Manchester United 1 Tottenham 0: Spurs' dreadful Old Trafford record continues as Henrikh Mkhitaryan punishes Harry Kane mistake

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James Olley11 December 2016

Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored his first Premier League goal before being taken off on a stretcher as Tottenham slumped to their second defeat of the season with a 1-0 loss at Manchester United.

Spurs missed the chance to move above Manchester City and back into the top four after a disappointing performance at Old Trafford and instead find themselves just three points ahead of United in fifth place.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side have a dreadful record on this ground – now just two wins from 27 visits here including 20 defeats – and they were unable to muster a response after Mkhitaryan fired home in the 29th minute.

Toby Alderweireld made his first start since October 15 following a knee injury in place of Eric Dier while Pochettino opted for Mousa Dembele over Harry Winks in the only other change from Wednesday’s Champions League win over CSKA Moscow.

United came into this game having made their worst ever start to a Premier League season but Mourinho has long insisted results are not reflecting performances and they began brightly here.

A superb flowing move nearly handed United the lead in the third minute. Mkhitaryan turned smartly and released Zlatan Ibrahimovic in space down United’s right. The 35-year-old cut the ball back across the box for Paul Pogba, who steered a first-time effort low towards goal with his left foot but Hugo Lloris was on hand to push the ball to safety.

Spurs had a greater share of possession early on but struggled to create any openings until Christian Eriksen tested David De Gea with an 18th-minute free-kick.

Mkhitaryan continued to drive United forward and he almost broke the deadlock four minutes later with a well-struck effort but Jan Vertonghen was able to divert the ball behind for a corner.

Michael Carrick became the next United midfielder to try his luck from long range and this time Victor Wanyama deflected the ball to safety.

United were probing with increasing intensity but it required a mistake from Harry Kane to trigger the move which handed them what proved to be the winning goal.

Kane lost the ball to Ander Herrera in midfield and the Spaniard produced an excellent slide-rule pass to release Mkhitaryan, who raced clear and smashed the ball past Lloris and high into the net.

Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images

Lloris kept out Ibrahimovic moments later as United went for the jugular while at the other end Heung-Min Son provided a rare attacking threat with a stringing left foot shot that De Gea tipped over.

Spurs improved after the interval. De Gea had to beat away Eriksen’s shot seven minutes after the restart before Wanyama wasted a golden chance to equalise. Eriksen swung a free-kick to the back post where Wanyama had spun clear of Pogba but he could only divert a header badly off target from six yards out.

United’s inability to close out matches – particularly at home – has stalled their progress in recent weeks and Mourinho grew increasingly exasperated on the touchline as more chances went begging.

Getty Images

Wanyama fouled Pogba and the Frenchman dusted himself down to unleash a stunning 30-yard, dipping free-kick which Lloris could only watch in admiration as it crashed off the angle of post and bar.

Pogba tested Lloris again from Herrera’s cutback but the Spurs goalkeeper was equal to it, springing to his left to keep out Pogba’s volley.

Spurs sought to capitalise on the palpable nervousness in the stadium and another Eriksen free-kick called De Gea into action, thrusting out a right hand to keep United in front.

Mkhitaryan continued to cause problems throughout the second half but his afternoon came to a premature end when he collapsed under a late tackle from Rose and left the field on a stretcher. He had long since secured his status as man of the match.

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