WITH all the white noise which surrounds him, and all the frustration and fury he attracts, it is easy to forget that Paul Pogba is quite some footballer. Jose Mourinho, who agreed a world-record £89million fee for Pogba when he took over at Manchester United in 2016, felt more frustration and fury than most. Yet […]
WITH all the white noise which surrounds him, and all the frustration and fury he attracts, it is easy to forget that Paul Pogba is quite some footballer.
Jose Mourinho, who agreed a world-record £89million fee for Pogba when he took over at Manchester United in 2016, felt more frustration and fury than most.
Yet within 20 minutes of his arrival as a substitute – on his first appearance since Boxing Day – Pogba produced the game-changing moment of sorcery which earned a penalty and robbed Mourinho of victory.
Bruno Fernandes netted the spot-kick equaliser and was awarded another penalty in the 90th-minute – only for VAR to over-rule ref Jon Moss and spare Mourinho’s Spurs a likely defeat.
That spared the blushes of Eric Dier, who had been roasted by Pogba for the initial penalty and was also initially penalised for the second spot-kick award.
United deserved their point, certainly after Pogba arrived.
But until late on it seemed that Mourinho – the mouthiest of managers – might revel in the sound of silence.
The Spurs boss has certainly benefited from the formbook being shredded by a three-month lockdown.
His side had lost five out of six winless matches before the season was suspended yet they had led through a Steven Bergwijn strike, and a David De Gea blunder.
United, now unbeaten in 12, had struggled to pick up their old momentum muntil the arrival of their enigmatic World Cup-winning midfielder.
But they remain four points clear of Spurs and right in the thick of the Champions League qualification race – even if they might need a defeat for Manchester City’s lawyers to head back into Europe’s elite competition next term.
It was a pity that Marcus Rashford could not have been offered a stadium-wide standing ovation after moonlighting as the Leader of the Opposition and forcing a government U-turn on free school meals during the summer holidays.
Those are words you could not have imagined reading three months ago – yet so much of what we know now was unimaginable then.
The Lane has since been used an NHS testing centre and here, its mighty ‘White Wall’ was empty, save for banners across the lower tier.
But at least Rashford – on the left wing in every sense – was restored to the starting line-up after a back injury and let us not forget that the England man is a damned decent footballer as well as life-changing activist.
Pogba started on the bench, Solskjaer showing loyalty to the midfield which had revived United’s fortunes before football’s suspension and denying the Frenchman a chance to start against his old nemesis Mourinho.
Spurs had been in meltdown when lockdown fell – dumped out of the Champions League and FA Cup, riddled with injuries and indiscipline, with Mourinho staging a pity party at the injustice of it all.
No other Premier League club should have benefited from a three-month break quite as obviously as Spurs – Kane, Son Heung-Min and Moussa Sissoko all fit again, and Mourinho with a smile back on his chops.
Initially his team were happy to sit back, allow United to have most of the ball and attempt to hit them on the break.
An empty Lane offers good acoustics – the players are clearly audible as is the thud of each pass.
The behind-closed-doors experience is an intimate one – friendlier somehow – and one by-product of no crowd noise might well mean fewer bookings.
When Erik Lamela booted Scott McTominay up in the air early on, ref Jon Moss withheld the yellow card.
The first genuine opportunity did not arrive until 22 minutes and it fell to the national man of the moment.
After a poor header from Davinson Sanchez, Rashford rifled in a shot which Hugo Lloris saved sharply with his feet.
Yet the other side of the mid-half drinks break, Spurs seized the lead when Bergwijn took it upon himself to raise the tempo single-handed.
The Dutch winger, who’d scored on his debut against Manchester City here in February, darted between Fred and Harry Maguire and hammered a shot which went through David De Gea.
The United defence at pre-season pace, Bergwijn at full pelt.
After Sanchez – under pressure from Rashford – had forced a save from his own keeper Lloris, Bergwijn’s speed troubled United again soon after.
This time, he motored down the right and crossed for Son, whose header was turned over by a springing, twisting De Gea.
Moss did book Dan James for a petulant trip on Eric Dier – and United ended the first half the livelier, with their chief creator Bruno Fernandes demanding a save from Lloris.
After Roy Keane had let rip at United’s defence in the Sky studios at half-time – the moment when a national sense of normality officially resumed – Fernandes soon fizzed one just wide.
On 62 minutes, Solskjaer threw on Pogba and United were instantly livelier, the Frenchman soon winning an outstanding tackle to dispossess Sikkoko on the edge of the Spurs box.
Fernandes then fed Anthony Martial with a gem of a pass but Eric Dier robbed the Frenchman down in the last ditch.
And from a Shaw centre Martial’s shot forced a brilliant strong-armed stop from Lloris.
It was Pogba’s sleight of foot which won the penalty as he reached the bye-line by kippering Dier, who nudged over the Frenchman.
Pogba may have gone down slightly easily but Moss was probably right and Fernandes drilled home the 81st-minute spot-kick.
Then Dier was judged to trip for Fernandes only for VAR to prove there had been no contact.
A lucky escape for Mourinho – but without Pogba, it would have been a very different story.
