Manchester United 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur Match Analysis

After a decent enough performance away at the Hawthorns last week, Spurs were supposed to be a tough experience for our young makeshift defenders. But boy, did we blow them away.

The team started nearly the same as last weekend missing only the two first-choice centre backs and Fabio, as Evra regained his starting spot, captaining the side in the process. After demolishing Hearts the other week, Spurs were looking for their first win at Old Taffrord under Harry Reddknapp and he kept faith in the team that travelled to Scotland with only new signing Friedel making his Spurs debut. And what a debut it was too.

The first-half was quiet in terms of goals-scoring chances with only Cleverley's shot parried away by the ever-present Friedel. But the second half proved to be a precursor to what this young United team could achieve this season.

With Van der Vaart leading  Spurs on a personal mission to try and prove that our keeper hasn't learned anything from his experience last week, tried to shoot on every given opportunity. This decreased their chances of mounting any serious threat to our goal throughout the match.

Salford born United fan, Danny Welbeck was wasting his energy in the first-half by running into areas where he was tightly marked and couldn't receive the ball, so whatever the manager told him at the interval, it worked like a charm.



He closed down defenders and his overall movement improved dramatically. With Cleverley, Rooney and Young giving him enough support, as Nani again carrying through his lacklustre performance from last week, it was only a matter of time before we broke the deadlock.

Smalling dashed into the right flank and cutback the ball to Cleverley who crossed a peach of a cross onto the path of Welbeck, who with all his 6ft plus frame, guided the ball into Friedel's right-hand corner of the net. The two Academy lads proving that with hard work, you can make it from the bottom-up within our club.



A Wel-taken goal



With Spurs piling on forward and bringing on Pavlyuchenko,  we were able to control the possession and the tempo of passing. A great one-two from the ever-improving Anderson, who I still believe has a long way to go yet to prove himself, and Welbeck's deft back heel in the area flummoxing the Spurs defence, the Brazilian sweeped United's second and you got the feeling that it was over by then.

Since Scholes left I have a burden on my shoulder

All three subs were used by Sir Alex and Park, Giggs and Chicharito coming on for the fantastic trio of Cleverley, Welbeck and Young.

Although the result wasn't in doubt but United weren't finished scoring as Giggs gently lifting the ball for Wayne Rooney, who I thought gave a man-of the-match performance together with Phil Jones, headed the ball in for a well-deserving goal for the player and his team.

New hairstyle, same outcome

David De Gea did himself enough justice as he gave a decent performance with the only wobble coming late in the match when he mishandled a cross and Defoe hitting the subsequent rebound onto the post.

Commentators and pundits were piling on the well-deserved plaudits for City's great start so far, but United's performance wasn't a statement like City's but more of a glimpse of what this squad is capable of. And with Rooney starting to finally fulfil his potential, who knows what United can achieve this season and in the future.