Shocking Spurs Humiliated at Home in Dreadful Defeat

Saturday 30th October 2021

Match Report

Tottenham Hotspur 0 – 3 Manchester United

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

Competition: English Premier League

"Pre-Match Thoughts – With both managers on the brink, this one's been branded as 'El-sackico'. The pressure is heavier on Ole and his United side though, having faced humiliation at the hands of rivals Liverpool last weekend. Spurs bounced back somewhat with a win at Burnley in midweek, but the fact Man United didn't have a cup match to worry about works in their favour – They’ve had a week to rest and prepare. On top of that, one positive of Ole's tenure has been his excellent away record. Spurs haven't beaten United on home turf since 2018 either. With so much to prove, Ronaldo and Co are going to be a formidable force. Having said that, their defence has been shocking of late, and if the likes of Kane and Son get at them early, I'd say we have a chance. I'm predicting 2-2."

Nuno made two surprise changes from the side that started against West Ham – Lo Celso was chosen over Ndombele, and Reguilón dropped to the bench with experienced Welshman Ben Davies picked ahead of him.

Lo Celso had a huge a point to prove – We know he has the ability, he's shown it in abundance for Argentina. Today was a chance for him to step-up and show it for Spurs.

The home support were audibly up for it, and the players seemed to be too – a strong start saw us dominating the ball early on.

There were chances at both ends around the 25 minute mark – first Son latched onto a dinked ball over the defence from Moura, he took an excellent first touch but knocked it over the bar from close range with his second. United went straight up the other end and a Fernandes cross found Cavani, whose header curled just wide of the post.

Two minutes later and Spurs had the ball in the back of the net – A corner found the head of Dier, who headed down towards the bottom corner, Romero was there to deflect it in from close range, but he was deemed offside and the goal was chalked off.

Ronaldo found a breakthrough for United in the 39th minute – Fernandes received the ball between halfway and the penalty area, he chipped it across goal to the six yard box, where Ronaldo watched it all the way onto his right boot before volleying back across Lloris into the bottom corner. 0-1.

A world class finish from Ronaldo. Davies couldn't get his head to the cross to cut it out, and he'd allowed Ronaldo to peel off the back of him and find space in behind.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – Spurs need to do more going forward. They've had a couple of chances, but once again Kane has been a shadow of his former self. Ronaldo got his chance, and put it away expertly. That rocked Spurs and we go into the break behind. We need to come out hungry in the second half and find a goal, because if United find another it could be game over."

Ronaldo thought he'd doubled his tally a couple of minutes after the break, but thankfully his blasted finish was ruled out for offside.

Controversy came on the 54th minute as Lucas Moura was unfairly substituted and Nuno's decision drew a rapture of boos. It was evident the crowd deemed Lo Celso or Kane a better choice, as they'd been non-existent for Spurs in the match. Bergwijn was the man who came on.

25 to go and Cavani made it two – Fernandes nicked it off Skipp following a heavy touch in the centre circle, he found Ronaldo, who turned inside the recovering Skipp, before laying it through to Cavani. The Uruguayan took a touch forward then lifted it over Lloris, who'd raced out and down in an attempt to smother it at his feet. 0-2.

Unfortunate for young Skipp. He's been superb since coming into the side this season, and that moment will have hurt him. The ball from Højbjerg was played into him with power, his touch bounced up into his chest and Fernandes pinched it off him.

To add insult to injury he was subbed immediately after, Ndombele his replacement.

Spurs continued to do nothing in response.

On 72 Lo Celso was dragged off for Dele to a chorus of boos, after another hugely disappointing display from him.

The crowd turned against Kane soon after – Following a loose pass from Cavani, he found himself free and away down the right side, he dithered and ended up bottling the shot, opting for a pathetic attempt at a cross instead that landed feebly on the chest of a United defender. It was a big chance to get back into the game wasted. Spurs fans voiced their opinion with more boos. A real toxic atmosphere had developed inside the stadium. A sign that something needs to change – The players looked scared and completely clueless out there.

Five remaining and United put the game to bed with a ridiculously easy goal – Matic had it in central midfield, passed it forward to Rashford, who had all the time in the world in the centre of Spurs' backline, he waltzed forward in on goal and placed it into the bottom right corner. 0-3.

Game Over.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – An absolute embarrassment in front of our home support. We couldn't even muster a single shot on target, and the boos rang out loud at the whistle. Spineless performance, the players looked like they had no idea, no plan, no hunger, no desire to play for this manager. Something needs to change quickly because we can't go on like this."

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 1. Hugo Lloris – 4 – Conceded three goals. Would like to see more leadership from our captain.

• 12. Emerson Royal – 4 – Looked nervy. Got up on the overlap on occasion but failed to make an impact.

• 4. Cristian Romero – 3 – Ball in behind him from Ronaldo to Cavani for the second. Nowhere to be seen on the third.

• 15. Eric Dier – 4 – Left stranded by Romero for the third. Lucky to see Ronaldo's second disallowed. Made a decent block here and there but all in all our defence was a shambles.

• 33. Ben Davies – 3 – Ronaldo peeled off him for the goal. Couldn't get his head on it to cut it out. Didn't have the pace to offer anything going forward.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 4 – Needed to be more incisive and help drive the team forward. Disappointing to see him drop his head and stop after his awkward pass into Skipp that led to the second goal.

• 29. Oliver Skipp – 4 – Similar to Højbjerg, not enough creativity coming from midfield. Unfortunate mistake that lead to the second goal. Needs to put it behind him and keep his head up because he's one of the very few in this team that shows passion for the shirt.

• 18. Giovani Lo Celso – 3 – Woeful. Big chance to show us what he can do again and didn’t make anything happen. Poor pass to Son when he had a great opportunity to set him in on goal at one point.

• 27. Lucas Moura – 4 – Unfortunate to get dragged off for Bergwijn. Was looking to make things happen but nothing materialised.

• 7. Son Heung-min – 5 – Had a couple of chances in the first half that he failed to capitalise on. Full of running as per.

• 10. Harry Kane – 3 – Another extremely disappointing performance from our talisman. Non-existent out there. When he did find himself on the ball, for example in the second half down the right side, he showed a complete lack of confidence to squander a chance to get us back into the match. Sad to see the fans turn on him, but he made a rod for his own back by trying to force his way out in the summer. Will be a real test of his character to see if he can come back from this.

Substitutions:

• 27. Lucas Moura <-- 54' --> 23. Steven Bergwijn – 4 – Struggled to get involved.

• 29. Oliver Skipp <-- 66' --> 28. Tanguy Ndombele – 4 – The game was pretty much gone by time he came on. Didn't threaten to change that.

• 18. Giovani Lo Celso <-- 73' --> 20. Dele Alli – 4 – Didn't make an impact.

Man of the Match – Nobody