Ole toasts team spirit
beat Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris, who should have done better.
Then came the one-man show of defiance from De Gea.
The Spaniard started it with a brilliant stop with his legs to deny Kane and then he thwarted Kane, again, and Alli with breathtaking saves. But his best came after 70 minutes when Tottenham took a short corner.
Christian Eriksen put in a low cross and, from Alderweireld’s near-post shot, De Gea produced a stunning reflex stop.
United’s defending became increasingly desperate but they somehow held on.
Make no mistake. This was a heroic win but also the sort of victory which will make Solskjaer a serious contender to be the main man at Old Trafford. P W D Liverpool 22 18 3 Man City 21 16 2 Tottenham 22 16 0 Chelsea 22 14 5 Arsenal 22 12 5 Man Utd 22 12 5 Watford 22 9 5 Leicester 22 9 4 West Ham 22 9 4 Everton 22 8 6 Wolves 21 8 5 Bournemouth 22 8 3 Brighton 22 7 5 Crystal Palace 22 6 4 Burnley 22 6 3 Southampton 22 4 7 Cardiff 22 5 4 Newcastle 22 4 6 Fulham 22 3 5 Huddersfield 22 2 5 REF: ATT: L 1 3 6 3 5 5 8 9 9 8 8 11 10 12 13 11 13 12 14 15 F A Pts 50 10 57 56 17 50 46 22 48 40 17 47 46 32 41 44 32 41 32 32 32 26 25 31 30 32 31 33 31 30 23 25 29 31 42 27 24 30 26 20 28 22 23 43 21 23 39 19 19 41 19 16 31 18 20 49 14 13 37 11 HARRY KANE has given Tottenham a “massive” worry after his ankle injury curse struck again.
Kane limped off at the final whistle after a clash with Manchester United defender Phil Jones left him in severe pain with his left ankle. England captain Kane fears he may have suffered more ligament damage. He previously injured an ankle at Bournemouth last season and had a problem the previous year too. With South Korea striker Heung-Min Son now off to the Asia Cup tournament, manager Mauricio Pochettino said: “It wasn’t the intention of the United player, but it was a bad tackle and now Harry has bit of a swelling on his ankle and he was limping after the game.
“We’ll see what happens. He suffered a big tackle and twisted his ankle. We need to assess him. We are going to lose Son for the Asia Cup and, if Harry suffers an injury, it will be massive for us.”
It leaves Pochettino short of striker options with only Fernando Llorente fit ahead of a crucial run of league games, the EFL Cup semi-final with Chelsea and FA Cup tie at Crystal Palace.
Of the match, Pochettino said: “The second half was the best performance I have seen Tottenham play.
“David De Gea made 11 saves, which is unbelievable. In football, sometimes you deserve to win and don’t and other times, you do not and you win.” FROM BACK PAGE
Rashford scored the only goal of the game but United had De Gea to thank for the win, with a string of excellent stops as Spurs threw everything they had at the visitors.
“He should have held a few of them,” joked Solskjaer. “One or two fantastic saves and the rest of it’s about concentration.
“Team spirit is the first thing. Second is we can defend. (Phil) Jones and Victor (Lindelof) were fantastic. We’ve the best goalkeeper in the world. We’ve blistering pace. It’s a fantastic goal.”
Solskjaer is favourite with many bookies ahead of Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino for the full-time job, but insisted it was not on his mind. He said: “This game was never about me and him. For us it’s three points.
“We had to beat them today if we had a chance to catch them.
“I’m just doing my job every single day until my contract runs out at the end of June.” MIRROR SPORT is mourning the loss of one of its best-loved journalists, Mike ‘Reggie’ Ramsbottom.
Mike (above) was a true gentleman of Fleet Street and rose to become chief sports sub-editor during a 40-year career at the Daily Mirror before retiring in 2008.
He also worked on BBC TV’s Grandstand, where he was part of the production team seen working behind presenters, including David Coleman, Frank Bough and Des Lynam.
Mike was a talented amateur footballer and cricketer, and a massive fan of Arsenal, Wigan Warriors and horse racing.
But, above all, he was a loving family man who leaves behind Anne, his wife of 48 years, four children Andy, Nicola, Julie and Michelle, god-daughter Alex, and three grandchildren Ella, Ruby and Finn.
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