Welbeck in flying form for Fergie’s fledglings

OF the Manchester United youngsters that have won so much praise and faith from Alex Ferguson, Danny Welbeck has been the one to raise eyebrows, yet he justified the hype with a goal and an assist as the champions maintained their perfect start to the season last night.

With no Luka Modric, who was left out of Tottenham’s squad with Harry Redknapp claiming he was not right mentally amid heightened interest from Chelsea, the visitors matched Ferguson’s men for an hour.

But then this United side, reputedly the second youngest ever for a league game, pulled them apart with Welbeck leading the charge.

He impressed without scoring consistently at Sunderland but broke the deadlock with a clinical header before back-heeling through for Anderson to add a second, while Wayne Rooney added further polish with a well-taken third goal.

Ferguson was thrilled with his team’s display and particularly Welbeck’s efforts.

“The second-half performance was absolutely fantastic,” he said.

“The first half he (Welbeck) didn’t play as a centre-forward. He was too much in midfield,” he said.

“We needed more presence up front, a target up front and in the second half he was better that way. He’s always had great ability Danny.

“It was always a situation that we’ve had to wait for him. He’s still only 20 — he’s got a great future.”

United may trail City on goal difference at the top of the table but this ended up being a statement of intent.

Although they still have some way to go before they really click in the final third, United’s latest crop has the potential to be their most exciting bunch for a long, long time.

With a central midfield pairing of Anderson and Tom Cleverley and Ashley Young and Nani playing wide, there is, all of a sudden, lightning pace everywhere you look in the central area.

That said, Anderson and Cleverley are not shy in the tackle and that aggression gave them an early platform for Wayne Rooney to have a header saved by Brad Friedel after a fine clipped cross from Nani before Cleverley had a drilled effort pushed away by the veteran goalkeeper.

The hosts may have looked bright and positive but Tottenham, even without Modric, had more actual goal-threat, with Niko Kranjcar having an effort deflected wide and Michael Dawson heading just over before goalkeeper David De Gea denied Bale.

Rafael van der Vaart caught the eye when he beat Anderson and Phil Jones only to have a hopeful shot saved by De Gea, while Ashley Young’s looping header dropped just the wrong side of the post in United’s best chance of the opening period. Dutchman Van der Vaart was thwarted by De Gea once again just before half time and just after the restart, Friedel pulled off a low save after Rooney threaded a pass through for Young.

Phil Jones impressed at the back and created a decent opening when he drifted into midfield and tossed a ball forward that was flicked on by Danny Welbeck before Young’s volley flew past the top corner.

But United took the lead when Welbeck guided a header into the bottom corner from Cleverley’s cross after Chris Smalling had got into an advanced position.

And after that, Tottenham wilted, much to Redknapp’s frustration.

“It’s disappointing. After 70 minutes there was nothing in game,” he said. “We had as much possession and I thought we were bang in it. I thought we would get a point.

“Then we brought on a striker and opened up and we went out of the game badly.”

Having opened the scoring, Welbeck made another vital contribution when he was picked out by Anderson in the area and showed the composure to back-heel a pass back to the Brazilian, who found the top corner.

Rooney put the icing on the cake when he planted a header from Ryan Giggs’ cross into the top corner.

The worrying thing for United’s rivals is that there is much more to come.

MANCHESTER UNITED (4-4-2): De Gea 7; Smalling 7, Jones 8, Evans 8, Evra 7; Nani 7, Anderson 8, Cleverley 8 (Giggs 82, 6), Young 8 (Park 82, 6); Welbeck 8 (Hernandez 81), Rooney 7.

TOTTENHAM (4-4-1-1): Friedel 8; Walker 6 (Corluka 46, 6), Kaboul 7, Dawson 8, Assou-Ekotto 7; Lennon 7, Kranjcar 7 (Pavlyuchenko 74, 6), Livermore 6 (Huddlestone 75, 6), Bale 7; Van der Vaart 8; Defoe 6.

Referee: Lee Probert.