On a wild, raucous night in Old Trafford, Antonio Conte’s Tottenham was shredded to pieces by a thrilling, high-intensity play from spirited Erik ten Hag’s side that looked less like a team under construction and more like a team that has already reached the final expression.  

The much-maligned Fred was at the heart of the matter, winning balls, executing line-breaking passes, and forging a formidable duo with Casemeiro at the base of the midfield. The fact that Fred’s goal came off a big deflection didn’t matter. It was just an easy reward for a hard yard he put in to vindicate ten Hag’s decision.  

Tottenham came to fixtures with high hopes of climbing to the second position, but never at any point they exuded any sense of belief or planning needed to nullify the opponents. They conceded 19 shots in the first half alone, and could hardly build up anything substantial. 

This was the third victory for Man Utd over the big six sides, previously outclassing both Liverpool and the league leader Arsenal. They will now be traveling to Stamford Bridge in three days, and it shouldn’t come across as a surprise if ten Hag plays the unchanged XI. Though they lacked a proven goal-scorer against Tottenham, it may seem that they have an obvious solution in Cristiano Ronaldo. 

But ten Haag knows this is far from true, and bringing in the Portuguese striker will bring down the efficacy, and his lackadaisical approach in defense will not help the team’s cause. That’s the reason Ronaldo kept playing the waiting game on Wednesday and walked off to the Old Trafford tunnel in a sulk with four minutes remaining.  

With the game already sealed after Bruno Fernandes’ second goal, Man Utd went for defensive solidity by bringing in Scott McTominay, Anthony Elanga, and Christian Eriksen. Ten Hag, however, brushed off the topic, when he was asked about Ronaldo’s antics.  

“I don’t pay attention today [to this]. We deal with that tomorrow. We want to focus on this team, it was a magnificent performance from all 11 players. I have seen him [leaving], I didn’t speak to him after. I will deal with that tomorrow,” said ten Haag. 

“I have to correct myself, not 11 players but the subs who came on, it was a squad performance. What we see today is 11 players who defend and 11 who attack and there was a lot of dynamic in the attack but I would not say I am totally satisfied because that has to be the standard,” he added. 

Lead Image :Cristiano Ronaldo/Twitter