Source: Telegraph
Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur: live
email Steve Wilson to join the debate. Or, indeed, start an argument... [LNB]94 mins: FT Manchester United 3 Tottenham 1 It's a measure of how far Tottenham have come recently that they will leave Old Trafford disappointed to have not got something out of the game. They came with a plan to contain and then hit United on the break and after Ledley King equalised Giggs's first penalty they bossed the game for a spell no coincidence that at that time Lennon was off the bench and Modric seeing a lot of the ball and looked like they may have pulled it off. [LNB] Related ArticlesMan Utd v Spurs: match centrePremier League actionMan Utd v Spurs: match previewFerguson's old guard power United to lineHarry Redknapp eyes another historic victory'We're the great entertainers'But in the end United's power and quality told Nani's goal a beauty and a second Giggs penalty confirming the points. [LNB]It wasn't a classic but at this stage of the season no one cares about that. United have their win. They are top. Now it's over to Chelsea tomorrow. [LNB]90 mins: A poor advert for the United canteen today. After Evra hurled up his guts earlier in the half now Nani is giving his breakfast another airing and looking pretty unwell for the experience. [LNB]88 mins: It took a while to get going but the United fans are enjoying themselves now. Spurs can feel a little hard done by, enjoying as they were their best spell of the game just before two sucker punches from Nani. But over the whole game or the second half at least United carried the greater intent and are probably good value for the likely win that will take them top of the league for at least 24 hours. [LNB]85 mins: GOAL! Manchester United 3 Tottenham 1 Nani in the middle of it all again, driving in to the box with intent and then falling to his knees on the first breath of contact. Not a lot in it but most referees would give a penalty for that. Giggs steps up and goes the other way even more accurate than last time and Gomes can't even get fingers to this one. Game over. [LNB]83 mins: Crouch very nearly gives Tottenham an instant response but his rushed effort finds only side netting. A nervy last 10 minutes at Old Trafford but there are more people smiling now than five minutes ago. [LNB]80 mins: GOAL! Manchester united 2 Tottenham 1 A moment of genuine class from the occasionally frustrating Nani gives United their lead back in some style. Lovely give and go football saw Macheda slip the Portuguese in and, with Gomes advancing, his had the coolness and arrogance to chip it up and over the goalkeeper. Brilliant from Nani - and he knows it. [LNB]79 mins: Last throw of the dice for Fergie sees Macheda enter the fray at the expense of Rafael. He saved United's dying title challenge in a couple of tight spots last season and may need to do the same here as the title threatens to slip away from United in the afternoon sunshine here. [LNB]76 mins: Lovely shift of eight to fox Evans on the edge of the box almost set up Gudjohnsen but Vidic spared his team-mate's blushes. There was no one to do the same for Huddlestone mind, his woeful follow up effort from distance undermining his reputation for 'avin' a shot on 'im. [LNB]74 mins: O'Shea is spitting his fury at anyone who will listen and rightly so. Lennon skipped past him, the United defender pulled his leg back before Lennon threw himself over where the leg would have been (but wasn't anymore). A blatant dive but a free kick it is. Comes to nought though. [LNB]73 mins: Tottenham's turn to start shifting the ball around, the magnificent Modric pullign the strings like an NFL quarter-back. [LNB]70 mins: GOAL! Manchester United 1 Tottenham 1 Beautiful, arched pass from Modric with the outside of the boot picks out 'Ba-le, Ba-le, Ba-le'' now playing further forward whose cross earns a corner. in it comes and King gets highest to head the visitors level with a massive helping hand from Rafael who wandered off the post enough to make what should have been a simple clearance a pig's ear of an air shot. [LNB]66 mins: Here comes Lennon, Bentley the man to make way. The Spurs fans have something to cheer for the first time this half. The visitors have something close to their first choice eleven out there now. What they don't have is the ball. [LNB]63 mins: United have their dander up now. Berbatov suddenly looks calm and languid rather than lazy and uninterested. The answer from Spurs? Lennon is told to stretch his little whippet like legs... [LNB]60 mins: It's all happening now. Well, a substitution sees Valencia replaced by Carrick and a lot of noise from the suddenly awake home fans. The question now is how will Spurs react? They were doing a pretty decent job of containing United but that game plan will have to be amended now if they are to get anything from this match. [LNB]58 mins: GOAL! Manchester United 1 Tottenham 0 Giggs steps up and slots it away - just. Gomes got a hand to it but it was wide enough for him only to get fingers on it and help the ball in to the net. [LNB]Big assist from Berbatov whose turn and drive in to the box caused the panic in the visitors' defence that led to the penalty. [LNB]57 mins: United gaining pace with an effort from Nani