Tottenham Hotspur 1 Manchester United 3: match report

Published: 12 Sep 2009 - 19:34:07

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Tottenham Hotspur 1 Manchester United 3: match report

Wayne Rooney is stepping up to the plate. Post-Ronaldo, Manchester United needed their No 10 to be the main man, the player to inspire and deliver. He did it again at White Hart Lane yesterday. With United down to 10 men after Paul Scholes was sent off, having already come from a goal down, Rooney conjured an impish third goal to see off Tottenham Hotspur's spirited challenge. Related ArticlesPremier League tablePremier League fixturesSport on televisionIt was all that was good about Rooney, with a touch of playground cheek. Darren Fletcher hit an excellent pass down the right channel. Rooney was onto it in the blink of an eye. Alan Hutton, the Spurs defender closed in, but Rooney tucked it round him with ease and then audaciously stroked the ball between Carlo Cudicini's legs. 3-1, game over. It was a sobering experience for Spurs. They had started explosively but faded in the second half and it was they not United who played as if they had 10 men on the field. Less than a minute in and Spurs had the lead. Dimitar Berbatov, booed on his return to White Hart Lane, tried to find Paul Scholes with a casual pass as United moved out of their own box. Wilson Palacios tackled and the ball fell to Robbie Keane who fed the ball across square. Benoît Assou-Ekotto looped in a cross to the far post and Nemanja Vidic, under pressure from Peter Crouch, could only head the ball straight up in the air into his own six-yard area. What happened next was remarkable. Jermain Defoe was always going to struggle to win the aerial ball with Rio Ferdinand in attendance so he launched himself into a spectacular overhead flying volley to score. It was his eighth goal in eight games and the kind of finish befitting a player at the absolute peak of his powers. That start infused this already confident Spurs side with even more self-belief. Crouch had already let rip with an ambitious volley and headed a Tom Huddlestone corner wide when he controlled the ball on his chest, flicked the ball over the advancing Vidic and volleyed at goal, only too close to Ben Foster. It was ferociously contested stuff. Patrice Evra seemed to leave a boot in on Vedran Corluka right in front of the dugouts. The Croatia jumped to his feet in fury and there was contact, albeit minimal, between the two players' foreheads as they squared up. Berbatov, meanwhile, was being treated to some rough stuff whenever he got the ball. Palacios had already gone through the back of him once when he felled the Bulgarian on the edge of the box. Palacios was booked. It was a temptingly-placed free kick. Berbatov dummied at it leaving Ryan gigs to strike the dead ball. The Welshman flighted it just over the wall, curving it away from the diving Carlo Cudicini and into the top corner. Suddenly United had come alive and they pored forward, Berbatov at the heart of their best work. His left-footed half-volley was a perfect example of the kind of exceptional control he can exert over a football but he should have done better with the double chance that came his way moments later. Lennon gave the ball away to Evra and the United left back galloped forward and squared to Rooney, whose effort to finish was blocked by Cudicini. The ball fell for Berbatov with the goal exposed but Sebastian Bassong did superbly to block the Bulgarian's effort on the line. Berbatov got another chance immediately, but shot over after the ball had been fed back into him by Scholes. United did not have to wait all that long for the second, though. Giggs' corner had been well cleared and Scholes' ensuing shot was going way wide but King could only half clear and Anderson pounced on the ball on the edge of the box and rifled in his first goal for the club. Harry Redknapp sent on the fit-again Jermaine Jenas for Palacios at the break the Honduran had been booked and looked hungry for more and the England midfielder was soon in the action, teeing up Keane from close range. Vidic blocked well. Spurs were resurgent. Jenas robbed Scholes and let fly with a crisp shot that Foster saved outstandingly at full stretch. From the ensuing Huddlestone corner, Crouch rattled the bar with a header. It is quite incredible the persistency with which Scholes has refused to learn to tackle. He had already been booked for clattering Defoe on 51 minutes. Eight minutes later he was off, going in to a challenge with Huddlestone that he was never going to win and leaving his boot in on the Spurs midfielder. Berbatov was sacrificed to tighten things up now that United were down to 10 men, Michael Carrick, another former Spurs favourite, coming on. Despite the numerical disadvantage, United still carried a threat and only a good low save at the near post from Cudicini prevented Rooney extending the lead after he charged forward on the counter-attack. Redknapp sent on Hutton and new signing Niko Kranjcar to try and get the equaliser but Spurs struggled to create anything, despite the extra man. It was United, and Rooney, who had the last word.