Match Analysis: Youthful Spurs Midfield Undone by United’s Young Gunner

Manchester United's clinical nature in front of goal won through in today's top three clash at White Hart Lane, with the reigning champions running out far from comfortable 3-1 winners.

Alex Ferguson's side have had the ruthlessness in front of goal that has seen them win 19 top flight titles in the past, scoring with the highest percentage of their efforts in the league this season (15%). Five teams have had more shots per game than United's 15.7 this term, with Spurs one of them (18.1), but only league leaders City have scored more.

Sunday's visitors were frighteningly efficient in front of goal, scoring with three of just six attempts, of which five were on target. In comparison, Tottenham struggled, hitting the target with just 1 more shot than United despite having 18 efforts in total. Such was the hosts threat from set-pieces - with 8 coming from dead ball situations alone - that centre-back Younes Kaboul had more shots than any United player, failing to test De Gea with all 4 of his efforts.

The Spaniard didn't exactly instill confidence in the United faithful from such situations, seemingly failing to communicate with his defenders on numerous occasions, but did make a couple of top stops on the day. Interestingly enough it was a United set-piece that broke the deadlock, with Walker's lapse in concentration allowing Wayne Rooney to get in front and head home a Young corner.

Player Positions & Attack Sides - Match Report

Unsurprisingly, due to the absence of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric (14) often drifted inside to help his unfamiliar central midfield duo against the likes of Scholes (22) and Carrick (16). Redknapp clearly didn't want the former to control the game as he so often does and the ploy to have his men pressing Scholes worked to an extent with the veteran having just 44 touches in his hour long appearance, a fairly meagre figure for the returning son, with Carrick far more involved with 86 touches.

United's midfield duo sat very deep, allowing Young (18) and Nani (17) to get forward often, with the latter taking up an average position further forward than Welbeck (19) or Rooney (10). The Portuguese international and Phil Jones (4) behind him saw plenty of the ball, with the away side attacking down the right 40% of the time due to Modric's forays infield. Nani was, however, disappointing on the day with no efforts at goal and just 1 key pass and dribble apiece.

The lack of balance to Spurs' XI was evident, with the majority of the play coming down Lennon's (7) right, with the wide man as high up as Adebayor on the day but Modric operating much deeper on the opposite flank. Kyle Walker (28) was also as attacking as ever in the game, spending much of his time in the opponent's final third where, indeed, 32% of the game was played. However, this allowed the game's match winner, Ashley Young, to get into dangerous positions and have plenty of success on the day.

Slack Defending for All Four Goals

The former Villa winger was key, and indeed the WhoScored man of the match with a rating of 9.2, and his delivery for the goal on the stroke of half time was superb. However, this hasn't been the case all season, with the England wide man only finding his target with 35% of his corners into the box this season before today - the worst success rate of players to have taken at least 30 corners this season.

The 26-year-old made 2 key passes, more than any other teammate due to the team's measly shot count, with Modric's 6 chances created more than the entire United XI. It was Young's finishing, though, which proved decisive. His first was an exceptionally well taken half volley after costly errors in the Spurs defence. Luka Modric fell asleep from a United throw in allowing Nani to canter to the byline and pull the ball back. Kyle Walker had the chance to clear with his left but instead skewed his effort with his favoured right boot and Young did the rest with aplomb to find the back post.

His second, and United's third, was almost equally preventable. With the Spurs midfield tiring having played very few 90 minutes this season, Young picked up the ball in acres of space and Kaboul took an age to decide whether to close him down before it was too late. The United-man was afforded the chance to bend a sublime effort into the top corner and out of the reach of former teammate Brad Friedel. One can only imagine that the energy levels of the suspended Scott Parker would have helped prevent such an eventuality, and Redknapp was left bemoaning his absent stars as the points were wrapped up.

Funnily enough the one area of the home side that was at full strength was at the back, in terms of fitness at least, as on the day there were some out of sorts displays, with Walker (5.01 rating) standing out. Only Younes Kaboul made a tackle in the back line, with his two the joint most in a side that made just 11 in comparison to United’s 19, with Parker’s unavailability again an important factor.

There was enough time for substitute Defoe to score a late consolation goal, with the closing down again in question, this time from Ferdinand, but with two goals and an assist it was undoubtedly Young's day. The boyhood Arsenal fan couldn't have had much of a better week, after a lengthy injury lay-off, and a brace against Spurs having added to his England account on Wednesday has effectively ended Spurs' title hopes and certainly won't have endeared the winger to Harry Redknapp. We’ll see if he lives to regret that in the future!