Manchester United have closed the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City to two points courtesy of a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Anthony Martial came off the bench to score the only goal of the game with just nine minutes remaining, lifting United three points clear of their opponents as they maintained their 100 per cent home record in the Premier League this season.
Spurs were without injured top-scorer Harry Kane, and the visitors struggled to create much in his absence during a slow and uneventful opening half an hour.
David De Gea was the busier of the two keepers in the opening 45 minutes, although the Spaniard was never truly tested and made two more routine stops to deny Dele Alli and Eric Dier – the latter of whom hooked the ball towards goal with an acrobatic volley after United had failed to deal with a corner.
Both sides went into the break all square, but United did finally created their first clear sight of goal 10 minutes into the second half when Henrikh Mkhitaryan created space to shoot before seeing his curling effort saved by Lloris.
Christian Eriksen then blazed a shot over the bar when he should have done better, but the Dane did showcase his quality moments later with an exquisite pass into the area which Alli could not apply the finishing touch to from close range.
The match was suddenly an end-to-end contest and Remelu Lukaku was inches away from scoring his eighth league goal of the season when he planted a firm header against the foot of the post with just over 10 minutes remaining.
It was substitute Martial who finally provided the breakthrough, though, latching on to Lukaku’s flick before sending a scruffy finish past compatriot Lloris as Spurs were undone by route one football.
The hosts had the chance to add a second late on as Spurs left Jesse Lingard alone when committing men forward for a corner, but the United midfielder sliced his eventual effort high and wide of the target after a long clearance had released him through on goal.
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