MANCHESTER — Tottenham Hotspur’s Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke got on the scoresheet in a 3-0 victory over 10-man Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday (Sept 29) as the visitors ran roughshod over the bedraggled Old Trafford side.
Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs climbed to eighth in the table on 10 points after six games, while beleaguered United, who saw captain Bruno Fernandes sent off in the 42nd minute for a high challenge on James Maddison, are 12th with seven points in a loss that will again raise questions about manager Erik ten Hag.
“I thought it was an outstanding performance,” said Postecoglou. “We started the game well, scored a great goal and probably should have had two or three. The pressure then overwhelms them and they get the red card. After that I thought we controlled the game well.
“Just an outstanding effort from all the lads.”
Tottenham went ahead in the third minute when defender Micky van de Ven carried the ball over half the length of the pitch before playing a low centre across the six-yard box for the wide open Johnson to tap in for his fourth goal in four games.
“Eleven v 11, or 11 v 10, we completely dominated the game,” Johnson said. “We had a clear game plan and we did exactly what we wanted to do.”
Spurs continued to run circles around United on a nightmare evening for Dutchman Ten Hag in rainy Manchester.
“To concede a goal after two or three minutes like that, it did something to our belief,” he said. “Totally unnecessary.
“This is not good enough. We have to accept this and get better. Focus on the next game and do things better than we did today.”
Angry fans
Tottenham doubled their lead in the 47th minute when Lisandro Martinez slipped on the halfway line. Johnson sprinted away and his deflected cross fell to Kulusevski, who acrobatically clipped the ball past goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Solanke had scores of angry United fans heading for the exits when he stuck his leg out to poke the ball home from close range in the 77th minute after Pape Matar Sarr headed on a corner kick from fellow substitute Lucas Bergvall.
The delighted Spurs fans did not stop singing all afternoon, breaking into a chant of “Is there a fire drill?” as thousands of United fans beat a hasty exit after the third goal.
“We struggled a bit,” said Fernandes. “We tried to force it a little bit, to rush it and go too quick. When they have the high line we made mistakes on the ball and then we got punished and it didn’t go the way we wanted from there.