Big teams have come to Wembley this season and been humiliated – none more so than expensively assembled Man United. If their first half was poor, their second was shocking.
We had a period of struggling to score first half and then labouring with too much possession, trying to be patient. Tonight, the impatience was there from the kick off: Kane running into the box; Dele running into space the ball might not come to, and Eriksen too – chasing causes, not lost perhaps but still yet to be found. A goal in ten seconds.
The crowd was a beating drum, a thumping heart and the players didn’t stop. Impatient, chasing down, getting to the ball first, breaking in anticipation. By the second half, United were shot to pieces; it looked like Spurs v Newport County was supposed to look. And when this happens, players lead by example and players raise their game. Well done every man Jack of them!
LLORIS – 7
Hugo did everything asked of him. He came for a corner and punched impressively clear, slid out to feet, kicked clear to resist the pressure that had been descending on defenders he had been passing to.
SANCHEZ – 7
Let’s face it, United hardly had a sniff. One of those who grew in stature.
VERTONGHEN – 8
Courageous and brilliant. Who doesn’t love it when he clears up and then surges through the middle?
TRIPPIER – 8
What confidence does for you. Started a little as the Trippier of recent poor games. His characteristic immediate cross produced the own goal down United’s porous left defence and thereafter he was at the races, plundering the flank, supporting and yearning to produce crosses without ever losing sight of a jockeying defensive task.
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DAVIES – 7
The quieter of the two full backs he nevertheless continues to be impressively reliable. You believe he too is going to make his cross tell.
DIER – 7
Really contributed. Less one paced than the Newport dossier claimed, tackled, attempted passes that would add value, attempts on goal. Was part of a midfield that utterly dominated the likes of Pogba – who was substituted, though not as ignominiously as Fellaini who only lasted five minutes. Who lost it there – Fellaini or just Mourinho
DEMBELE – 9
I’m all for Dembele getting booked in the opening minutes; as a result he produced a masterly display in which he balanced aggression and power with maturity. He attracted space around himself like a mosh pit aficionado in a ballroom and exploited it to the full. He almost drove into the box at times with the sense that he might know what he could do when he got there.
SON – 9
Ran himself into the ground, was kicked literally from head to toe, never stopped chasing down defenders and was part of a dangerous if profligate front four.
DELE – 9
When Dele left the pitch, having been substituted, he raised his arms to the crowd. Yes, he knew it, and they did. He had delivered. He really wanted it from the off. He chased and harried. And then, because he has the talent, he found space, used imagination, tried the daring and passed the ball with such a touch.
ERIKSEN – 9
I want to know how far he ran, his fitness, the tenacity of his tackling tonight, his goal and the sense, when he picks up the ball, anything could happen. He exploited as well as anyone, he acres of space United bewilderingly retreated out of. The second half was just an exhibition.
KANE – 6
And then, just because I can, just because we actually didn’t need him for once, the lowest score. He still led the line brilliantly, led the team by example, but for once he missed a hatful of chances he will be kicking himself for letting slip.
SUBS
Lamela always looks lively and Sissoko and Wanyama contributed.
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