It’s a game of two halves.You’ve got to love the old cliché from Jimmy Greaves because invariably it is pure wisdom. Spurs are renouned with their obsession for playing the passing game and giving the big teams a run for their money. Well, in the second half they battered the champions with Bent and Modric scoring from slick counter attacks with a sleepy Manchester United defence looking like they could have conceded more in the first half. Redknapp would have been praying for some of those chances to go in because he will know that when you’re up against Berbatov, Rooney and Ronaldo that anything could happen. And it did.
Man Utd racked up an unbelievable 5 goals in the second half after some hair dryer treatment from Sir Alex. Their one touch passing and relentless pressure was too much for Spurs, however the first Manchester United goal was very controversial. The red devils were awarded a penalty as ex Spurs midfielder Michael Carrick moved into the 18 yard box and Gomes met him, diving at his feet to take the ball away from him. Harry Redknapp and the players appealed to Howard Webb but the penalty stood and Christiano Ronaldo stepped up and didn’t make any mistake about converting the spot kick.
Spurs fell to pieces after this penalty decision with goals in quick succession from Rooney, Ronaldo, Rooney and then ex Spurs striker Berbatov made it 5 to add misery to unfortunate Spurs. Interestingly, it appeared earlier on in the game Manchester United supporters were booing the Bulgarian international presumably for his penalty miss in the FA Cup semi final last week against Everton.
Harry Redknapp’s view of the game was summed up on the THFC website:
"It wasn't a penalty and the referee made a terrible mistake," said Harry at Old Trafford. "The players couldn't believe it, they were all saying 'how did he give a penalty for that' but he did and it changed the game.
"I know we conceded four goals after that but the penalty pulled them back into it. They weren't going to win the game from where they were, unless something like that happened.
"In my opinion, it changed the game completely.
"I'm not making excuses for conceding bad goals but at that stage of the game there was no way they were going to get back into the game.
"At half-time I felt confident we were going to score again. Every time we got the ball to Aaron Lennon they were afraid and I felt there were more goals there for us.
"The penalty gave them a massive lift. I felt they were giving the ball away, the crowd was a little edgy and the longer the game went on the more comfortable we were.
"Again, I'm not saying that we should concede the goals we conceded after that but it changed the game for both teams - it gave them a massive lift and I felt we became very deflated over it."
Man Utd’s win puts them 3 points ahead of Liverpool now and the champions also have 1 game in hand. Not all over yet but pretty close to it.
Manchester United scorers: Ronaldo 57th minute (pen), 68th minute, Rooney 67th minute, 71st minute, Berbatov 79th minute.
Tottenham scorers: Bent 29th minute, Modric 32nd minute
Attendance 75,458 (Old Trafford)
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