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Match Reflections – Matchday 3: Tottenham 3 – Manchester United 0

By Aaron Coe

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 27: Lucas Moura of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur after scoring his second goal and his team's third goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on August 27, 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 27: Lucas Moura of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur after scoring his second goal and his team's third goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on August 27, 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 13: Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates his sides third goal during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Everton at Wembley Stadium on January 13, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 13: Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates his sides third goal during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Everton at Wembley Stadium on January 13, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /

Lukaku vs Lloris

The big match-up of the game to me wasn’t Dembele vs Pogba, it was Romelu Lukaku against Hugo Lloris. In fairness to the team set up around him, Lukaku had more service than Harry Kane did in the game. However, Kane and Lucas were much more clinical and Lloris came up big when needed. Lukaku had four real chances in the game, two of which were great chances.

The first was the poor back pass from Danny Rose at 15’, which Lukaku intercepted to go in 1-on-1 with Lloris. While many pundits may point the finger at Lukaku here, I thought Lloris was perfect on this play. We’ve all seen that keeper come out in this situation, not under control and ramble over the attacker, resulting in a penalty and often a red card.

In this instance, Lloris’ control and ability to not touch Lukaku as he came off his line was key. He moved Lukaku off his spot and forced the miss. If that goes the other way, Lloris takes out Lukaku and gets a red, well, Tottenham likely take off Lucas and are down 0-1 fifteen minutes in with only 10 men. HUGE composure by Lloris here.

The second opportunity was a good one at the 18’ following a Luke Shaw cross. The shot wasn’t clean, and Lloris gobbled up Lukaku’s effort.  The third opportunity was borderline great, as Lukaku nestled in-between Alderweireld and Vertongen at the six and sent his header, from another Shaw cross, off target at 26’.

So, by the end of the first half, of 3 good opportunities for Lukaku, Lloris saved one, impacted another, and didn’t have to work on the third.

Lukaku’s last great chance to get the better of Hugo was at the 51st minute, as he got in on the left behind both Alderweireld and Trippier. This time Lukaku got of a terrific effort that was heading for the side netting only to be bettered by the steady, strong arm of Lloris.

After a notably rough week for Hugo, he really led strong from the back and seemed focused. Let’s hope this potential distraction turns into a focusing event for Lloris. It looked that way on Monday evening, which is good news for Spurs.

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