United 1 - 0 Tottenham

DDG

Valencia Jones Rojo Darmian

Carrick Herrera

Mkhitaryan Pogba Martial

Zlatan

Ah! We've won three points at home....finally! Took me some time to write this blog post but I am currently in France on a work trip. So as I wait patiently for my connecting flight to Clermont-Ferrand (still two hours to go!!) I will look back at yesterday's game and share my thoughts with you. 

First things first, we deserved the three points. We had the best chances but found, once again, an inspired keeper who saved some decent efforts from our players. To be fair, though, Hugo Lloris is a world-class keeper and he produces good saves on a weekly basis....not like the Stoke, West Ham and Burnley keepers who are average goalies but had the game of their lives at Old Trafford this season. There were two efforts that Hugo Lloris could have never saved; Mkhitaryan's brilliant thunderbolt to the roof of the net and Pogba's stunning free-kick that hit the crossbar. I can't remember the last time I've seen United score a freekick...used to be a frequent occurrence in the Beckham and Ronaldo days.

What impressed me, yet again, was the improvement made by Rojo and Jones. They didn't give the Tottenham players a sniff of the ball and both had a fantastic game in front of DDG. Phil Jones was my man of the match. Is he finally fulfilling the potential that got him to Manchester United? Hope so. Staying injury free definitely helps and so does a good run in his preferred position. As for Rojo, I have no idea what happened to him. A couple of months ago he looked like a headless chicken who somehow managed to fool United's coaches into believing he's a professional footballer. Well done to both. 

Valencia also had a good game. He's playing the best football since his debut season. On the other side, Darmian had a quiet game but was absolutely destroyed once Sissoko entered the pitch. No idea why Blind wasn't played there (he was on the bench...no?)....also where's Shaw?

Herrera and Carrick were terrific. One runs all over the pitch and hurries opponents into making mistakes while the other calmly manages to control the game with so much ease and class. 

At the front Mhikitaryan scored a very good goal after an excellent through-ball by Ander. It was a shame to see our Armenian stretchered off the field. Hopefully, there's nothing too serious about is injury. His pace makes United look like a different team. Pogba was very unlucky not to score today. He rattled the cross-bar and had a couple of decent shots saved by Lloris.  Martial had a very disappointing game and Zlatan held the ball well. Zlatan and Martial both looked very annoyed with each other a few times during the game.

Overall it was a good performance by our boys and hopefully we can build on this. Both City and Liverpool dropped points and now we are also closer to Tottenham. The Christmas period will be crucial, more dropped points will doom us to another season without Champions League football. There won't be much room for error. We've now got two very winnable fixtures away from home...but in the Premier League you never know. Come on United.

P.s. How disgusting was it to hear Manchester United fans boo one of our own players?! Shame on whoever booed Fellaini. No matter who it is, if he's wearing the red of United he should be supported and not booed.