Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Manchester United: 5 Key Talking Points

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - Premier League
Alexis Sanchez had a PL debut to forget

#4 Mousa Dembele dominates Paul Pogba

Demb
Dembele owned the midfield on the night

Early last year, Mauricio Pochettino reeled out the names of five "genius players" that he'd been "lucky" to work with - Diego Maradona topped the list, obviously, and was followed by Ronaldinho, Jay Jay Okocha, Ivan De La Pena... and Mousa Dembele.

The Belgian midfielder has flourished under Pochettino's aegis - when fit - and it was quite evident on the night why his manager rated him so highly. Playing in a system that suits him to a T, he utterly dominated the midfield, a giant of man gliding along the Wembley surface with the grace of a ballet dancer - the perfect marriage of silk and steel - and his own personal battle with Paul Pogba was as lopsided an affair as you'd ever see. Dembele controlled the pace of the game from the back - dribbling out of danger, or passing it out as the situation demanded while providing the kind of solidity alongside Eric Dier that United so sorely lacked.

Mourinho's withdrawal of his star man with half an hour to go was akin to a referee calling an end to a boxing fight because one of the pugilists has simply taken enough punishment.

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Edited by Anirudh Menon
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