Pochettino Hails

By Harry Morgan

Tottenham Hotspur manager, Mauricio Pochettino, hailed his side's 'special win' over Manchester United at the Old Trafford on Monday.

Harry Kane broke the deadlock with a header in the 50th minute, and Lucas Moura took over, first hitting home in the 52nd minute before completing the rout in the 84th minute.

It was Spurs' first 3-0 win over Man United in 46 years and the Old Trafford outfit's first home defeat by that margin in 25 years.

“It’s a special win at Old Trafford,” Pochettino said after the game. “We feel so proud. Our players deserve full credit. I’m so happy, so proud, but now we stay calm and work hard to prepare for the next game.”

“We worked so hard preparing for the game. We have very good players, but if we don’t show that togetherness, it’s so difficult to win at a place like Old Trafford.”

Asked about his motivation before the duel, Pochettino added: “It is the belief we had. Always believe in the way you work, the trust, the confidence and all, together, trying to fight for one objective. It was clear we were a team on the pitch and outside.”

Jose Mourinho drafted Ander Herrera to defence in a 3-5-1-1 formation against Pochettino’s 4-1-2-1-2 system. Man United dominated the first half but missed the chances that came their way, with the visitors registered a single shot on target.

Fred blasted wide in the 1st minute, and Romelu Lukaku shot the ball across the face of an empty net in the 16th minute after going round Hugo Lloris before directing another shot wide 11 minutes later.

Harry Kane picked up a yellow card in the 28th minute, two minutes, after which, Fred missed the post narrowly with a right footed shot before Tottenham registered their first shot with Christian Eriksen shooting into David De Gea’s hands in the 40th minute, Chirs Smalling blocked Dele Alli’s shot inside the penalty area two minutes later before  Toby Alderweireld closed the first half with a block of Paul Pogba’s shot.

Paul Pogba resumed the second half with a narrow miss, Dele Alli’s attempt was blocked to corner and a Kieran Trippier cross, following the kick, was headed home by Harry Kane on the blind side of his marker, Phill Jones.

Tottenham gave Man United no reprieve as they doubled up the lead two minutes later. Lucas Moura right launched on Christian Eriksen’s pass to hit lash a right footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom left corner.

Mourinho replaced Ander Herrera in the 55th minute with Alexis Sanchez in an attempt to fortify his attack, but that could not help as Lukas Moura put the game beyond reach in the 83rd minute by feeding on a Harry Kane pass to dribble Victor Lindelof before shooting home.