Manchester United vs. Tottenham Hotspur result, highlights and analysis as Fred and Bruno Fernandes secure three points

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OLD TRAFFORD, MANCHESTER — Manchester United produced arguably their best performance under Erik ten Hag as they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0.

Second-half goals from Fred and Bruno Fernandes secured a fully deserved three points for the Red Devils, who controlled proceedings from start to finish and could have scored many more were it not for Hugo Lloris’ brilliance in the Spurs goal.

Lloris denied Marcus Rashford one-on-one and made a good save from Luke Shaw, while Antony also hit the post in a first half dominated by the home side.

Manchester United vs. Tottenham live score

  1H 2H Final
Man United 0 2 —
Tottenham 0 0 —

Goals:
MAN UNITED — Fred — 47 mins

MAN UNITED — Fernandes — 69 mins

United took until deep into injury time to score against Omonoia Nicosia and were frustrated by Newcastle United last time out here, but they found a breakthrough early in the second half when Fred’s effort deflected in off Ben Davies.

Fernandes added a sumptuous second after the officials played a good advantage, and the result never really looked in doubt. Indeed, had it not been for further saves from Lloris against Rashford, one of which was a fabulous one-handed stop, the scoreline could have looked humbling for Spurs.

The result moves United to within four points of Antonio Conte’s side in the Premier League table, with a game in hand, while they are just one behind fourth-place Chelsea ahead of a trip to Stamford Bridge this Saturday.

Manchester United vs Tottenham commentary, highlights

FT: It finishes 2-0 to Manchester United, who thoroughly deserved to win a largely one-sided affair. Fred’s deflected strike and a fine Bruno Fernandes finish got them the three points in the second half, and they were scarcely troubled by Spurs from then on. Ten Hag’s side have now beaten Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs at Old Trafford this season, scoring seven goals and conceding two.

90+4 mins: Kane forces a corner off Martinez, but Sessegnon glances Son’s delivery high and wide — and that’s that!

90+2: Spence makes a promising run into the United box but Shaw closes down the danger. Fred then caps a tremendous performance by robbing Kane of the ball, but Rashford is offside as United try to counter.

90 mins: Fred plays a lovely ball over the top to Elanga, whose touch just lets him down. United are pushing for a late third here (or just keeping the ball away from their own goal). This has been as dominant a display as they’ve managed under Ten Hag. We’ll have four minutes of added time.

87 mins: Anthony Elanga and Christian Eriksen come on for United. Casemiro gets a huge ovation — he’s played superbly tonight. Eriksen’s arrival gets a mixed reaction from the Spurs fans.

85 mins: Cheers from the home fans as the Spurs contingent try to cheer on their side for a late comeback. They now have Lucas Moura and Ryan Sessegnon supporting Son and Kane in attack, and United are dropping off a little more to defend.

82 mins: Fernandes has the ball in the net again, having rounded Lloris to finish in style, but he was just offside as Rashford whipped over the pass. Conte has gone for broke, making four substitutions at the same time.

79 mins: United have settled into a more controlled possession-based approach after that second goal. McTominay is on for Antony, who gets a rest before the trip to Chelsea at the weekend.

74 mins: Lloris with an unbelievable save! Fred, being Fred, launches a counter-attack, loses the ball, then promptly wins it back and gives it to Rashford. The forward makes space on his right foot and lets fly, but Lloris produces a stunning one-handed stop to keep it out. It was a little too close to the Spurs keeper again, but it was hit with plenty of power.

69 mins: GOAL! Fernandes makes it 2-0! Fred tried to turn a loose ball forwards just inside the Spurs box, Dier blocked it back to Fernandes, and he swept a sumptuous first-time finish out of Lloris’ reach. United double their lead!

Watch Fernandes make it 2-0 (UK):

USA: 

66 mins: You wonder if Conte will change things soon — Spurs are struggling to get a foothold in this game. Rashford had another chance just now, racing through onto De Gea’s long ball, but he ran out of room in the Spurs box.

60 mins: United look the more likely to score the game’s second. Antony drags a shot narrowly wide of the near post and Rashford has a penalty shout waved away after racing in behind Dier (who didn’t really seem to make much contact — it looked like the United striker tripped on the ball). Fred then picks out Rashford with an excellent cross, but he gets his header all wrong. That was more of a delivery for Ronaldo to attack.

