Five things learned as Ten Hag’s men prove they don’t need Ronaldo

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Manchester United secured a dominant 2-0 win over Tottenham at Old Trafford to put Erik ten Hag’s side into prime contention for a top-four spot. Goals from Fred and Bruno Fernandes secured the points but the scoreline did not tell the whole story as the hosts dominated proceedings, closing in on their top-four rivals with an assured victory.

United came racing out of the blocks and took control of the match as Marcus Rashford, Antony and Luke Shaw forced saves out of Hugo Lloris inside the first 20 minutes. But after failing to make their domination pay in the first half, United made amends when Fred saw his effort ricochet kindly off Ben Davies and roll into the corner of the net on 48 minutes.

The hosts continued to press for the second goal with Rashford going close on two occasions before Fernandes curled home superbly to ease the pressure on himself and his side. Spurs barely offered a threat of a response in the second half as they succumbed to a disappointing defeat.

Express Sport looks at five things learned from the game.

Ten Hag’s plan takes shape

Bit by bit, Ten Hag is seeing his blueprint finally come to life some five months into his reign at Old Trafford. Backed up a raucous and fired up crowd, his side produced the football he has been trying to integrate into this talented squad.

Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Antony looked threatening every time they got the ball in the Spurs final third as they peppered Hugo Lloris with shots from all angles. In fact, they managed more goal attempts in the first half alone than they had managed in any game of his reign so far.

And they picked up where they off in the second half as Fred and Fernandes put Spurs to the sword. The victory was of course important, lifting United to four points behind Manchester City and Spurs. But for Ten Hag, it would have been entirely satisfying to see his side carry out his plan to perfection.

Bruno back on song

Named as man of the match, this was a captain’s performance from the Portuguese star who flourished in Ronaldo’s absence. He chased every ball, hit shots from range and tried to create them for his team-mates.

It is well-documented that fernandes has struggled for form over the past 12 months. But perhaps that is only because he has set impossibly high standards in his opening months at Old Trafford.

Ronaldo’s arrival took the gloss off his status last season but with the veteran star benched, he was allowed the freedom to charge of this game and produced the goods with a fine strike. Ten Hag will be delighted with his contribution after deservedly keeping Christian Eriksen out of the team.

Ronaldo surplus to requirements

It must have killed a player who has scored 700 league goals to watch his side struggle to find a way past goalkeeper Lloris in the first half. But what might have hurt Cristiano Ronaldo more was the fact that United didn’t look like they needed him to save their skin.

The 37-year-old was sat in the dugout once again after being benched by Ten Hag. For all of the talk of how important he is at Old Trafford, actions speak louder than words – and Ronaldo’s body language said it all as he looked sulky on towards the game from the sidelines.

The striker made no secret of his desire to leave in the summer and his failure to secure an exit away looks even worse for him now. It’s not that he is too good for United, but rather, the question must be asked if he is good enought to warrant a place in this team.

Either way, storming down the tunnel before your team completes a morale-boosting victory said everything about his thoughts at the moment. And that will prove to be a slight dampener for Ten Hag, who now has an issue to deal with to stop Ronaldo’s childish act from affecting his squad’s happiness.

Conte not ambitious enough

So often, Antonio Conte has managed his gameplan to perfection to steal a crucial result in big games. But it never looked likely as Tottenham’s gameplan quickly backfired after being outclassed by United.

Their gameplan was obvious, hoping for counter-attacks by using Harry Kane and Son Heung-min. But for that to be effective, his team needed to win back the ball and keep it too – something they did horribly all evening.

Conte himself needs to be more ambitious in his setup if Spurs are to truly contend for the Premier League title this season. His side were fortunate to grab a point away to Chelsea but were deservedly beaten here. Simply relying on Kane and Son to produce magic when his side are not playing well is not a tactic that can last beyond a handful of games and this game proved it.

Lloris still indispensable

If Tottenham could be thanfkul for anything at Old Trafford on Wednesday night, it was that at least their goalkeeper was in good form. Hugo Lloris was tested five times in the space of the first 25 minutes, twice by Rashford and then Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw. And that was only the beginning.

The Spurs goalkeeper may have gone over the top with his theatrics but few could blame him for exaggerating just how hard he had to work in the opening stages of the game. There was barely a break either, as the veteran stopper had to produce save after save to deny the United attackers, who wanted to rack up their goal statistics.

Had it not been for his work, Spurs could have been embarrassed. It is something Conte will have to ponder in the future as, at 35, the goalkeeper is not getting any younger.

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