It was a great weekend for Spurs, who put in a dominant performance to defeat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon. Here are the main positives we took from the game, and two slightly niggling negatives.
The good
The challenge here is that there was so much that went right with the team’s display against United that it’s hard to pick out just two positives, but we’ll focus on some in-form attackers, and a solid defensive display.
Brennan and Solanke on a hot streak
A familiar pattern has emerged lately, and it’s a very nice habit that we hope will continue for a long time. Yes, we’re talking about the goalscoring run both Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke are on right now.
After suffering some abuse from his own fans online, Johnson deactivated his social media accounts. Since then, he’s scored four goals in four games and looks brimming with confidence as he proves the doubters wrong.
He was electric against United yesterday, grabbing a nice early goal, and then being integral to the build-up for Dejan Kulusevski’s goal to double the lead.
Meanwhile, Solanke continues to show why Spurs decided to spend so much money on him, and why Ange Postecoglou was so keen to make him the new leading man in his attack.
The forward pressed with intensity, never stopped running and working for the team, and got his goal thanks to some smart movement in the box at the corner.
His goals may look simple, but he’s getting in the right spots to be there to finish them, and he must be loving the amount of chances coming his way.
A rare clean sheet
Spurs looked formidable going forward, but we need to talk about how solid the defence was. The whole back five (plus Djed Spence in the second half) made Manchester United’s forwards look amateur, and ensured the Red Devils had a miserable afternoon.
It’s not often we keep clean sheets, given the attacking nature of our football. It’s even rarer that we keep a clean sheet away from home in the Premier League. So to grab one at Old Trafford of all places is a real treat.
The bad
Again, the tricky thing here is actually picking anything to complain about, as the whole performance was pretty much perfect. But, we do have two very small gripes.
Chances created… and missed
It was such an exciting and relentless display from Spurs, and the fact we racked up an xG of 4.67 (the most Tottenham have ever had in the Premier League) says it all. Dejan Kulusevski alone created nine chances, which is phenomenal.
The only problem is, we didn’t quite make the most of those opportunities. Spurs could and should have been three or four goals up by half-time, and could have scored the same again in the second half.
It was a similar issue to one we’ve seen for quite some time, where we absolutely dominate a game, but can’t quite land the killer blow and make it comfortable for ourselves. We got there in the end against United, but it could have been a much more comprehensive victory.
Timo Werner struggles again
One of the main culprits of being wasteful in front of goal was Timo Werner, who was drafted in for the injured Heung-min Son for the game.
We don’t like to pick on players, but patience is certainly running thin when it comes to Werner, who has consistently shown he doesn’t quite have what it takes when it comes to the goalscoring side of his game.
The German had at least three golden opportunities, but never looked confident in the one-on-one situations. If Heung-min Son had been on the pitch, he would have likely bagged a hat-trick.
If Mikey Moore had been given the nod to start instead of Werner, he would probably have got off the mark for the club, too. Hopefully, the youngster can climb the pecking order soon.