DID THAT REALLY HAPPEN?
MAN UNITED 1 TOTTENHAM 6 ASTON VILLA 7 LIVERPOOL 2
MANCHESTER United suffered an extraordinary 6-1 defeat at home to Tottenham yesterday, with boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer describing it as his worst day in football.
Ten-man United sunk to their jointheaviest Premier League defeat ever as Jose Mourinho’s Spurs ran riot at Old Trafford to darken the club’s already bleak mood significantly.
United fans are nervously waiting to see what Ed Woodward can deliver on transfer deadline day, with deals for Edinson Cavani and Alex Telles in the pipeline.
Solskjaer, whose position will surely be questioned after this embarrassing loss, saw his side capitulate after going in front on two minutes through Bruno Fernandes’ penalty. Heung-min Son and Harry Kane got two each, with Tanguy Ndombele and Serge Aurier on the scoresheet as Spurs ran their hosts ragged.
United’s Anthony Martial was sent off at 2-1 for retaliating to an elbow from Erik Lamela.
Solskjaer said he shoulders the blame for the trouncing. ‘It’s very embarrassing, it hurt all the players,’ he said. ‘It hurts me as the manager. It’s my worst day ever.
‘I’ll hold my hands up, I’m responsible for this. I promise we’ll do everything we can to turn this around.
‘We know how good they can be but today all our mistakes came almost like Christmas, everything at once.’ Victory will be sweet for Spurs, who have scored 11 goals in their last two away league games and still have Gareth Bale to come in after the international break.
Despite four games in eight days, including a 7-2 win over Maccabi Haifa in the Europa League on Thursday, Spurs showed they could challenge at the top end of the league.
Mourinho, whose win at his old club equalled Spurs’ biggest victory over United in 1932, said: ‘Imagine if they had an attacking coach! With a defensive coach they score five, seven, six. With an attacking coach, they would score ten, 11, 12.’
On the red card, he added: ‘If someone can cry about VAR decisions it is Tottenham and if someone cannot cry about VAR, it is United, for sure.’