Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester United 1-0 in a Premier League match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, February 17.
James Maddison scored the only goal of the match in the first half.
The win propelled the Spurs to the 12th position in the league table with 30 points in 25 matches.
On the other hand, Manchester United dropped to the 15th position with 29 points from 25 matches, now running the risk of finishing with their lowest-ever points tally in a Premier League season.
Manchester United’s Defeat Exposed the Cost of Limited Substitutions
United started with a 3-4-2-1 formation with Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee playing behind Rasmus Hojlund in Amad Diallo’s absence because of an injury.
However, the Red Devils switched to a 5-2-3 after Tottenham scored, with Bruno Fernandes and Garnacho playing on the right and left side of the central midfield, respectively, with Casemiro in the middle.
Hojlund and Zirkzee played as the two frontmen in pursuit of a goal.
It would have helped significantly if the United midfielders or wing-backs managed to send in crosses into the opposition penalty box frequently.
However, Patrick Dorgu hardly made any overlapping runs in the first half and Garnacho failed to deliver any cross either.
On a positive note though, the Argentine winger put himself in goal-scoring positions quite frequently and had a number of his shots saved by Guglielmo Vicario.
On one occasion, Garnacho had enough time and space to shoot past Vicario from inside the box. However, the Argentine blasted the ball over the bar.
Manchester United increased the intensity of crosses from the right flank in the second half, with Fernandes, Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot sending them in.
Still, United failed to score despite coming close on a number of occasions. Moreover, Zirkzee, who was tireless with his hold-up play and link-up play, showed signs of exhaustion in the second half.
Dalot was under a lot of pressure facing the combination of Son Heung-min and a brilliant Djed Spence down Tottenham’s left flank.
However, Dalot still managed to go on overlaps on quite a few occasions.
Ruben Amorim did not have any proper player on the bench to replace Zirkzee.
Moreover, in the absence of Lisandro Martinez, he could not shift Dalot to the left flank and play Mazraoui as the right wing-back either.
United’s baffling decision of not signing any attacking player, but letting Marcus Rashford and Antony leave made little sense.
Now, Amad’s injury has put them in a precarious position.
From now onwards, the Red Devils will have to persist with a tired player even if they feel like replacing him.
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United Almost Safe from Relegation
Manchester United are 12 points above the relegation zone at this point in time, which should be enough to keep them safe from it.
However, having their worst-ever finish in the league is absolutely on the cards.
Amorim’s men will take on Everton and Ipswich Town in their next two matches in the Premier League.
Winning those two matches is absolutely crucial for them to improve their position in the league table.
They will then face Fulham in the fifth round of the FA Cup and Arsenal in the Premier League in March.
Both of those games should be tough. It will be interesting to see how Manchester United fare in them.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / Visionhaus
Recording Date: 16.02.2025