Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag refused to let Cristiano Ronaldo overshadow arguably his team바카라™s most complete performance under him in a 2-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur in English Premier League 2022-23 on Wednesday. (More Football News)
Ronaldo headed to the changing room before the final whistle at Old Trafford after being left as an unused substitute. 바카라śI don바카라™t pay attention today,바카라ť Ten Hag said. 바카라śWe deal with that tomorrow. I want to keep the focus on this team. It was a magnificent performance from all the 11 players.바카라ť
It was understandable that the Dutchman wanted to focus on on-field matters, rather than his veteran forward. Second-half goals from Fred and Bruno Fernandes saw his team move to within a point of the Premier League바카라™s top four.
But for Hugo Lloris, who pulled off a string of fine saves, the margin of victory would have been more emphatic. United now sits one point behind fourth-place Chelsea and four off Tottenham, who have played a game more.
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 United바카라™s home fans, who were repeatedly out of their seats in response to some of the slickest football they바카라™ve seen from their team under the new Dutch manager.
바카라śI think it was the best team performance so far this season, so you see today we are developing, you see the in the last weeks the way we want to play, we want to get better every time on the pitch,바카라ť said Ten Hag. 바카라śI said to the lads in the dressing room it was really enjoyable to watch them.바카라ť
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 United바카라™s dominance paid off.
Lloris was almost guilty of gifting United the lead after just six minutes when fumbling Antony바카라™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 Kane바카라™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 바카라” most recently the goalless draw with Newcastle on Sunday.
But United was ahead at the start of the second half 바카라” even if it relied on a touch of fortune when Fred바카라™s 47th-minute shot from outside the area was diverted past Lloris by the outstretched leg of Ben Davies.
As impressive as United바카라™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.
바카라śWe have to be honest and say United deserved to win,바카라ť the Tottenham manager said. 바카라śThey created chances to score. From our side we didn바카라™t start the game and it was really difficult because I think we made a lot of mistakes in simple things.
바카라śFor sure not a good game for us, but I have to be honest and first of all with my players, this was not the first time for us this season.바카라ť 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 David de Gea 바카라” and from there United pounced, quickly moving the ball into the Spurs penalty area. When Fred바카라™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 바카라” and Ronaldo went in search of the changing room.
