Five Tottenham talking points from a terrific win over Manchester United

Christian Eriksen gave Tottenham an immediate opener and Phil Jones then netted an own goal as Tottenham beat Manchester United 2-0 at Wembley.

Here are five talking points…

Eriksen makes an instant impact on his return

If anyone had doubted the Dane’s importance to Tottenham, they were given a stark glimpse of life without him at Southampton and Newport.

He was sorely missed in those disappointing 1-1 draws, and was quick to underline his value even further on his return to the side this evening. ‘Quick’ is an understatement in fact – he gave Spurs the breakthrough just 11 seconds after kick-off.

Jan Vertonghen launched a routine ball forward and Harry Kane, who led the line superbly all night, headed the ball on to Dele Alli. His shot was blocked but Eriksen followed up.

It was one of the fastest goals ever in Premier League history, falling only just behind Ledley King’s strike against Bradford in 2000 (10 seconds) – and Eriksen had only just started.

He was at the heart of the move that produced the second goal, freeing the overlapping Trippier, and laid on a series of other chances too.

Players can sometimes gain a mythical status when they are out of action – the image of what they contribute can be exaggerated if they miss poor performances.

But few can suggest that has been the case with Eriksen in the last fortnight. Not after this display.

Kieran Trippier earns redemption after his nightmare at the Etihad

The Tottenham right-back had a night to forget at Manchester City last month, being repeatedly beaten by Leroy Sane in the chastening 4-1 defeat. It was a surprise that he was not substituted that night.

That outing seemed to affect his confidence, and Serge Aurier became the first choice in that position. Trippier came back into the side at Newport on Saturday but was at fault when the League Two side took the lead, losing an aerial duel at the back post.

It was therefore an area for concern when Trippier was again named in the starting line-up against United this evening, due to Aurier’s calf injury.

He found himself facing Alexis Sanchez, and there were some early worries as Anthony Martial played a quick one-two around him and broke free behind the Spurs defence.

However, Trippier grew into the game and gave Spurs their 2-0 lead with a trademark low cross, firing the ball first-time into the corridor between the backtracking defenders and goalkeeper, and forcing the own goal from Jones.

Having also contributed to an impressive clean sheet, he will know he played a full part in this victory at both ends of the field and should now be able to put his nightmare against the other team in Manchester behind him.

Mourinho’s side go all gung-ho

When Tottenham visited Old Trafford in October, United’s manager was facing criticism for a perceived lack of ambition against the top sides.

A tight, tactical affair between the hosts and Spurs on that occasion did not exactly silence the critics, even if United ended up winning as Martial punished poor defending from a routine long ball.

Some might have expected a similar match this evening, with Mourinho prioritising the avoidance of defeat away from home against a top-six rival. But instead his side looked surprisingly open and vulnerable.

United had not conceded a single goal in their previous six matches, yet they fell behind inside 11 seconds tonight and could have ended up shipping a hatful of goals. Tottenham had 22 shots on goal compared to their visitors’ six.

In the build-up to this match, Spurs could have been forgiven for feeling a little unfortunate that they were the ones who would face Sanchez on his Premier League debut.

But perhaps the timing of the Chilean’s move actually worked in Tottenham’s favour. It just may be that Sanchez’s presence caused United to become overexcited, evoking a little cockiness.

Granted, they were chasing the game from the very first minute, but their gung-ho approach was nonetheless a surprise, and very un-Mourinho.

Whatever the reason was, the visitors’ attacking approach played right into Spurs’ hands. The Lilywhites proved earlier this season against Borussia Dortund, Liverpool and Real Madrid that they like to be attacked here at Wembley – they won all three games and scored 10 goals in the process.

Tonight the open nature of the game suited them to a tee again, and Eriksen, Alli and Heung-Min Son all produced high-quality displays.

New signing Lucas Moura, who was paraded in front of the home fans at half time, will know he has a real battle on his hands to get into Spurs’ best line-up.

Attendance record increases

Eriksen may not quite have been able to beat the record for the fastest goal this evening, but one Premier League record was broken – the highest ever attendance.

There were 81,978 people at Wembley this evening, surpassing the size of the crowd for Spurs’ home match against Liverpool earlier this season (80,827).

There were concerns at the start of the campaign about how Tottenham would fare under the arch, but Wembley certainly seemed like home this evening. The jubilant Spurs supporters were in fine voice from the moment Eriksen found the net and roared their team on until the end.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side have now won seven of their last eight matches at the national stadium, scoring 25 goals and only conceding four.

Arsenal will hardly relish their visit to Brent next weekend.

Tottenham make perfect start to crucial run of fixtures

Tonight’s match represented the beginning of a vital trio of top-flight clashes against United, Liverpool and Arsenal – and they already have three points in the bank from the first contest.

It gives the Lilywhites a little margin for error in their next two league clashes, and will give them huge confidence.

Rather than slipping away from the Champions League spots, Spurs have improved their position in the top-four fight markedly this evening.

With Chelsea surprisingly losing 3-0 against Bournemouth, Tottenham are just two points behind the Blues and Liverpool, and only five points behind second-placed United.

Meanwhile, local rivals Arsenal are now six points behind as the days tick away until next weekend’s north London derby.

There is much for Pochettino and his players to feel satisfied about as they cast their gaze forward to Sunday’s trip to Anfield.

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