Published: 4 March, 2012
Premier League
SPURS 1, MANCHESTER UNITED 3
by DAN CARRIER

SPURS versus Manchester United has the 'glory, glory game' written all over it. It is one of those fixtures you feel you should enjoy, should look out for at the start of the season, should always be a classic. It is the type of fixture that epitomises free-flowing football, adventurous attackers, and a roll-call from the past that boasts the very best in the English game.

But I have to be frank: I haven't truly enjoyed these games since we beat United 4-1 on New Year’s Day in the late 90s.

Every time we play them I get a little irked: it always seems (and at the risk of sounding like Kevin the teenager) it is just so unfair.

We've put in some grand performances against them and never, ever, got the rub of the green. I hardly know where to start when it comes to a sense of injustice. There was the Berbatov penalty at United a few years back under Martin Jol, when the Bulgarian was kicked into the slate grey Manchester skies just before he pulled the trigger, yet the referee failed to see it. Then there was the time we were three up and still managed to lose. Then there was the time when a dumb mistake by Gomes coupled with an off-side decision that wasn't that cost us the points.

I could go on. Frankly, it seems no matter how well you play against them, Ferguson's charges have the footballing gods on their side and will always come out on top.

I didn't expect much on the way to the ground, especially when I saw the team sheet. It was makeshift, to say the least. No Bale, Parker or Van Der Vaart meant Harry had to shuffle the pack. Lennon was recalled on the right and Modric was pushed left.

It was a big day for two youngsters: Jake Livermore and Sandro were starting together in the centre mid positions for the first time, and had the vast experience of ex-Spur Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes to contend with.

And with Modric on the left to compensate for the loss of Bale, Spurs, on paper, had been robbed of their heartbeat in the middle.

But despite the missing stars, Spurs settled well and even created chances.

Sandro showed why he is such a hit with the terraces: he simply gave Scholes and Carrick very little time to get into their stride and when he won possession he ensured it went to a man in white. Livermore also soon got into his rhythm, and the youngster basically looked non-plussed whenever he had questions asked of him by United's forwards.

With Lennon looking like he wanted to prove his doubters wrong – this was his first start for a while – Spurs were top dogs.

On 36, Spurs looked like they had taken the lead when a Sandro burst created a goalmouth scramble. Saha shot and it seemed to hit Adebayor on the line. Spurs deserved a first half goal and this was a cruel twist. The referee said it was handball, though it clearly looked ball to hand, and what Ade had to gain by handling on the line is just not clear.

Adebayor has had four or five goals this season disallowed, and there will be an inquest as to whether that one also should have counted. Still, it showed just how well this makeshift side were doing against United.

Then, out of nothing, and after Spurs had dominated the play, United scored. Sandro was penalised for getting in a tangle with Ashley Young and it resulted in United being able to get out of their own half for a change. From a corner, Rooney had a free header and tucked it home. The United curse had struck again.

Spurs came out in the second half as they had done for much of the first: Sandro and Livermore clearly had the better of their United counterparts and were putting in some seriously fierce tackles. Livermore nearly evened things up on 48 with a great long-range effort while Sandro again out-muscled all those around him when asked to.

But despite Spurs having all the play and dominating this game in a manner which I have not seen us do against United for some time, including whisper-away efforts from Assou-Ekotto and Livermore, a rare United attack wasn't cleared and Ashley Young put them two goals clear on 58.

Still, the heads did not drop despite the cruel nature of the scoreline and Spurs kept pressing: yet instead of a goal coming that would give us an exciting ending, United's Young was given too much time on the left of the box as the clock hit 70 and his exquisite curler gave Friedel no chance.

It knocked the stuffing out of the fans.

We were frankly superior yet found ourselves 3-0 down. How did that happen? It seemed so unreal, considering the performance for 70 minutes.

As if to rub it in, Defoe showed his class when he came on with 10 remaining and walloped one home from distance: it was a quality strike, and then they created a couple of other chances which could so easily have made this a fabulous fightback.

Yet while such a heavy home defeat will require some real work to rub out as we go into such a crucial end-of-season run, Redknapp, his charges and the dejected fans on the terraces, should take heart from the amazingly unbalanced game here: three chances and three goals. I suppose that is why United are champions, and I don't like watching them play my heroes.