Clattenburg’s clanger leaves Spurs calling foul

IN many ways, it was very much a normal match day at Old Trafford.

Manchester United supporters marched in protest against the Glazer family’s ownership before kick-off. Nothing new in that.

Tottenham lost again at a ground where they have not won since December 1989, when Gareth Bale was just five months old. Nothing new in that.

And by allowing Nani’s highly debatable goal to stand, referee Mark Clattenburg found himself centre of attention.

Definitely nothing new in that.

Harry Redknapp’s blood pressure hit the roof. The Tottenham manager used words such as ‘scandalous’ and ‘farcical’ after Manchester United’s Portuguese winger, who moments earlier thought he should have won a penalty, slotted into an empty net after Brazilian keeper Heurelho Gomes rolled the ball out to take a free-kick that he thought had been given after Nani clearly handled the ball.

Alex Ferguson laid all the blame at the feet of Gomes for the goal that confirmed United’s biggest Old Trafford win for two months, Rio Ferdinand spent the evening Tweeting about the incident while Darren Fletcher also offered his verdict.

“Tottenham are very aggrieved by that and maybe rightly so, but I thought it was a stonewall penalty in the first place so I think we got a little bit of justice. At the time I didn’t see a handball. But the referee hadn’t given a penalty so it was play on.’’

And what about the man at the centre of the controversy?

Unlike Redknapp, Ferguson, Ferdinand and Fletcher, Clattenburg was the only one unwilling to offer his views as he disappeared into the Manchester night without commenting on one of the most bizarre goals in the history of the Premier League.

Yet for all Tottenham’s hot air, United had this game in the bag long before Nani’s sharp piece of thinking.

Already trailing to Nemanja Vidic’s first-half header, Tottenham’s best chance of an equaliser disappeared when Rafael van der Vaart, by far their most threatening player, left the pitch with a hamstring injury that will almost certainly rule him out of tomorrow’s Champions League game with Inter Milan.

The Netherlands international had come closest to wrecking Edwin van der Sar’s 40th birthday weekend with a thunderous effort which rattled the United woodwork while the game was still goalless.

Had that gone in then it might have made for a greater spectacle, for United were able to ease to victory without playing their best.

A brief glimpse at the statistics shows Tottenham enjoyed greater possession and won more corners. Yet it counted for nothing.

Redknapp’s team were certainly not shy at going forward but too often their final delivery let them down.

Bale, their most impressive player this season, was rendered redundant by Rafael Da Silva’s impressive performance at right-back while Robbie Keane was unable to threaten Van der Sar’s goal after being starved of service.

United are still well short of their best. Supporters who believe that the team is over the problems which have damaged their title chances over the first quarter of the season may have to think again.

But Rafael’s performance, along with those of Nani and Vidic, at least gave fans belief that the team can challenge Chelsea at the top of the table, after Ferguson used his programme notes to spell out what his side need to overcome if they are to win the title.

“For 18 years or so it used to be said that to win the league you had to finish in front of United,’’ wrote Ferguson. “Now the harsh reality is that if we are going to win the championship we must finish ahead of Chelsea. We are playing catch-up already.

“It’s kicking-on time. . . no more dilly-dallying!’’

Dilly-dallying? United’s players seemed to get the message on Saturday with their efficient, if unspectacular, performance.

Not sure Mark Clattenburg did.