated into the penalty box through the left flank and took a shot at goal, which was saved by Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. On another occasion, Martial played a pass to Paul Pogba from the flank, but Pogba’s shot was again saved by Lloris.

United’s goal also came through such an attack. Pogba received the ball in his own half and played a long ball to Rashford on the right flank. Rashford ran past a Tottenham defender to get to the ball and shot it past Lloris to the right corner of the net. It was Rashford’s 8th goal of the season and he is growing in stature with every match.