Spurs fell to just their second defeat of this Premier League campaign after losing 1-0 at Old Trafford against Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.
The win sees Spurs miss their opportunity to break into the top four ahead of Manchester City, allowing United to close the gap between themselves and Tottenham to just three points, half the cushion Spurs had at the start of the match.
Spurs started the match strongly, but they fell behind just before the half hour mark. Harry Kane sloppily gave the ball away in midfield, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan found himself through before producing a good finish to beat Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal.
Spurs had a good chance to draw level just after the break. Christian Eriksen swung a ball in towards the back post, Wanyama sneaked in unmarked, but his header was horribly misjudged as he missed a huge opportunity.
Harry Kane was left isolated up top for the Lilywhites for most of the game, and United nearly doubled their lead when Paul Pogba hit the woodwork from a free-kick. The Frenchman could have scored just a couple of minutes later, but hit effort was straight at Lloris.
One player that failed to live up to expectation was Englishman Dele Alli. He got on the ball on very few occasions, and when he did, he was fairly wasteful. Alli had just one shot, made one cross in what was an extremely disappointing performance as he didn’t win a single tackle or aerial duel. The youngster’s frustration boiled over near the end, committing three fouls throughout the ninety minutes.
Here is how Spurs fans reacted to Alli’s poor display at Old Trafford.
Alli is so criminally overrated
— sohvi ?? (@OhItsLitmanen) 11 December 2016
Do you still want Alli @PSG_inside?
— Jed (@jedthfc_) 11 December 2016
What is Dele Alli really good at expect scoring the occasional nice goal and diving? Guy can’t pick a pass, can’t beat a man.
— Bas! (@edem_gonne) 11 December 2016
I’ve never seen Kane so bad, alli the worst I’ve ever seen
— Esh Fuat (@EshFuat) 11 December 2016
Alli been poor all season time to drop him for a couple of games maybe he needs a rest bring in Nkoudou #coys
— Stephen (@stephenpay444) 11 December 2016
Sissoko and Winks in for Alli and Dembele on Wednesday. Both those substitutions impressed today. Alli extremely poor. #thfc
— Nikhil Saglani (@Nikhil_Saglani) 11 December 2016
Dele Alli had a shocker. Kane likewise. Will avoid criticism because they’re young and English, but they were awful today
— Sam Parker (@SmParker8) 11 December 2016
It was a tough game for Spurs at Old Trafford, where they were struggling to create chances, but this was where Mauricio Pochettino needed one of his creative midfielders such as Dele Alli or Christian Eriksen to step up and make something happen. If Spurs are to challenge for a top four spot this season, these types of players will need to be creating chances and making things happen in the big games against the big boys.
