Football Features

    “A criminal performance from the captain” – Full player ratings as Spurs smash Manchester United in historic 1-6 win

    By Muhammad Butt

    Published: 18:42, 4 October 2020 | Updated: 9:47, 30 March 2021

    In a devastating afternoon of football, Spurs came from behind to annihilate Manchester United 1-6.

    The match started so well for The Red Devils as they got a penalty just 40 seconds into things, but after that moment things turned on them as José Mourinho’s new side ripped his old side to shreds without a hint of mercy.

    Here’s how the players rated at Old Trafford:

    Manchester United

    David de Gea – 2 – The Spanish Shay Given has protected himself for far too long off the back of his spectacular saves but this game has gone some way to exposing the brutal truth: United’s defence has always been so rickety and required so many interventions from De Gea because the Spaniard himself has no organisational abilities.

    De Gea doesn’t have the confidence and courage to play the position of goalkeeper the way it needs to played in this day and age. Compare the way De Gea stays passively on his line for all the Spurs goals to how the likes of Manuel Neuer and Alisson deal with things. At least two of Spurs’ goals could have been prevented by him coming out with authority to sweep the ball away. Dean Henderson needs to start. Now.

    Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 5 – A brick wall defensively, making a game-high 5 tackles and prevented Spurs incursions. However his use of the ball was poor as usual. By far the best United defender, however.

    Eric Bailly – 2 – Comedic non-defending for the Spurs goals. Was meant to prove his worth as Maguire’s partner but never showed the recovery pace and defensive instincts which made him so formidable in those first few months.

    Harry Maguire – 2 – A criminal performance from Harry Maguire. United’s captain stole hope from his team-mates time and time again as he was brutally exposed by Spurs. Kane and Son had him bang to rights over and over again, exposing him as slow of mind and slower of foot.

    Maguire’s not helped by a defensive structure which seems designed to highlight his flaws rather than expose them (such as on Son’s second strike), but his performance today was inexcusably bad. Hauling Shaw to the floor to prevent him from clearing Spurs’ equaliser was probably the worst of it, but every second was shocking.

    Luke Shaw – 1 – José Mourinho once intimated that Luke Shaw lacked the mental capacity to play at the Premier League level and watching this game you can see what he meant. An absolute liability. Unlucky on Spurs’ first goal, awful on their second, fourth and fifth. No one player was as personally responsible for Spurs goals as Luke Shaw is. The staggering depth of his failure knows no bounds. Did absolutely nothing good the entire match and was lucky to avoid a late red card for a horribly cynical foul. An embarrassment.

    Nemanja Matic – 3 – Abysmal. Absolutely non-existent as a defensive screen which is his entire job. Awful miscontrol led to Kane’s goal which was the catalyst that turned a bad afternoon into a nightmare thrashing. Removed at half-time.

    Paul Pogba – 4 – Tried to make things happen but couldn’t make an impact in the game. Regained possession a team-high 6 times but also lost possession a team high 13 times. Foolishly slid to the ground late in the second-half, conceding a penalty.

    Bruno Fernandes – 6 – Along with Rashford, Wan-Bissaka and Greenwood, the only United player not to disgrace himself. Played some nice passes and put the Red Devils into an early lead with a great penalty.

    Mason Greenwood – 5 – Tried hard, shooting on sight to try and get United back in the game.

    Marcus Rashford – 5 – Made some excellent runs. Starved of service.

    Anthony Martial – 4 – Lashed out foolishly after Lamela elbowed him and got punished. It was a very, very soft red but you can’t raise your hands. Had look bright prior to that, winning United’s early penalty,

    Substitutes:

    Fred (for Fernandes 46′) – 5 – A couple of nice runs forward.

    Scott McTominay (for Matic 46′) – 4 – Did little.

    Donny van de Beek (for Greenwood 67′) – n/a – Couldn’t get anything going.

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    Spurs

    Hugo Lloris – 5 – Had almost literally nothing to do.

    Serge Aurier – 8 – Repeatedly raided forward and was rewarded with both a goal and assist.

    Davinson Sánchez – 4 – Foolishly gave away an opening penalty, but played well besides that with a team-high 5 clearances.

    Eric Dier – 6 – Did what little he had to do very well.

    Sergio Reguilon – 7 – A feisty performance as he drove Spurs forward repeatedly.

    Pierre-Emil Hojbjerg – 8 – Impeccably dominant in the middle of the park. More touches (118), passes (106) and successful passes (100) than anyone. His assist for Aurier’s goal was a thing of beauty as he scythed the ball through United’s defence.

    Moussa Sissoko – 7 – Worked hard to close United down and win the ball back, but also sprayed a beautiful pass in the build-up to Spurs’ fourth, switching the play at speed.

    Tanguy Ndombele – 7 – A decent display full of some beautiful play in the final third, but his best contribution was battling through to smash Spurs’ equaliser and bring them straight back into the game.

    Erik Lamela – 7 – A dynamo who played his part in Spurs’ comeback but particularly when he elbowed Anthony Martial and then collapsed like he had been hit by Mike Tyson when the Frenchman gave him a small slap after. A master of the dark arts, Mourinho would be proud.

    Heung-min Son – 9 – Son was simply sensational. The Korean scorched United almost every time he ran forward. Slayed the Red Devils with a supreme go-ahead goal, ripping through them like Prime Kaka. Set Kane up wonderfully to make it 1-3 and then made it 1-4 with an ice cold finish through David de Gea’s legs. José Mourinho did Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a great mercy by withdrawing the Korean before the end of the game, because had he stayed on the score could have reached double figure.

    Harry Kane – 9 – Coming into today, Harry Kane had never really played well against Manchester United. That’s all changed now as Kane led an absolute demolition of United from the front. His goal was a dagger of a finish that turned the game into a thrashing and his penalty was nervelessly converted at the end, as well. But the greatest moment of the game was Spurs’ second goal, and as impressive as Son’s run and finish were, the pass from Harry Kane was simply sublime. An out-of-this-world bit of improvisation as he ripped the United defence in two with a quick free kick for the ages. Pure class from Spurs’ skipper.

    Substitutes:

    Lucas Moura (for Lamela 46′) – 6 – Came on and ran at United a few times but in truth the game was over.

    Dele Alli (for Ndombele 69′) – n/a – Didn’t really do much.

    Ben Davies (for Son 73′) – 6 – Won the penalty for Spurs’ sixth goal.

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