Defeat at Old Trafford - on-the-whistle report

Two second-half goals gave Manchester United all three points at Old Trafford on Wednesday night as we suffered our second Premier League defeat of the season.

A heavily-deflected shot from Fred and a strike from Bruno Fernandes gave the home side the win, but we needed a superb performance from Hugo Lloris to prevent further punishment, the skipper producing a string of big saves throughout the game.

After a bright start in the early minutes, during which Rodrigo Bentancur fired wide from a tight angle after a great move, we were second best for long periods as United dominated, having 28 shots at goal to our eight, 10 of theirs on target.

Fernandes had Lloris scrambling the ball away from a long-distance lob before the skipper tipped over a drive from Fred. Antony then curled one from 20 yards which skimmed the outside of the far post and Lloris then pulled off a wonderful save to deny Marcus Rashford, whose shot was heading for the far corner before the skipper pushed it away, while he also kept out Fernandes’ 25-yard free-kick and Luke Shaw’s volley.

United had 19 shots in the first half without breaking through, but did so with their first of the second period although Fred’s effort from the edge of the area took a massive deflection off Ben Davies before trickling into the far corner. Lloris then made a superb stop to prevent Rashford from making it 2-0 just seconds later, but was helpless on 69 minutes when the ball broke kindly to Fernandes on the edge of the area and he curled into the top corner.

We just couldn’t get going and instead it was United who continued to look dangerous, only another stunning save from Lloris to keep out Rashford preventing further damage on what was a disappointing night at the office.

Antonio Conte had made just one change to the team that started our 2-0 home win against Everton on Saturday - Yves Bissouma came in for Richarlison, who picked up a calf injury against his former club. Japhet Tanganga was back on the bench, but Dejan Kulusevski remained sidelined.

'They started the game much better than us'

Antonio told SPURSPLAY after the game: "First of all, we have to be honest and say that United deserved to win and take the three points. They started the game much better than us, and it’s not the first time. It means we need to continue to work in every aspect, on the pitch, out of the pitch. At the same time, in this type of game, everyone needs to be prepared for the sporting war, I think we can improve in this aspect."

Highlights on SPURSPLAY

Match data

Goals: Manchester United – Fred 47, Fernandes 69.

Yellow cards: Manchester United - Casemiro.

Referee: Simon Hooper.

Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester.

Weather: Moderate breeze, 12 degrees.

Attendance: 73,677.