Tottenham kickstart Postecoglou era with 2-0 win over Manchester United

Tottenham celebrated their first victory of the Ange Postecoglou era with a morale-boosting 2-0 win over Manchester United at home on Saturday night in North London. Spurs delivered a resounding performance in the second half as Pape Matar Sarr’s maiden Premier League goal and an own goal from Lisandro Martinez handed the hosts the perfect start under their new manager in their first home game of the Premier League season.

Erik ten Hag named an unchanged Manchester United XI despite their less-than-convincing performance against Wolves on Monday, while Ange Postecoglou brought in Pedro Porro and Pape Matar Sarr in place of Emerson Royal and Oliver Skipp for the marquee tie of the weekend.

Despite the scoreline, the visitors dominated the early proceedings in the opening half-hour and should have taken the lead. Guglielmo Vicario was forced into a fine save to deny Marcus Rashford in the 12th minute, and the English forward also sent his header over the bar after an ingenious rabona cross from Bruno Fernandes.

Fernandes also missed a gilt-edged headed chance of his own in the first period, while the away side were unlucky to have not been awarded a penalty on 27 minutes after the ball struck Cristian Romero’s outstretched arm inside the area.

Having survived two close shaves, Tottenham eventually found their groove towards the end of the half. Dejan Kulusevski and Pape Matar Sarr tested Andre Onana before Pedro Porro’s stinging shot from distance rattled the woodwork. Spurs continued that momentum after the break and found the opening goal just four minutes into the second half. Pape Matar Sarr pounced opportunistically on Dejan Kulusevski’s deflected cross, firing the ball into the roof of the net to put Tottenham ahead.

Manchester United nearly produced an instant response, with Antony striking the woodwork after being set up by Bruno Fernandes before Guglielmo Vicario made a super save to deny a goalbound Casemiro header. However, Erik ten Hag’s side ran out of steam in a listless second-half performance, allowing Tottenham to double their lead to secure the victory. Substitutes Ivan Perisic and Ben Davies combined on the left side, forcing an inadvertent own goal from Lisandro Martinez to put Spurs 2-0 in front.

The hosts comfortably saw out the game despite having to deal with nine minutes of stoppage time, handing Manchester United their first league defeat of the season and securing their first home victory against the Red Devils since 2018.