Maddison secures important win over United

James Maddison’s 10th goal of the season was enough to give us a crucial Premier League victory as we edged past Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

The midfielder marked his return from injury with an early goal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – his ninth in the league this term – and, although there were plenty of chances, particularly in the second half, it proved to be the only goal of the game.

The win marked our first back-to-back Premier League victories since September, when we also coincidentally beat Brentford and Manchester United, and the result moved us up to 12th in the table. We also welcomed back a number of players from injury with Maddison joined by Guglielmo Vicario in the starting XI while Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert came off the bench in the second half, the latter for his first minutes since late October. Destiny Udogie was also among our substitutes but didn’t play.

Having enjoyed a free midweek for the first time since the turn of the year, we started with energy and on the front foot and played almost the entire first 10 minutes in the United half but it was the visitors with a sudden flurry of chances in quick succession. The returning Vicario made two great saves to deny Rasmus Hojlund and then Alejandro Garnacho’s curling effort, with Ben Davies clearing off the line as Diogo Dalot swept in the rebound.

Then came our opener just seconds later, 13 minutes gone. Heung-Min Son drilled a ball across goal which hit Noussair Mazraoui and fell to Lucas Bergvall, his low shot was parried by Andre Onana and Maddison was first to the loose ball to slam it into the back of the net. United almost hit back 10 minutes later as Bruno Fernandes slipped in Garnacho down the left inside the area but he blazed over from 15 yards out, while at the other end, Maddison’s delightful pass played in Son, he cut back to Mathys Tel – on his Premier League debut - to fire goalwards only for Onana to make a smart save diving to his right. The rest of the half was fairly even, the game flowing back and forth up and down the pitch with neither side really forcing the goalkeepers into action and we went into the break with a slender lead.

Like the first half, we opened the second period as the more dominant side and had a couple of half-chances to double our lead, both falling to Tel but his first shot was straight at Onana and his second wide of the goal. United hadn’t created too many clear opportunities in the game although they carved out one in the 56th minute as Joshua Zirkzee played Garnacho in on goal but Vicario stood tall to deny him, and then did so again with a wonderful save low to his right to keep out Garnacho’s right-footed snap shot.

We were back on the offensive soon after though, Tel and Son both having shots well blocked before the excellent Djed Spence fired straight at Onana from distance but play swung from end to end and Zirkzee glanced Fernandes’ cross just wide while Hojlund drilled a low shot which Vicario saved.

There was almost a cup tie feel to the match in the final stages – we went close when Onana saved from Dejan Kulusevski before United went up the other end and a superb block from Spence prevented Hojlund from testing Vicario with his shot in the 79th minute. With two minutes to go, Casemiro headed a Fernandes corner straight at Vicario before we went on the attack again and Tel drilled a couple of shots at Onana. The new boy was in on goal as well in the final seconds, latching onto a long clearance but unable to get the ball over Onana, with the final whistle sounding seconds later to give us our first league double over United since 1989/90.

Match data

Goal: Spurs – Maddison 13.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Davies; Manchester United – Casemiro, Dorgu.

Referee: Peter Bankes.

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Weather: Sunny intervals, gentle breeze, four degrees.

Attendance: 61,383.