Saturday, October 30, 2021 at 20:20• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 20:22

Manchester United recovered on Saturday evening from the huge blow against Liverpool (0-5) last week. The team of manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was 0-3 too strong on a visit to Tottenham Hotspur. Cristiano Ronaldo scored, saw a goal disallowed and was the declarant for Edinson Cavani’s second goal. Substitute Marcus Rashford gave the evening extra shine in the absolute final phase. United climbs three places in the rankings with the victory and is now fifth. Tottenham have to settle for eighth place. Next Thursday, the Londoners will play against Vitesse in the Conference League.

Tottenham knew in advance that it could wet the chest against United, as Nuno Espirito’s side in the Premier League lost the most often to the Manchester team: 36 times. With the visitors, there was a starting spot for Cavani for the first time since the beginning of October, while Steven Bergwijn and Donny van de Beek started on the reserve bench. After a hesitant start, both teams became dangerous halfway through the first half. Heung-Min Son shot over on behalf of Tottenham, after which a header by Cavani on a pass from Bruno Fernandes narrowly missed the left post.

???? ???? ???????????????????? ?? Cristiano Ronaldo on a pass from Bruno Fernandes with the wonderful 0-1 ??#ZiggoSport #PremierLeague #TOTMUN pic.twitter.com/pIRAMvoo3F

— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) October 30, 2021

After half an hour of play, Tottenham thought they would take the lead via Cristian Romero, but after the intervention of the VAR, the defender’s goal was rejected for offside. Not much later on the other side, it was hit through a Portuguese get-together. On a pass from Fernandes, Ronaldo suddenly decided to take the ball on the slipper to sign for the 0-1 diagonal. Tottenham then seemed to quickly return something via Giovani Lo Celso, but the midfielder’s shot went just over. Early in the second half, United also saw a goal disallowed. Ronaldo thought to make his second of the evening, but was blown back by referee Stuart Attwell.

It would be a stay of execution for Tottenham, as Solskjaer’s team closed the game after more than an hour of play. This time Ronaldo acted as principal on Cavani, after which the Uruguayan with a nice marker gave Hugo Lloris no chance for the second time: 0-2. Just before the goal, Nuno brought Espirito Bergwijn in for Lucas Moura. The home team tried to force a final offensive with substitute Delle Alli, but had to see how Rashford ensured the final chord. The attacker, who came in the lines for Ronaldo twenty minutes before the end, rounded off in the right corner after an excellent deep pass from Nemanja Matic.