that ripples the side netting before Assou-Ekotto gets himself in a mess and upends Evra in the box for a United spot kick. [LNB]55 mins: Defoe leaves the action having done only marginally more than nothing all game for Gudjohnsen to have a crack. [LNB]54 mins: Palacios shows muscle to bowl through a couple of challenges before a delicate touch sets up a strike at goal that the United goalkeeper is at full stretch to stop. [LNB]53 mins: An apologetic free kick from Cristiano Ronaldo range from Nani finds only the wall but United retain possession and ask something of the Spurs defence. The first inswinger is cleared but is returned swiftly for Berbatov to nod down inches away from the outstretched leg of Fletcher five yards out in front of an open goal. [LNB]52 mins: Still neither side seems compelled to take this game by the scruf of the neck. The tempo suits Spurs more than United though the home side continue to carry the greater goal threat. Though in the land of the dwarves Tom Cruise would be king. [LNB]48 mins: Evra's adaptation to England appears complete as he does a passable impression of a 19-year-old outside a Weatherspoons in a provincial town centre around 11.45 on a Friday night and kneels down to produce a technicoloured yawn all over the Old Trafford pitch. The trainer is on with a bottle of something and the Frenchman is told to drink it off son. And on we go. [LNB]46 mins: Early chance in second half for Spurs. Defoe failed to control a fizzing cross to feet from the left but the deflection gave Pavlyuchenko a sniff from three yards before Evra nipped in front of him to clear. [LNB]HT Manchester United 0 Tottenham 0 Maybe it is because of the importance of this fixture to both sides; maybe it is because Tottenham would be happy with a draw; maybe it's the unusually pleasant Manchester weather but this one took as long to get going as a 1989 Ford Fiesta recently thawed out after being encased in ice for a year. And it's hardly firing on full cylinders yet. [LNB]20 minutes of softly from both sides ended when United upped their gear a little but Tottenham are organised at the back and get numbers in front of the ball as soon as they lose it. Fergie will be breathing fire in the dressing room. Redknapp will be patting people's backs especially Dawson and King who have looked rock solid. [LNB]Things can only get better second half. At least that's what I'm choosing to believe as I look to the one cracked window in this dank office and get a taunting flavour of what lies beyond it. [LNB]45 mins: HT Manchester United 0 Tottenham 0 A wild challenge from Rafael on 'Ba-le, Ba-le, Ba-le' allows Bentley to send in an inswinging free kick from the left that causes concern but nothing more as the half draws to a conclusion with Tottenham, unusually for the last 20 minutes, on the front foot, but with the scoreboard unmoved. [LNB]41mins: Rafael almost turns the wisdom on it's head (see below) with a large slice of help from Berbatov. The full back sent his best cross of the afternoon of which there was little competition to the back of the box. Berbatov had to check back on himself to get it but in doing so created a yard of space to turn and shoot. About a foot over but that was a better chance than he made it look. [LNB]37 mins: Things we've learned today: Rafael is about as effective delivering crosses as David James is catching them. And English football fans plus sunshine equals rank and slightly upsetting partial nudity. [LNB]35 mins: Man of the moment 'Ba-le, Ba-le, Ba-le' steps up and spoons his effort high, wide and ugly. [LNB]34 mins: United are taking the initiative now with the game being played in the Spurs half but the visitors are unfazed and happy to break when they can. Bentley runs half the length of the pitch before drawing a foul from Nani that brings the first yellow card of the game and a dangerous free kick on the corner of the box for Spurs. [LNB]31 mins: There could be a game of football breaking out here after all. Tottenham concede space in the middle of their box for the first time as a ball was squared to Giggs. A Bale air-shot confused everyone before Berbatov took a snap shot from six yards that drew an superb block for King, five yards out. [LNB]Before we could draw breath, almost, a defence splitting ball gave Valencia room to shoot but Gomes was comfortable before Berbatov tried his luck from 25 yards with a dipping volley that didn't quite dip enough. [LNB]There has been more action in the last 100 seconds than the rest of the game. [LNB]27 mins: Bale wins a foot race with Rafael down the left and his prize is a corner. Nothing comes of it mind as Vidic clears. Pavlyuchenko shoots sort of from 25 yards for the game's first attempt at goal. A poor attempt, but an attempt nonetheless. [LNB]25 mins: An injury to Bale and the Welshman getting a spot of treatment allows for Sky Sports' Ian Dark's list of Bale facts to be extended. He was forced to use his wrong foot in the school team, apparently, as he was so good. And was five months old when Spurs last won at Old Trafford. It's that sort of game so far. [LNB]21 mins: A slip from Assou-Ekotto almost lets in Nani on a break from United prompted by the doggedness of Giggs in the middle. He released Berbatov who did well to wait