United untied

Dele Alli made several calculated attempts to poleaxe Alexis Sanchez on Wednesday night and the Arsenal Twitter brigade cheered each unsporting act as if celebrating a goal.

What a puzzling sentence that would’ve been to read a few months ago. Football, once again, proving itself to be the best pantomime in town. Who said supporters were fickle?

It wasn’t just the Chilean turncoat who enjoyed a miserable evening under the illuminated Wembley arch. For every vibrant individual performance we saw from Tottenham, there was an equally hopeless one from a player in Manchester red.

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Harry Kane produced a near faultless turn as Spurs’ lone striker; Romelu Lukaku, meanwhile, offered nothing but anonymity and a pass success rate of 43%. Christian Eriksen ran the game; Paul Pogba’s highlights reel included a clandestine touchline exchange with Jose Mourinho and a 63rd minute substitution. Jan Vertonghen was airtight at the heart of Tottenham’s defence; Phil Jones provided enough prime content to revive Nick Hancock’s video-making career. Ask your parents, kids.

A crucial win for Spurs, then— and perfectly timed. While Tottenham hit peak form against United, both Arsenal and Chelsea underestimated the courage and quality of lower placed opposition. The gap to the Top Four is down to two points.

Moura attacking options

Not since Lewis Holtby, back in 2013, have Spurs reinforced their squad midseason. Dele Alli officially became a Tottenham player in February 2015, but was catapulted straight back to League One to help MK Dons win promotion.

As a rule, Tottenham have a history of freezing during the winter window.

So you can understand why fans were a touch giddy at the sight of Lucas Moura at Wembley on Wednesday. Deprived of the glamour of a January signing for so long, to have a genuine star trot out onto the pitch at half-time was a strange and exciting spectacle.

‘Come on you, Spurs’, yelled the 25-year-old Brazilian down the camera, a blue and white scarf draped around his neck.

The locals are onside already.

Aside from a toe-curling welcome video (far from the worst I’ve seen: there was no miniature piano, for example) what can we expect from the former PSG man?

Well, one French journalist labelled him ‘The Brazilian Theo Walcott’, which isn’t a great start. The criticism levelled at him is that he has plenty of pace and trickery but often lacks a final product. So far, so familiar.

This at least shows the board’s trust in Mauricio Pochettino ‘The Coach’ is absolute. Spurs have managed to get Moura for a knockdown price— in today’s market, at least. It’s still a gamble, though. Moura is largely unproven in Europe.

If, however, the Argentine coach, with a track record of squeezing out potential, can do likewise with a (potentially) world class talent like Lucas, £25m is going to look awfully cheap.

It’s likely we won’t see the best of him this season, having been neglected entirely by the Paris giants in recent months. But with the rest of this campaign to acclimatize and improve fitness, plus a good pre-season, Moura could become a vital member of the squad in 2018/19.