51 mins: Rashford has a chance for 2-0! He battles his way into the box, cuts back onto his left foot, but Lloris manages to stay big enough to keep the ball out. At the other end, Kane manages to find space but his effort is deflected behind for a corner, which comes to nothing.

47 mins: GOAL! Manchester United are in front, and it’s Fred who’s got the goal! Fernandes wins back possession in the Spurs half and finds Antony. The Brazilian squares to Sancho, who lays the ball off to Fred on the edge of the box. He shoots first time with his left foot, it takes a big deflection off Davies and rolls into the bottom-left corner!

Watch Fred’s opening goal (UK):

Watch in the USA:

KO: Here we go — will we see a winner here?

HT: Conte has sent his players out early. Perhaps a few stern words were all that were needed. McTominay and Eriksen have been warming up for the home side, but it doesn’t look like either will be coming on imminently.

HT: The half ends quietly after that Dalot incident. Conte will certainly be happier with the scoreline, but Spurs have been second-best here. This has been one of United’s better first-half displays in recent weeks, but they couldn’t find that breakthrough goal, and you have to wonder if some of those misses will come back to haunt them, specifically the one from Rashford.

44 mins: United have played well and with purpose in this first half, but Spurs’ shape, with a back five and three central midfielders, has mostly kept clear-cut chances to a minimum. The visitors launch a promising break that ends with De Gea saving at the near post from Kane’s attempt, before the England striker blasts the rebound into the throat of Dalot, who’s now being treated.

39 mins: A few meaty challenges fly in from both teams and suddenly the noise inside Old Trafford is cranked up. Fred’s shot flies wide, then Dalot tries one from a similar distance, and play is stopped because it struck Dier plumb in the face. That would’ve been painful.

34 mins: Perisic intercepts a pass on the edge of the Spurs box and starts a break, but he stops on halfway to keep possession, prompting groans from the away fans. Spurs eventually do work it forward, but Son’s effort from the edge of the area is comfortably over.

29 mins: Some lovely one-touch stuff between Sancho, Shaw and Fernandes tees up Casemiro to shoot first time with his left foot, and it just fizzes wide of Lloris’ right-hand post. The Spurs keeper stood and watched that one. United have played some nice football at times, but the visitors will know their chances on the break will come.

24 mins: Lloris is keeping this at 0-0 at the moment. He tips over a free-kick from Fernandes and then does the same to a fizzing Shaw volley from Dalot’s cross. United are carrying the threat at the moment, but they can’t get that breakthrough.

21 mins: What a chance for Rashford! Fred’s throughball is perfect, Rashford is through on goal, but Lloris makes fine save to keep out his low effort. The Spurs keeper shouldn’t have been given a chance there.

20 mins: Conte is directing everything and everyone from the sideline, while Ten Hag is standing quite passively and observing. He had a great view just then of a fine crossfield pass from Kane to Doherty, who got into the box but couldn’t find the target.

15 mins: A chance for Spurs on the break, but Dalot defends well one-vs-one against Perisic and the ball goes out for a goal kick. Spurs are just starting to grow into the game.

11 mins: Antony hits the post! The Brazilian cuts inside on his left foot and curls the ball towards the right-hand upright, which it clips on its way behind for a goal kick. It might be the expected play from the former Ajax man, but when it works, it’s a real threat.

Watch Antony strike the post for United (UK):

7 mins: A scary moment for Lloris there! Fernandes dummies beautifully in midfield and Fred plays it through to Rashford. Spurs clear, but only as far as Antony, who tries to catch Lloris off his line. The Spurs keeper gathers it, and then somehow fumbles it behind, but it’s out for a corner rather than in his own net. Moments later, he tips over a good strike from Fred, as if to make amends.

KO: We’re off under the lights!

15 mins to KO: Spurs players are heading back down the tunnel following their warm-up. United’s contingent is following (although it’s mostly the subs who are still out there). Kickoff is fast approaching!

