Tottenham	0 - 4	Man Utd
Booked Chimbonda 45 Keane 70	Half Time ( 0 - 1 )	Scorers Ronaldo (pen) 45 Vidic 48 Scholes 54 Giggs 77  Booked Vidic 10 Rooney 36 Larsson 45

Three goals in ten minutes either side of half time saw United obliterate Spurs at White Hart Lane. The league leaders blew their opponents away but were fortunate to be awarded a contentious penalty on the stroke of half-time which Ronaldo dispatched with aplomb. The Red Devils then hit a quick fire double in the second half as both Vidic and Scholes added to United’s lead with the visitors threatening to run riot.

United took the lead after Mark Clattenburg had adjudged Steed Malbranque to have tripped Ronaldo in the penalty area. It was a poor decision from the referee as there was no contact between the two players whilst there was more than a suspicion that the penalty was awarded after the referee had failed to give an earlier appeal which was a stonewall spot kick.

Ronaldo slotted the ball home with ease past Robinson before Carrick’s corner was headed home quite emphatically by Vidic to make it 2-0 within three minutes of the restart. Just six minutes later and Ronaldo made a mockery of the Spurs defending on the left and crossed for Scholes to bundle the ball home much to the delight of the visiting fans.

Ryan Giggs added a fourth after being played through by a beautiful Saha pass and despite having to play the last ten minutes with John O’Shea in goal after an injury to Van der Sar.

Even with O’Shea in goal Spurs failed to breakthrough the United backline with the Irish international saving from Robbie Keane with the striker clean through on goal after a calamitous back pass from Rio Ferdinand. That summed up an embarrassing afternoon for Tottenham who were outclassed for most of the game and made to look like relegation candidates by Sir Alex’s side.

It had all started so differently with an even first half marred by three penalty decisions. The first of these saw Gardner blatantly take out Larsson in the penalty area but much to the disbelief of the United players the referee failed to award the spot kick.

It was a ridiculous decision by the officials as it was obvious to nearly everyone inside White Hart Lane that Gardner had fouled the Swedish striker but Mark Clattenburg waved away the appeals.

Perhaps that was on the conscience of the referee as with the game drifting towards half time, Cristiano Ronaldo ran inside the challenge of Malbranque and although there was no contact between the players, Mr Clattenburg pointed to the spot after the Portuguese winger took a rather dramatic tumble.

It was harsh on Spurs who had competed for the first 40 minutes of the half with real gusto and determination but when Ronaldo slotted home the penalty it put pay to any hopes Spurs might have had of causing an upset.

The second half saw United emerge with real verve and vigour as they tore into Tottenham with venom that would eventually kill of Martin Jol’s side for good.

United had already seen Paul Robinson pull off two wonderful saves from both Vidic and Carrick before they doubled their lead as Vidic powered home a header following an inch perfect Carrick corner.

That goal seemed to suck the life out of Spurs and it got worse for the White Hart Lane faithful just moments later as Ronaldo soared past the attentions Lee before crossing low and hard for Scholes to bundle home possibly the easiest goal he’ll have score.

Spurs were now in disarray as Fergie’s side threatened to run riot and subject Spurs to an embarrassing home thrashing. To their credit Spurs did force Van der Sar into a couple of saves with Berbatov looking threatening but United wrapped the game up 13 minutes from time as Saha sent Giggs clear and the Welshman steered his effort over the onrushing Robinson to seal the victory.

There was still late drama as Van der Sar had to be replaced after colliding with Robbie Keane and with all three United substitutes already on the field it was left to John O’Shea to don the goalkeeping jersey and keep Spurs at bay for the last ten minutes.

The Irish midfielder did that with ease and even had the cheek to save well from Robbie Keane after the striker had latched onto a poor Rio Ferdinand back pass.

That incident summed it up for Spurs who seemed to wilt and capitulate in the face of United’s ruthless attack minded football. At times it appeared that it was men against boys as United looked a class above their hosts for the majority of the game.

It capped a bad week for Spurs after the midweek defeat to Arsenal in the Carling Cup and a third home league defeat on the spin. Martin Jol must lift his side who have no real chance of qualifying for Europe unless they are victorious in a cup competition. However, with a tricky tie coming up against Fulham at Craven Cottage in the near future, there must be a real concern about the decline at White Hart Lane.

Meanwhile, United go from strength to strength after another convincing victory. It’s United’s title to lose now and with a six point advantage and Rooney and Ronaldo on fire it’s going to take something special to stop the Red Devils from snatching the Premiership trophy from the Stamford Bridge trophy room.


Tottenham: Robinson, Chimbonda, Lee, Dawson, Gardner, Lennon, Zokora (Ghaly 56), Huddlestone, Malbranque, Defoe (Keane 56), Berbatov. Subs: Cerny, Keane, Murphy, Ghaly, Rocha.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs (O'Shea 80), Ronaldo,(Park 68), Rooney,(Saha 64) Larsson. Subs: Kuszczak, Heinze, Saha, O'Shea, Park.

Att: 36,146

Ref: Mark Clattenburg

By James Masters