Anthony Martial came off the bench to fire Manchester United to victory as Jose Mourinho’s men edged a cagey encounter with high-flying Tottenham.
Second hosted third as the Premier League title contenders looked to keep up with early pace-setters Manchester City.
The match looked set to end in an unremarkable draw, only for substitute Martial to race onto Romelu Lukaku’s flick-on late on to fire United to a 1-0 win against Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs.
Tweet of the Match
Star man – Romelu Lukaku
Lukaku had a very quiet outing before producing two stand-out moments late on, one of which proved vital. The Belgium striker was inches away from breaking the deadlock as he sent an excellent header against the post in the 79th minute, and he then provided the flick-on two minutes later that set up Martial’s goal.
Romelu Lukaku
Alli oops
Just prior to Lukaku’s hitting of the woodwork, it was the Harry Kane-less Tottenham who might have snatched a goal, with Christian Eriksen creating a great chance for Dele Alli but the England man was unable to get his shot on target.
Data point
United are still yet to concede a goal at home in the league this season.
Player ratings
Man United
David de Gea 6 (out of 10)
Eric Bailly 7
Chris Smalling 7
Phil Jones 7
Antonio Valencia 7
Ander Herrera 6
Nemanja Matic 6
Ashley Young 7
Henrikh Mkhitaryan 5
Marcus Rashford 6
Romelu Lukaku 7
Subs
Jesse Lingard (for Mkhitaryan, 65) 7
Anthony Martial (for Rashford, 70) 7
Matteo Darmian (for Young, 90) 6
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham
Hugo Lloris 6
Serge Aurier 6
Toby Alderweireld 7
Eric Dier 6
Jan Vertonghen 7
Ben Davies 7
Harry Winks 6
Moussa Sissoko 6
Christian Eriksen 7
Dele Alli 6
Son Heung-min 6
Subs
Mousa Dembele (for Sissoko, 62) 6
Fernando Llorente (for Son, 62) 5
Who’s up next?
Manchester United v Benfica (Champions League, October 31)
Tottenham v Real Madrid (Champions League, November 1)