ANDRE VILLAS BOAS needed a win to stave off the doubters while David Moyes and Manchester United were targeting three points to claw back ground on league-leading Arsenal.
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Final score below
Good (almost) afternoon. Three points are high on both team’s wish-lists so we’ll probably end up with a draw. Get ready for a 3-3 thriller.
Here are the starting line-ups…
Manchester United: De Gea, Smalling, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Cleverley, Jones, Valencia, Kagawa, Welbeck, Rooney.
Spurs: Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Chiriches, Vertonghen, Sandro, Paulinho, Lennon, Dembele, Chadli, Soldado.
To get you in the mood, here are highlights of United’s remarkable comeback from 3-0 down to beat Spurs 5-3. Goals from Seba Veron and Laurent Blanc — Fergie’s follies:
YouTube credit: PhantomFX91
Fellaini on the bench for United with Nani and Ashley Young for company. Spurs have attacking talents Jermaine Defoe and Andros Townsend [thankfully ditched from my FF team] in reserve.
Here come the teams…
STATS ALERT: Spurs have drawn four and lost eight of their last 12 games at home to United.
Welbeck’s first league start since late September. Robin van Persie not fit enough to make the squad. United may be relying on Wayne Rooney to inspire them this afternoon.
KICK-OFF!
Early corner conceded by Evans. De Gea gets a decent punch on the ball but Spurs retain possession. Play heads up the right flank and Paulinho gets a cross in but it is too close to the Spanish goalkeeper.
Kyle Walker is in behind the United defence [Evra] but his first touch is Heskey-esque and the ball skips out of play. Both bosses are out of their respective dug-outs already, urging their teams on.
Phil Jones starting in midfield again and looking more assured on the ball than Tom Cleverley, who fails to find Rooney after the forward makes a nice run in behind the Spurs defence.
11 minutes in and we have a shot on target. Aaron Lennon from the edge of the box but his low strike is comfortably saved by De Gea.
Sandro throws his body in the way of Wayne Rooney’s strike from 15 yards out. United starting to get a firm grip on this game.
GOAL: Spurs 1-0 Manchester United (Walker ’17)
The defender smacks in a beauty from just outside the box after Evans tripped Paulinho, who was heading away from goal at the time. The shot went STRAIGHT THROUGH the wall.
Atrocious antics from the United wall there. Welbeck and Jones were two of the culprits.
Appeals for a penalty now but referee Mike Deans waves the Spurs claims away. Rooney blocked a goal-bound effort but did so with his chest. A minute later we have another yelp for a Spurs spot-kick as the ball careens off Valencia.
Spurs really should be 2-0 up as they cut United open. Slide-rule pass in behind the United backline sees Soldado through with just De Gea to beat but he blazes over.
Soldado then tees up Lennon but De Gea beats the shot away.
GOAL! Spurs 1-1 Man United (Rooney ’31)
Nice ball whipped in by Jones and Walker will have nightmares about this. He flicks a heel at the ball and it bounces back to Rooney, who thrashes it in from six yards out.
Lennon, not for the first time in this fixture, is causing Evra all manner of headaches. The French defender is lucky not to concede a penalty and kicking the back of Lennon’s thigh. 41 minutes gone.
I’ll say this now — this game is set up for a Fellaini headed winner.
Jones is just shy of connecting with a cross at the back post. United get a corner moments later but it is headed clear.
HALF-TIME
The reaction from this Spurs fan sums up the home side’s frustration:
Looking back at that Soldado chance, 60 seconds before Rooney’s goal, and the Spaniard was guilty of a bad miss. It was a lovely pass from Paulinho but the striker attempted to go top corner rather than guiding the ball back across De Gea.
The second half kicks off and Valencia earns an early corner.
Quiet enough start to the second-half but Kagawa is starting to get on the ball more and force the play a little. United controlling possession.
GOAL! Spurs 2-1 Manchester United (Sandro ’53)
Bang! What a goal. Sandro turns Cleverley inside out and unleashes a corker into the top righthand corner from 30 yards out. Peachy.
Penalty to United and Lloris is at fault…
GOAL! Spurs 2-2 Man United (Rooney ’57)
Straight down the middle with Lloris diving to his left. The goalkeeper had upended Welbeck after Rooney had slide a nice ball into the box. The attack was initiated by a crunching, ball-winning challenge by Vidic on the edge of his own box.
Evra whips in a dangerous, low cross that Rooney gets to but the touch is too slight and it goes wide. 27 minutes left.
Lennon off, Townsend on. Sours fans react with a chorus of boos for AVB.
Here comes Defoe and there goes Soldado. Still just the one league goal from open play for the Spaniard. Little Pea is on for Welbeck.
Dembele does well to block Kagawa at the edge of the box and Sours break forward. Walker with a pearler of a cross and Townsend is just short of making a sliding connection on the back post.
Contentious corner for Spurs as Vertonghen chases down an almost lost cause. Ball is headed back and forth in the United box before Spurs get another bite of the cherry. Rooney gets the defensive header away.
Nani and Young on for Kagawa and Valencia. My Fellaini headed winner prediction is looking pretty inaccurate right now.
Hernandez with a low drive that Dawson has to slide to block out. Three minutes of play left.
Vidic takes a yellow for the team as he hauls down a flying Defoe.
Spurs the team pressing for victory. Evra concedes a corner and Smalling follows suit.
Late United corner whipped in by Rooney and it drops to Smalling. Lloris dives bravely at his feet to smother the chance.
FULL-TIME
Rooney saves United twice in a game between two sides that have the appearance of title also-rans. United in ninth with Spurs a point further back in 10th.
