James Maddison’s early goal fired Tottenham Hotspur to victory over Manchester United in the battle of the Premier League’s great underachievers.
In a face-off between two struggling teams starting the day 14th and 15th in the table, it was Maddison, making his return from a calf injury, who struck the only goal of the game with 13 minutes on the clock, with the midfielder reacting quickest to convert after Andre Onana had palmed away a Lucas Bergvall effort.
Spurs claimed back-to-back league wins for the first time since September (one of those came when they won 3-0 at Old Trafford) and extended their unbeaten run against United to six matches in all competitions.
United, meanwhile, who were forced to name a bench made up almost exclusively of untested academy players, remain firmly rooted in the depths of the bottom half of the table after failing to find an equaliser.
Here, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Carl Anka, Stuart James and Anantaajith Raghuraman break down the main talking points from Spurs’ win.
Tottenham just about get the job done
You would struggle to call this a textbook performance from Tottenham, but it still felt like a step in the right direction. By beating Manchester United 1-0 here in the bitter cold, Spurs completed consecutive Premier League wins for the first time since September.
Back then, just one month into the season, they beat Brentford at home and then United away. At that point, it felt like Spurs were heading for a good season, but since then, injuries have made it impossible for them to show any consistency.
This month, they have recorded wins against the same two teams: that hard-fought 2-0 win away at Brentford two weeks ago and now this. Between those two games, Spurs were knocked out of both domestic cup competitions, which is why it might not feel like they have much momentum. But they are at least moving up the league table.
The fact Spurs welcomed back five players from injury here, two into the starting 11 and three onto the bench, was also significant. Maddison scored the only goal, cleverly pouncing on a rebound from Onana, and dictated possession while he was still on the pitch. Guglielmo Vicario made plenty of saves, keeping Spurs in it as they conceded chance after chance against United.
After pre-game protests against the ownership and the risk of a mutinous atmosphere, it was exactly the result Tottenham needed, even if they cannot play like this every week.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Garnacho is United’s best goalscoring option — and that’s a problem
The 23rd minute of the game saw United squander a chance of the ‘how have you missed?’ variety.
The xG bods ranked Alejandro Garnacho’s shot at only 0.15 expected goals, but when Bruno Fernandes smuggled the ball past Pedro Porro’s attempted interception and into the path of the young Argentine forward, he looked certain to score. Garnacho may “only” have 13 Premier League goals to his name (in 81 appearances), but he has become United’s most dangerous forward.
The remaining attacking players in Ruben Amorim’s 2024-25 squad lack Garnacho’s ability to attack space and pick up the ball unmarked in the final third. Neither Rasmus Hojlund nor Joshua Zirkzee have Garnacho’s go-getter attitude, where the Carrington academy graduate gets onto the ball and decides to run at defenders as fast as possible, just to stress-test the possibilities. It is unlikely that any United forward will reach 15 Premier League goals this season, but Garnacho is enough of an attacking pest to push closest to it.
However, for all of this faint praise, Garnacho missed a golden opportunity in the 23rd minute. The 20-year-old had time and space to apply his preferred finish, but his decision to strike the ball early and with power, all while leaning back, sent his shot wildly off target.
It was a miss that saw Amorim shake and turn back to his dugout in disappointment. Garnacho’s dismal shot off-target was followed by three much better shots on Vicario’s goal at the end of regulation time. The goalscoring burden rests uneasily on the young forward, who often ignored the runs of Patrick Dorgu at left wing-back as he was so preoccupied with going for glory himself.
Garnacho is nowhere near the finished product. He is only 20 years of age and 2024-25 is only his third season proper as a senior-team player. Yet the current situation means United — one of the biggest football clubs in the world — frequently turn to this relative rookie in the hope he might drag this attack kicking and screaming into competency.
There are matches where Garnacho’s ‘run at the defence until they break’ approach can just about get it done. This Sunday was not one of them.
Carl Anka
An uncomfortable afternoon for Casemiro
For Casemiro, who was making only his third Premier League appearance in 12 matches after spending much of his time since the start of December confined to the substitutes’ bench, this was always going to be a big ask.
At times in the first half, it was uncomfortable viewing, not helped by United’s curious setup out of possession. With Fernandes asked to pull out to the right, Casemiro was left horribly exposed in the middle. “It’s embarrassing. You wouldn’t see this in under-9s or under-10s football,” Gary Neville, the Sky Sports pundit, said in relation to the chasm between Casemiro and Fernandes.
There were multiple United mistakes in the lead-up to the only goal of the game, including the way that Diogo Dalot, with his body position closed, was caught ball-watching at the far post, oblivious to the presence of Son Heung-min behind him and far too preoccupied with Mathys Tel, who Noussair Mazraoui could and should have been marking. But Casemiro was so passive before all that.
