Manchester United Defeats Tottenham in Shanghai, 2-1

Manchester United defeated Tottenham Hotspurs earlier today in Shanghai, posting the second win in this edition of the International Champions Cup. The Red Devils have beaten a big rival with 2-1, successfully ending their Asian and Australian tour.

The scorers for the winning side were Anthony Martial and Angel Gomes, while Lucas Moura netted for Tottenham.

Solskjaer’s guys recorded the fourth straight preseason win, and after routing Perth Glory (2-0), Leeds (4-0) and Inter Milan (1-0), are coming back to England.

The Red Devils were playing very well, and it seems that Solskjaer found some sort of a formula which could bring better results to the team during the upcoming season. Today’s performance was very good, and it should be a role model for all future ones.

United dominated in the first 45 minutes, having fired 7 goal attempts, compared to only two of the Spurs. Poch boys did have a bigger possession of the ball, but couldn’t create anything dangerous in front of De Gea’s goal.

Anthony Martial scored the opener in the 21st minute, after one fast action which saw him sending a shot from the right, which ended inside the goal mostly because of Paulo Gazzaniga’s bad reaction. Previously, the French international had a golden opportunity in the fourth minute, but his shot ended on the right post of Tottenham’s goal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV76VNu59LA

The match continued in the high rhythm, and the fans saw a good game, which surely didn’t look like a friendly one. At one point, players of both teams were on the verge of making an incident, as Moussa Sissoko tried to stamp on United’s Daniel James. After that, the situation escalated, and things on the pitch became a little bit rough.

Following the finish of the meeting, Mauricio Pochettino admitted that his players were a bit more physical than they should, and apologized to the rival.

“I apologize on behalf of our players to Man Utd. It’s not the intention, and sometimes when you arrive late, these things can happen,” said the Argentinian, who also added that the development of the game started to annoy himself at one point.

“Yes, it’s true I was a little bit annoyed about some situations. Of course when you are so hot, and sometimes you arrive late, and something can happen.”

At the halftime, both Solskjaer and Pochettino decided to mix the lineups and to try something else, which involved many new faces on the pitch. The Spurs were better, and the reward for that came in the 65th minute of the game.

Lucas Moura’s shot deflected off one of the Red Devils’ players and deceived Sergio Romero. Still, United managed to respond, some 15 minutes later when young Angel Gomes scored his first goal for the senior competition. Juan Mata and the 18-year old made a wonderful action, with the teenager executing it for the final score.

“I can’t describe it,” stated Gomes after the match, when explaining his feelings because of a goal. “I’ve seen it back now, I went and celebrated with the fans. Hopefully the first of many.”

So, @AGomes_47: how did it feel to score your first senior #MUFC goal? 😊#MUFC #MUTOUR 🇨🇳 #ICC2019 pic.twitter.com/eESug1zLzy

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 25, 2019

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was cautious after the match, saying that his team plays better than before but added that there is a lot of work ahead of him and his players.

“I think we are getting better,” Solskjaer said. “We’re improving and pre-season is not about results, it’s about finding a way of playing, about finding a style that suits the players.

United now goes back to England, and they have two more games before the start of the Premiership and the game with Chelsea. The first one is with Kristiansund on July 30, in Norway, and the last one against AC Milan in Cardiff on August 3.

As for the Spurs, they have three tests, with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Fenerbahce, and Inter Milan.