Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur. Premier League.
Old TraffordAttendance74,400.
Report and highlights as United lose two of opening three PL games for first time since 1992; Spurs best start since 2009
Tuesday 28 August 2018 05:44, UK
Lucas Moura scored twice as Tottenham stunned Manchester United with a 3-0 win at Old Trafford on Monday Night Football.
Harry Kane's superb header from a corner (50) and Lucas' tidy finish (52) gave Spurs daylight against a shell-shocked United, after Jose Mourinho made six changes from the side that lost 3-2 at Brighton last week.
Spurs then caught United on the break to add a third through man-of-the-match Lucas' fine finish (85), meaning United have suffered their worst start to a Premier League season since 2014.
United have also lost two of their opening three Premier League games for the first time since 1992, while Spurs register their best start since 2009/10.
Most of the early talk surrounded Mourinho's tactics, with Ander Herrera starting on the right side of a central-defensive three and Paul Pogba further up the pitch than in previous weeks.
Danny Rose so nearly handed United an early lead with a loose back-pass, but Romelu Lukaku will feel he should have scored having rolled the ball just wide of the open goal after rounding Hugo Lloris.
Spurs had a strong call for a penalty turned down by Craig Pawson after Jones' clumsy challenge on Moura from behind, with Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville agreeing in the MNF studio that Jones should have been penalised.
But Spurs went ahead in fine fashion five minutes after the break through Kane's brilliant header into the far corner from Kieran Trippier's corner, Tottenham's first goal at Old Trafford in 433 Premier League minutes.
Lloris turned away a Lukaku effort moments later, but it was 2-0 on 52 minutes through Lucas, turning home from 10 yards into the bottom left corner after Christian Eriksen picked him out.
Spurs had two golden opportunities to make it 3-0 after Mourinho made three quick-fire changes; first, substitute Victor Lindelof's poor back-pass was picked up by Dele Alli, but he could only fire at David de Gea, before Kane headed wide unmarked from six yards after losing Lindelof at a corner.
United piled on the pressure in hope of halving the deficit, but Lucas broke away to get his second and Spurs' third, slipping past Chris Smalling and finishing neatly into the left corner past De Gea.
Mourinho showed respect to the United fans after the game, standing in front of the Stretford End and clapping the home support for over a minute.
Jose Mourinho: "We work all week, and by the strategic point of view we didn't lose, by the tactical point of view we didn't lose, but we lost the game. We work very, very well during the week, we prepared the game very well, we played very well, the players had a fantastic attitude."
Mauricio Pochettino: "After four years of playing here, when you don't score one goal, to win away from home at Old Trafford it is a massive, massive victory."
Jamie Carragher: "There's a serious lack of quality, if you've spent £400m on a squad. How do you lose 3-0?That's a team that looks like it still needs £200m spent on it. Some of the defenders there. What's happened at United in terms of buying two £30m centre-backs? I can't really criticise Lindelof because it gets to the stage that he's so far out of his depth that you start to feel sorry for him. In Jones and Smalling, have they improved since Mourinho came in? They've been playing for a long time, and it shouldn't really be happening at this level."
Lucas became the first player to score a double at Old Trafford in the Premier League since Sergio Aguero in April 2015, and his fine start to the season continued with a vibrant display.
"He has terrorised the defenders at times with his pace," said Alan Smith on MNF. "He is clearly really desperate to do well at his new club and he has certainly done brilliantly tonight."
Will Son have a battle on his hands to get back into the starting XI?
Manchester United go to Burnley on Sunday at 4pm in the Premier League, while Tottenham go to Watford at the same time on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League.
