Two second half penalties from Ryan Giggs fired Manchester United to the top of the Premier League as they defeated Champions League hopefuls Tottenham Hotspur.
The two spot kicks from the former Welsh international and a goal from Nani were enough to see off a determined Spurs side, who have not won at Old Trafford since 1993.
Ledley King had initially equalised for visitors, but defeat for Harry Redknapp’s men leaves their ambitions of finishing in fourth place in a vulnerable position.
With Chelsea hosting Stoke City tomorrow, victory for United – who had top scorer Wayne Rooney sidelined with a groin injury - left them two points clear at the top for the time being.
Tottenham – who had defeated their London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal during the previous week - defended admirably within the first quarter of the game, most notably through England hopeful Michael Dawson, as well as the in form Gareth Bale.
The game burst into life after 28 minutes when Patrice Evra’s through ball set up Dimitar Berbatov, but his close range effort was superbly blocked by Ledley King to prevent the hosts from opening the deadlock.
Manchester United grew into the game and looked promising pushing forward, with Antonio Valencia and Nani squandering good chances from fantastic build up play – Evra once again fundamental in several United attacks.
Tottenham’s only first half opportunity came when David Bentley was brought down on the edge of the Manchester United penalty area by Nani, although Gareth Bale's free kick failed to trouble goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Saar.
Berbatov – playing as a lone striker without the injured Wayne Rooney – failed to hit the target with a volley from fifteen yards following a slip from Benoit Assou-Ekotto
In the opening moments of the second half, Jermain Defoe knocked the ball down for Roman Pavlyuchenko, only for the Russian to be thwarted by Evra before he could control the ball enough to cause problems for United.
Evra continued to trouble the away side relentlessly, as his cross into the Spurs’ penalty area found Berbatov, whose header dropped agonisingly past the boot of Darren Fletcher, who should have put the Red Devils ahead.
Minutes later, Manchester United were awarded a penalty when Assou-Ekotto – who was playing out of position on the right hand side – brought down Patrice Evra with a mistimed challenge.
In the absence of usual penalty taker Wayne Rooney, veteran midfielder Ryan Giggs stepped up to put his side ahead with his third goal of the season.
However, Spurs struck back ten minutes later when Gareth Bale’s corner found Ledley King, whose strong header from twelve yards travelled through a crowd of United defenders and found the back of the net.
Nani put the home side back in front with ten minutes remaining when he latched on to some clever passing from Darren Fletcher and substitute Federico Macheda to chip over the onrushing Gomes from twelve yards.
The points were sealed five minutes later when a blistering run from Nani was illegally upended by Palacios in the penalty area – Giggs stepping up for a second time to put United 3-1 ahead.
Victory for Alex Ferguson’s men boosted their hopes to becoming the first side in Premier League history to win the title four times in a row.
Man of the Match - Nani
very good as usual, although in the last but one paragraph you used 'Nani' too many times. And Assou-Ekotto played out of position on the right hand side as he is usually a left back. Other than that, solid effort as per usual.
ReplyDeleteCheers! Made the necessary changes. Yes proofread.
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