In the early Saturday kick-off, Manchester United welcomed Tottenham to Old Trafford. The two title contenders did battle in a hotly contested affair between two tactically well-drilled teams. In the end, an 81st-minute winner from Anthony Martial was enough to separate the two teams. Manchester Unites now sit in 2nd place behind Manchester City, three points ahead of Tottenham.
Here are 3 talking points from Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Tottenham.
1Anthony Martial proves he should be starting
Most people aren’t sure why Jose Mourinho keeps leaving Anthony Martial out of the starting XI, but against Tottenham, he showed why he should be. On his day, the Frenchman is one of the most talented players in world football, and it’s incredible to think the Boss only sees him as a super-sub option. Throughout the majority of the game, Manchester United lacked creativity, incision, penetration and attacking flair, that all changed when Martial came onto the pitch.
Usually, when Anthony Martial makes an appearance, he dribbles past players and creates chances. However, today the Frenchman was more focused and direct. He made several attacking runs in behind the Spurs back three that hadn’t been made all game. And then in the 81st minute, Romelu Lukaku flicked on a De Gea goal-kick, which Martial rapidly ran onto to slot past Lloris. With that, Martial injected a bit of quality into a game and settled the difference between two evenly matched sides.