for the pass and then square towards Nani but Tottenham had enough numbers back as they have all game to sort things out. As cagey as the exotic bird section of an East Asian farmer's market this one. [LNB]19 mins: With precious little happening on the pitch attention turns to the touchline where Kuszczak is warming up, suggesting all is not well with van der Sar. Either that or the Pole is bored. And he is joined by Hargreaves, putting slightly more effort in to his own stretch and sprint routine. [LNB]16 mins: First real threat from United comes with a free kick 30 yards out on the right from Ryan Giggs. Well, I say threat. It was a danger to the wall's collective swingers but nothing more as the line up of Spurs men in front of the ball did their job. [LNB]12 mins: All hands to the pumps, though pretty effectively, in the Tottenham box as crosses are flung in from both sides of the pitch. Bale gets a rousing rendition of his imaginatively thought up chant from the Spurs fans for a terrific tackle on Valencia. 'Ba-le, Ba-le, Ba-le ...etc...and so on.' Not up to much but better than those charming ditties about Wenger and Campbell at least. [LNB]09 mins: Modric gives a lesson in picking a looped pass to precision even in a crowded midfield: Bentley, the recipient of the pass, obviously wasn't paying attention though as he then gives a lesson in shanking a looped pass out to some bloke in the third row of the stand. [LNB]06 mins: Palacios caught out again in the middle of the pitch but Dawson was the equal of Berbatov as he broke forward to spare the midfielder's blushes. [LNB]04 mins: Giggs looks to have been given the job of helping Berbatov up front as the two teams go pretty much head-to-head with matching 4-4-2 formations. Bright opening from both teams without any fluid play just yet. [LNB]01 mins: Scholes picks Palacios' pocket 30 yards from goals before feeding Berbatov in a wafter thin corridor of space in the box but the Bulgarian's touch lets him down to waste the quarter-chance. [LNB]12.44: Tom Huddlestone, tempting fate like a Tesco own brand bottle of gin for £3.45 tempts a skint alcoholic, told Jason Burt yesterday that Tottenham are the great entertainers, in the process presaging a dour 0-0 draw this lunchtime. [LNB]The players are on the pitch and we are good to go. [LNB]12.40: England injury World Cup watch, featuring men sat on benches: Aaron Lennon is named among the Spurs subsitutes and Owen Hargreaves is likewise on watching in boots and full kit duty for United. [LNB]12.36: It isn't Rooney's ankle that keeps him out but a groin injury picked up in training on Thursday. Sir Alex Ferguson is talking a good game about the strength of his squad, and of Tottenham's squad, which he reckons has more substance than any that has visited Old Trafford in his time. [LNB]12.33: So, no Wayne Rooney at Old Trafford today. Over in Wakefield, however, he's popping up in the most unusual of places. [LNB]After Jesus in a Wotsit now it's Wayne Roo-knee...[LNB]12.30: Team news (warning, does not contain Wayne Rooney...) [LNB]Manchester United: Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva, Vidic, Jonathan Evans, Evra, Fletcher, Scholes, Giggs, Valencia, Berbatov, Nani.Subs: Kuszczak, Hargreaves, Brown, Carrick, O'Shea, Macheda, Gibson. [LNB]Tottenham: Gomes, Assou-Ekotto, Dawson, King, Bale, Bentley, Huddlestone, Palacios, Modric, Defoe, Pavlyuchenko.Subs: Alnwick, Kaboul, Lennon, Jenas, Crouch, Gudjohnsen, Bassong. [LNB]Referee: Andre Marriner (W Midlands) [LNB]12.25: What a difference two weeks make. Barely a fortnight ago Tottenham's season was in tatters. An abject surrender on the equally flaky Wembley pitch to Portsmouth cost Spurs a potential FA Cup win. Arsenal, Chelsea and then Manchester United were up next as Spurs' erstwhile fine season looked like a train wreck waiting to happen. [LNB]But maybe that jolt to the system in the semi-final was a blessing in disguise. Fuelled by the embarrassment of that missed opportunity Harry Redknapp's side have discovered championship form in their slightly more prosaic ambitions of finishing fourth. [LNB]Arsenal and Chelsea have been swatted aside. Surely they can't make it a clean sweep of the three best teams in the league? Can they? [LNB]The last time Spurs beat United at Old Trafford Bobby Mimms was in goal and Gary Lineker scored the winner. This Spurs side is vastly superior to that. But then so is United's they had Jim Leighton between the sticks back in 1989. [LNB]United, however, go in to today's fixture missing Wayne Rooney, not deemed fit enough to play a role. And so Dimitar Berbatov gets another chance to impress. You have to imagine he is running low on lives getting so close to the summer transfer window. The evidence suggests he won't steal the show. But Spurs fans more than most know he has a decent game in him somewhere. [LNB]On a strange day Spurs will have the backing of Chelsea's fans for 90 minutes and Manchester will be as one with City needing a favour from their neighbours in the race for fourth. [LNB]It's squeaky bum time at Old Trafford, again. Stay with us for every kick and, should you feel compelled, join the debate below or by emailing Steve Wilson directly. Or go out and enjoy the sun somewhere, we won't be offended. [LNB]
