Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick gave the Red Devils three valuable points in Saturday’s Premier League top four group at Old Trafford in a 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur. The win puts Manchester United (50 points) above Arsenal (48 points) in fourth place in the Premier League chart, although the Gunners now have four games in hand. For Tottenham (45 points), this is a serious blow, as if they win, they will move up two places (to 5th place). Instead, they remain in seventh place, with five points from fourth, with two games left.
Manchester United – Tottenham final score, statistics, results
Final score: Manchester United 3, Tottenham 2
Goal scorers: Manchester United (Ronaldo, 12, 38, 81), Tottenham (Kane, 35, PC, Maguire, 72, OI).
Punch: Manchester United 10, Tottenham 10
Shots on target: Manchester United 6, Tottenham 3
Ownership: Manchester United 43%, Tottenham Hotspur 57%.
3 things we learned – Manchester United vs Tottenham
Spurs dominate when the game drags on:
Perhaps only Liverpool are more dangerous than Tottenham today in counter -attacks, so the opponents are starting to defend differently against them. Manchester United – much like Burnley, Wolverhampton and Southampton in their recent wins over Spurs – are on standby, allowing Tottenham to control a lot of the ball, capitalizing on their inability to connect passes in the narrow space around the penalty area.
This proved very effective in the first 25 minutes, until Spurs increased the pressure in midfield and started playing the ball on the pitch. Suddenly Kane and Son Heung Min meet each other in a wide space and David de Gea is under tremendous pressure. Tottenham’s penalty came at the end of their strongest period in the game, but Ronaldo’s next second goal came as a kick into the gut.
Manchester United held on carefully and defended.
When Ralph Rangnick joined the club in November, many predicted that Manchester United would be a high -pressure and high -energy team playing fast. However, the Manchester United team is well suited to such tactics, instead proving to be very great as a more conservative and reactive team.
Appreciation should be given to Rangnik for evaluating the tools available to him and devising the most suitable attack plan for them. It’s rarely exciting or exciting, but it’s probably the smartest job done at Old Trafford since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
The difference between 1 and 3 Ronaldo points
The Portuguese landed eight of Manchester United’s 10 shots in the game, including five of six shots on target, and served as the tip of the attacking spear. Jadon Sancho has been active in outer space behind Ronaldo, but the absence of Bruno Fernandes disease has left Manchester United with no idea. The option marked “Give the ball to Ronaldo” proved to be effective.
3. Difference between 1 and 3 points Ronaldo: The Portuguese player scored eight of Manchester United’s 10 shots in the game, including five of six shots to the target, and served as the tip of the attacking spear. Jadon Sancho has been active in outer space behind Ronaldo, but the absence of Bruno Fernandes (COVID-19) has left Manchester United with no idea. The option marked “Give the ball to Ronaldo” proved to be effective.
Best Player of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo-hat-trick in a head-to-head match against a top four opponent.