When Rodrigo Bentancur strayed out to the right to pick up possession, Casemiro jogged over to the Spurs midfielder. To describe it as half-hearted pressing would be polite — it was the sort of thing you see in the 93rd minute, not the 13th. Bentancur passed inside to Porro, Casemiro followed the ball, and the Spurs right-back stepped around the Brazilian as if he wasn’t there. All the while, Garnacho clocked off, allowing Bentancur to run in behind. A catalogue of errors.
A yellow card later in the first half for a challenge on Son that was only going to end one way reinforced the feeling that Casemiro’s race is run at this level. It was hard, at that stage, to see him getting through the game. That he lasted until the 91st minute said more about the threadbare nature of United’s squad than Casemiro’s influence on a game that has long got away from him.
Stuart James
Tottenham’s midfield takes advantage of United’s brittle middle
United recorded just 34 per cent of possession in the first half at Spurs, their lowest possession percentage in a first half all season.
Tottenham deserve credit for their impressive performance, particularly in midfield where Bergvall, Maddison and Bentancur all brought their A-game. They outworked United, whose structure without the ball was questionable at best and outright poor at worst.
The absence of a right No 10, with Amad out injured and Dorgu at left wing-back, meant Amorim had a selection headache. With Garnacho on the left, the teamsheet suggested Zirkzee would play there.
When Spurs had the ball in the initial stages, United pressed in either a 5-2-3 or 5-3-2 shape, with Garnacho tucking into midfield or joining Hojlund and Zirkzee up top. Tottenham worked their way through this easily due to consistent rotations between Bergvall, Maddison and the inverting Porro, which caused impatience in the United ranks. The pressing structure gradually came apart as Fernandes repeatedly got dragged out of position, leaving gaps that left Amorim frustrated on the sidelines.
After Casemiro fouled Son and play stopped as both recovered from the incident, Amorim called Dalot over and discussed a change in shape. After the restart, right centre-back Mazraoui briefly pushed into midfield, but that experiment was abandoned before it began.
In between these concerns, United’s best chances came from their counter-pressing, which was an occasional plus-point as they seized on mistakes high up the pitch from Spurs, only for Garnacho to spurn their best chance of the half, skying over when faced with Vicario inside the box.
United improved in the second half, with Dalot pushing higher up the pitch on the right to help their press against a tiring Spurs team. It drew mistakes and created a more open game, with chances at both ends. Garnacho forced two good saves from Vicario, while Zirkzee headed just wide from a cross.
But the overall performance raised plenty of concerns about how United will cope if Manuel Ugarte, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer all remain out for an extended period.
Anantaajith Raghuraman
What did Ange Postecoglou say?
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Postecoglou said: “We made it hard for United to get out and that certainly helped to get a grounding in the game. We looked sharp. The front third movements were missing a bit.
“We lacked a bit of fluency in the front third. We will improve and we need to, but it was a decent effort. They’re all keen to get out there, but game rhythm comes with playing games.”
Discussing the criticism he has faced recently, the Spurs boss added. “Everyone likes an impending car crash. I am sure we had a lot of people willing that scenario on. I know how hard these players have worked.
“Our training was better and I was confident that we would put in a good shift. The focus is still on trying to win games. In the background, we are doing it our own way. We are looking into ways we can do things better, but we are not going to be the only ones.”
What did Ruben Amorim say?
Speaking to BBC Match of the Day after the game, Amorim said: “It was the difference of the game, they scored and we didn’t. We had the opportunities. We had situations in transitions, trying to get a result, but in the end, they scored and we didn’t.
“We want to recover the players, I think we can recover some players for the next game. We have to be together to finish the season and start over.”
When discussing the young players on the bench, the United boss said, “I am trying to be careful with them. I felt the team was pushing for the goal and I felt I don’t want to change. But they will play.
“I am not worried. I understand our fans, what the media think about it. I hate to lose, that feeling is the worst.
“The rest I am not thinking about. I am here to help my players. I understand my situation, my job, I am confident on my work and I just want to win games.
“The place in the table is my worry, I am not worried about me.”
What next for Tottenham?
Saturday, February 22: Ipswich (Away), Premier League, 3pm GMT, 10am ET
What next for Manchester United?
Saturday, February 22: Everton (Away), Premier League, 12.30pm GMT, 7.30am ET
Recommended reading
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Viktor Gyokeres, Liam Delap and United’s search for the ideal Ruben Amorim striker
Is Manchester United’s data department ‘last century’ – and how should it change?
English clubs would love to bring Harry Kane home. He’d be mad to indulge them
(Top photo: Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)