30 mins to KO: The decision to leave out Ronaldo, who scored a hat-trick in this fixture last season and was the only reason for Spurs’ defeat (according to Conte) is a big one from Ten Hag. Rashford offers more mobility against the visiting defence, but he was guilty of missing a clear chance to score a late winner against Newcastle — a chance Ronaldo would be expected to score. As for Spurs, their set-up would suggest a more cautious approach and using Kane and Son’s ruthless combination on the break, which could serve them well.

TEAM NEWS:

The big news for United is that Marcus Rashford starts in place of Cristiano Ronaldo. There’s a place for Fred in central midfield alongside Casemiro, with the returning Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen on the bench.

For Tottenham, Ivan Perisic gets the nod on the left-hand side in what looks like a 5-3-2 set-up. Yves Bissouma joins Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield, with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min in attack.

80 mins to KO: Bruno Fernandes did the pre-match interview for the official programme and spoke about how he wants to stay at United for “many years”. “I want to have some stability for my family,” he said. Plenty of United fans might wish for some stability in his form: with his attacking output having dried up, Ten Hag’s men have looked a little blunt in recent matches, not least as they struggled to break down Omonoia and Newcastle in their previous two home games.

100 mins to KO: This is arguably a more important game for United than Spurs, even so early in the season. Conte’s men are seven points above the Red Devils in the table and only four off top spot, so a draw would be far from a poor result here. For United, defeat today — and a win for Chelsea at Brentford — would leave them six points outside the top four. Oh, and they go to Stamford Bridge in three days’ time.

120 mins to KO: We’re here at Old Trafford for a big game in the battle for the top four — and, just maybe, the Premier League title in the case of Spurs. Leave it to Antonio Conte to stir the pot in the lead-up.

MORE: Updated Premier League top goal scorers rankings

Manchester United vs. Tottenham live stream, TV channel

UK: This is one of the select Premier League matches to be shown on Amazon Prime this season. Subscribers can watch for no additional fee, while there is also a free 30-day trial for those without subscriptions.

USA: The match will be exclusively available on NBC streaming platform Peacock.

Canada: Every Premier League game streams live and on demand exclusively via fuboTV.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream the Premier League live and on demand on Optus Sport. 

Manchester United vs. Tottenham lineups

Scott McTominay is back from suspension after missing the draw with Newcastle, but he and fit-again Christian Eriksen are on the bench. Marcus Rashford was only well enough to appear off the bench versus the Magpies but has usurped Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting XI against Spurs.

Anthony Martial and Harry Maguire are still out, along with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Donny van de Beek. Brandon Williams is training individually outside again, but Axel Tuanzebe is not expected back before late December.

Manchester United lineup (4-2-3-1): De Gea (GK) — Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw — Casemiro, Fred — Antony, Fernandes, Sancho — Rashford

Subs: Malacia, Elanga, Ronaldo, Heaton, Pellistri, Garnacho, Eriksen, Lindelof, McTominay

For Tottenham, Ivan Perisic gets the nod on the left-hand side in what looks like a 5-3-2 set-up. Yves Bissouma joins Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield, with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min in attack.

Dejan Kulusevksi misses out, as does Richarlison, while Emerson Royal is suspended.

Tottenham lineup (5-3-2): Lloris (GK) — Doherty, Romero, Dier, Davies, Perisic — Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Bissouma — Son, Kane

Subs: Forster, Spence, Gil, Lucas Moura, Lenglet, Sanchez, Sessegnon, Tanganga, Skipp

Manchester United vs. Tottenham betting odds

It’s no great surprise that there is little to split these two when it comes to the oddsmakers. United are given the slight advantage that comes with home teams, but they are hardly considered clear favourites against a team who have only lost twice since April.

United games have been tight affairs in terms of the scoreline lately: they beat Omonoia Nicosia (twice) and Everton by a single goal before drawing for the first time under Ten Hag against Newcastle. Perhaps backing another stalemate is the best course of action this time.

  UK
(Sky Bet)		 USA
(Caesars)		 Canada
(Sports Interaction)		 Australia (Ladbrokes)
Manchester United Win 11/8 +140 2.36 2.35
Draw 5/2 +250 3.49 3.50
Tottenham Win 15/8 +185 2.69 2.80
Over 2.5 Goals 4/6 -135 1.69 1.68
Both Teams to Score 8/15 -170 1.53 1.53
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