Man Utd vs Tottenham LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction after Bruno Fernandes stunner
Fred and Fernandes scored in a dominant performance from the Red Devils
Manchester United produced arguably its most complete performance under Erik ten Hag by beating Tottenham 2-0 to move within a point of the Premier League’s top four on Wednesday.
Second-half goals from Fred and Bruno Fernandes ensured victory in a game that saw Hugo Lloris pull off a string of fine saves to keep the score down.
United now sits one point behind fourth-place Chelsea and four off Tottenham, who have played a game more.
While victory prompted a rapturous response from the crowd — Cristiano Ronaldo threatened to steal the headlines when he walked off to the changing room before the final whistle blew.
The Portugal star was an unused substitute as United impressed without him.
Ten Hag is increasingly making his presence felt at Old Trafford, with standout wins against Liverpool and Premier League leader Arsenal already this season.
And Spurs became the latest big name to fall in front of United’s home fans, who were repeatedly out of their seats in response to some of the slickest football they’ve seen from their team under the new Dutch manager.
If not for Lloris, United would have held a sizeable lead by halftime, with the goalkeeper coming up with a host of impressive saves.
But he was finally beaten by Fred and Fernandes after the break after United’s dominance paid off.
Lloris was almost guilty of gifting United the lead after just six minutes when fumbling Antony’s long-range effort.
But he recovered to produce saves to deny Marcus Rashford, Fernandes and Luke Shaw before the break, while Antony saw another shot clip the outside of the post.
Harry Kane’s effort from a tight angle just before halftime was as close as Tottenham came to taking the lead.
Ten Hag has seen his team fail to make the most of chances in front of goal in recent weeks — most recently the goalless draw with Newcastle on Sunday.
But United was ahead at the start of the second half — even if it relied on a touch of fortune when Fred’s 47th-minute shot from outside the area was diverted past Lloris by the outstretched leg of Ben Davies.
As impressive as United’s performance was, Tottenham provided little in return.
Antonio Conte appeared helpless to coax his team into life as his players were repeatedly forced into errors and struggled to build attacks.
On one of the rare occasions Tottenham did look threatening, United punished the visitors with a rapid break to make it 2-0 after 69 minutes.
Kane had seen a close-range shot blocked by De Gea — and from there United pounced, quickly moving the ball into the Spurs penalty area.
When Fred’s effort was blocked, Fernandes was quick to send a first-time shot curling past Lloris.
Fernandes and Rashford both saw further chances blocked by Lloris as United went in search for more.
Terrific Fred and Bruno Fernandes inspire relentless Manchester United past dismal Tottenham
Manchester United had no reasons to rue last year’s decision not to pursue Antonio Conte. On a night when the Italian’s Tottenham team could have gone second, they were instead second best. Erik ten Hag, the manager United eventually did appoint instead, constructed a performance with the adventurousness and attacking intent to fit the club’s traditions. Conte has rarely been as bold and his Tottenham could depart Old Trafford thanking the brilliant Hugo Lloris for the fact they only conceded twice.
Old Trafford rocked to the kind of football they have seen too rarely since the watching Sir Alex Ferguson retired. It echoed to the sound of an old tune with new lyrics. “Fred will tear you apart again,” came the chorus from the Stretford End, repurposing a song long used to pay tribute to Ryan Giggs, and the much-maligned midfielder was magnificent. Ten Hag’s time with his midfielders has been a case of trial and error – using Christian Eriksen as a false nine against Brighton and benching Casemiro in a Manchester derby did not work – but he was thoroughly vindicated for choosing Fred instead of a fit-again Eriksen and an available-again Scott McTominay. He was talismanic and terrific.
Ten Hag’s sixth win in eight league games was testament to a turnaround, but the nature of his victims matters more than the number. Spurs were a third notable scalp of Ten Hag’s brief time in England, joining Liverpool and Arsenal among those overcome at Old Trafford. United are up to fifth in the actual table, but the big-six mini-league is looking still more encouraging, even though they shipped six goals at the Etihad Stadium.
Terrific Fred and Bruno Fernandes inspires United past dismal Tottenham
Manchester United vs Tottenham result: Premier League final score after Fred and Bruno Fernandes goals
FT Man Utd 2-0 Tottenham
Bruno Fernandes created nine chances in Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, the most by a player in a Premier League game since Bruno Fernandes created 10 against Aston Villa last September.
FT Man Utd 2-0 Tottenham
Antonio Conte has now lost all four of his visits to Old Trafford as a manager.
FT Man Utd 2-0 Tottenham
FT Man Utd 2-0 Tottenham
Here are the full results from tonight’s Premier League fixtures:
Bournemouth 0-1 Southampton
Brentford 0-0 Chelsea
Liverpool 1-0 West Ham
Newcastle 1-0 Everton
Man Utd 2-0 Tottenham
Full-time: Man Utd 2-0 Tottenham
90+4 mins: A properly convincing performance from Manchester United sees them get the better of Tottenham to keep their unbeaten run going.
Erik ten Hag’s men looked a proper force of skill and quality with Bruno Fernandes orchestrating much of the attacking play tonight. Fred was good and opened the scoring before Fernandes added a second and had another disallowed.
That’s going to be a big result for Man Utd who are now just one point away from the top four and just eight behind league leaders Arsenal.
Man Utd 2-0 Tottenham
90 mins: Four minutes of added time to play at Old Trafford. Cristiano Ronaldo has already headed off down the tunnel and won’t be making an appearance for United tonight.
Man Utd 2-0 Tottenham
87 mins: Anthony Elanga and Christian Eriksen come on for the final few minutes with Jadon Sancho and Casemiro the two men replaced.
Man Utd have this game in hand now. They’re going to pick up all three points.
Man Utd 2-0 Tottenham
84 mins: Antonio Conte makes a triple change with less than 10 minutes to play. Yves Bissouma, Matt Doherty and Eric Dier go off with Davinson Sanchez, Ryan Sessegnon and Lucas Moura brought on.
Can the substitutes get Spurs a consolation goal?
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