How Spurs Won: Home vs Manchester United

Spurs managed their first win over Manchester United at White Hart Lane since 2001 on Sunday, and in so doing made sure that they remained firmly in the title race.

Though the hosts looked the better team throughout the first half deep into the second, it took a flurry of three goals scored between the 70th and 76th minute to settle the match in their favor.

The immediate question one might ask is what exactly changed at or before the 70th minute to spark such an incredible explosion of quality from Spurs. Is there some line we can draw that separates the 0-0 stalemate of the first 69 minutes and what came after?

At first glance, the answer seems to be a hard yes. Spurs’ opening goal came barely a minute after United right-back Timothy Fosu-Mensah had been subbed off due to injury and replaced by Matteo Darmian. Prior to coming off, the 18-year-old was arguably United’s standout player, racing up and down his flank as well as laterally across the defensive line to land crucial tackles and generally keep Spurs from finding too much space in the penalty box.

More from Hotspur HQ

Once Darmian came on though, things rapidly fell apart for United, and indeed each of the three goals they conceded came from the Italian international’s flank. Christian Eriksen trotted past Darmian without being challenged to set up the cross that Dele Alli would convert for the first goal of the match. Minutes later the ex-Torino man would foul Harry Kane, thus provoking the finely delivered Érik Lamela free-kick off of which Toby Alderweireld would score. Finally, it was Darmian who lost Danny Rose’s run to United’s corner where he would send the ball in for Lamela to score the third and final goal.

All of those examples seem to suggest that United’s defense was finely poised on Fosu-Mensah’s enthusiasm and tackling prowess, and once the impressive youngster was forced off they could no longer hold back Spurs’ torrent. Alternatively, it could hint at some heretofore unseen deficiency in Darmian’s game, one that perhaps contributed to Lous Van Gaal’s curious refusal to give the Italian a start in the first place.

In truth, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Fosu-Mensah did indeed have a good game, but part of the reason he did came down to the amount of opportunities he had to get into the action. Spurs have a tendency to favor the right side of the pitch in attack thanks to Rose’s swashbuckling runs forward and the tendency of all of Eriksen, Alli and Kane to drift to that side of the opposition’s box when in possession.

This match wouldn’t therefore be the first defined by how much success Spurs found on that side of the pitch. The presence of Fosu-Mensah, if anything, encouraged Spurs to press on that side of the pitch all the more. However promising he might be, he’s still only 18 and had all of one Premier League start prior to this match. Mauricio Pochettino was understandably anxious to test the young Dutchman.

Per WhoScored’s metric, nearly half of Spurs’ attacks came from the left side of the pitch, with 38% of shots taken from the left. The right side of the pitch, meanwhile, was the source of just a small handful of shots from Spurs on the night.

LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 10: Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur is challenged by Timothy Fosu-Mensah of Manchester United during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at White Hart Lane on April 10, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /

That lopsidedness sticks with a trend that’s developed all season, though it was almost certainly the most slanted Spurs have looked all the same. United, as it turns out, were attempting something broadly similar. Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Marcos Rojo all clustered their efforts right in front of – or ideally behind – Kyle Walker.

Walker – with some help from Eric Dier and Alderweireld – managed to bottle up that threat early and keep United in check throughout the match. Indeed, United would only manage five shots in total and one shot on target int he entire match.

While that was a critical component of the win, it also meant that Spurs’ already meager attempts to attack from the right all but dried up for long periods of the match. Walker did manage a couple of impressive forays forward, but was for the most part kept occupied in defensive duties.

All of which meant that Fosu-Mensah the focal point of Spurs’ rapid attacks forward. He handled the pressure admirably well, and perhaps had he been able to play the full 90 minutes Spurs would have continued to be frustrated. As fate would have it, though, Van Gaal was forced into fielding the more offensively-minded Darmian. Though he’s proven his quality all season when he’s been able to play, Spurs immediately presented too formidable a gauntlet for him. He lapsed, made mistakes and generally looked unable to stand up to Spurs as well as Fosu-Mensah.

Next: Spurs Back in Title Race

Exploiting such fissures is one of the things Pochettino’s Spurs do best. The attack probes the opposing defense for signs of weakness, then presses until it breaks. Fosu-Mensah might not have been the weakness Spurs figured he would be, but Darmian more than made up for the error of that preconception.