Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur was touted as the highlight Premier League tie of Matchday 3 and the Monday night fixture at Old Trafford didn’t disappoint, especially if you were a Lilywhites supporter.
Harry Kane opened the scoring in the second-half and before you knew it, Lucas Moura had scored a brace to send the travelling supporters into raptures.
Jose Mourinho’s Red Devils looked all over the place as they slumped to their second loss on the trot and here are The Statesman’s player ratings from an historic tie in Manchester:
Manchester United
David de Gea
Hardly at fault for any of the goals, but the World Cup hangover is definitely there.
Shockingly poor with his distribution on the night.
Rating: 5/10
Chris Smalling
Marginally better than his central defensive partner, but that’s not saying much, is it?
Rating: 5/10
Phil Jones
Injured on his first start of the season.
The above sentence is emblematic of his time with the Red Devils.
Rating: 4/10
Antonio Valencia
Clearly not fit, struggled to create any impact on the flank.
Rating: 5/10
Luke Shaw
Arguably United’s best player on the pitch.
Strange that his rise coincides with his side’s apparent demise.
Rating: 7/10
Ander Herrera
Showed plenty of heart to play an unfamiliar role.
Rating: 6/10
Nemanja Matic
Another player nowhere near full fitness and it showed.
Rating: 4/10
Fred
Was among the better players in the first-half, but his performance nosedived post the interval.
Rating: 6/10
Paul Pogba
Shunted out wide, couldn’t do much of note.
Rating: 5/10
Jesse Lingard
On another day, could have had a brace.
Fine margins, but in the end all his graft was for nought.
Rating: 5/10
Romelu Lukaku
Horrible miss after rounding the keeper at 0-0.
A leading man can’t miss those chances if a side is to qualify for Europe, let alone challenge for the title.
Rating: 3/10
Substitutes
Alexis Sanchez
Huffed and puffed, as is his wont, but couldn’t quite make the impact.
Rating: 5/10
Victor Lindelof
Almost gifted Dele Alli a goal.
Doesn’t look like he’s recovered from the Brighton horror show.
Rating: 2/10
Marouane Fellaini
A bridge too far for the one-man wrecking ball.
Rating: 5/10
Tottenham Hotspur
Hugo Lloris
Truth be told, United didn’t test Lloris too often.
That save off Lukaku at 1-0 was superb though.
Rating: 7/10
Danny Rose
Struggled to keep tabs on Pogba and was rightly booked before he got injured.
Rating: 5/10
Toby Alderweireld
Calm display from the Belgian, even if Lukaku did cause him some problems.
Rating: 7/10
Jan Vertonghen
Like his compatriot, largely unruffled.
Rating: 7/10
Kieran Trippier
Decent outing, but wasn’t able to bomb forward as much as he would have liked.
Managed to get an assist for Kane’s opener with a superb corner.
Rating: 6/10
Mousa Dembele
Held his own in midfield and did well to shield his defence.
Rating: 7/10
Eric Dier
Unspectacular, but solid showing in the engine room.
Rating: 6/10
Lucas Moura
Bright all night and thoroughly deserved his two goals.
Second strike was sensational and Spurs fans will be delighted to see the Brazilian realising his immense potential.
Rating: 8/10
Christian Eriksen
Set up Moura for the second and on the whole, was a bright spark for the Lilywhites.
Rating: 7/10
Dele Alli
United didn’t let the mercurial midfielder to settle and their gameplan to isolate him did work to an extent.
Rating: 6/10
Harry Kane
A goal and an assist, when he’s not even fully fit.
Imagine what he’ll be up top after the international break.
Rating: 7/10
Substitues
Serge Aurier
Replaced Trippier with less than 15 minutes left.
Rating: N/A
Ben Davies
Came on for the injured Rose in the final 10 minutes.
Rating: N/A
Harry Winks
Brought on to wind the clock down right at the death.
Rating: N/A