Spurs beat Man Utd in derby of the great underachievers
PERFECT RESPONSE: James Maddison celebrated his winner for Spurs against Manchester United with a cupped hand to his ear, what appeared to be a response to recent scathing comments by Roy Keane. PIC: AP Photo/Ian Walton
Tottenham fans want ENIC out, Manchester United might now be realising they needn't have got shut of Erik.
James Maddison's early goal proved just enough for Spurs to shade the great under-achievers derby but United had their moments in a ridiculously open game. Crucially though they failed to find that netted thing, with Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee guilty of glaring misses.
"I'm really pleased with the effort," said United manager Ruben Amorim. "The biggest difference was they scored and we didn't.
"In this game with two teams not doing well, one goal was always going to make the difference."
The final whistle was greeted with triumphant bellows from Spurs fans starved of a home league success since November.
Some then realised they were also there for a sit-down protest against chairman Daniel Levy and the ENIC group for perceived under-investment in player talent.
If that's true, then how does one accurately describe United? Amorim inherited a mountain of problems from the sacked Erik ten Hag in October but has managed to solve none. Four wins from 14 league games is poor by any club's standards let alone one that has spent billions.
Perhaps these problems aren't actually solvable, this season at least, but 15th in the Premier League table is never a good look for United. To paraphrase Sir Alex Ferguson only slightly: lads, we've turned into Spurs.
In more ways that one. A whole team's worth of injuries plus Christian Eriksen and Leny Yoro out with illness meant that, Victor Lindelof apart, the bench was filled with teenagers without a single minute of first team action.
"Welcome to my world - now cope with it for two months," was Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou's typically unsympathetic verdict.
Ironically, Spurs' own much-publicised injury crisis had finally abated with Maddison one of two significant returnees fit enough to start. The other was goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. Both were excellent.
Maddison was especially impressive in the first half and celebrated his goal with a cupped hand to an ear as well as his trademark darts impression. A response to some scathing Roy Keane comments that suggested he would relegate Spurs, just as he had Leicester? Probably. "It doesn't surprise me that Madders put a shot back over the bow," said Postecoglou.
Maddison had pretty much proved the doubters wrong within five minutes. He showed for the ball in almost every area of the pitch and was unafraid to attempt passes of the utmost difficulty.
United made it easier for him though thanks to a dysfunctional central midfield pairing of Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro - the latter in Premier League action for the first time in 2025. It sent Gary Neville into pundit meltdown.
"The distance between the two centre midfielders is all wrong," he spluttered. "It breaks all rules of football. It's absolute madness.
"The structure of the team is awful. It's embarrassing. You wouldn't see this in under-9s football. Shocking."
All this would have been forgotten however had United taken just one of a procession if chances that began at 0-0.
Vicario had to make 10th-minute saves to deny Rasmus Hojlund and Garnacho, with Ben Davies blocking Diogo Dalot's follow-up on the line.
Spurs scored straight after that when Andre Onana could only push out Lucas Bergvall's low drive and a static United defence watched Maddison despatch the rebound.
But Garnacho, found in space by Bruno Fernandes on the left of the box, fired United's best chance over soon after.
After the break he forced Vicario into another good save, a replica of one only just made when an offside Diogo Dalot also burst through down the inside right channel.
The Argentinian had a third try but again Vicario was able to get down and save, at his near post.
To be fair to Amorim, United were an improved side in the second half, especially when Maddison's course was run shortly after the hour mark.
But then came the Zirkzee miss, a free header wide from Dalot's delivery. Casemiro had a penalty shout turned down, Hojlund fired another chance at Vicario and that was that.
Spurs moved up to the heady heights of 12th with Postecoglou naturally happy enough. The poor home run had aped the sorry last days of Juande Ramos a decade and a half ago and fans had stopped listening to his 'it's the injuries, mate' mantra.
Ramos is also the last Spurs manager to win a trophy of course, in 2008, hence the protests, which also featured a pre-match march. "I thought the fans were great," Postecoglou said. "They were really behind us and contributed to getting the result we needed."
Vicario 8; Porro 6, Danso 7 (Gray 78, 4), Davies 7, Spence 7; Bergvall 7 (Sarr 64, 5), Bentancur 6 (Bissouma 78, 4); Kulusevski 7, Maddison 8 (Johnson 63, 5), Son 6 (Odobert 87, 2); Tel 6.
Kinsky, Udogie, Moore, Scarlett.
Onana 7; Mazaoui 6, Maguire 7, de Ligt 6; Dalot 7, Casemiro 6 (Obi 90, 1), Fernandes 7, Dorgu 6; Zirkzee 6,
Garnacho 6; Hojlund 5.
Harrison, Amass, Fredricson, Heaven, Lindelof, J Fletcher, Kone, Moorhouse.
Robert Jones 6
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