On Saturday, Pape Sarr helped Tottenham beat Manchester United 2-0 to get their first Premier League win under new coach Ange Postecoglou.
Postecoglou’s first home game as Tottenham boss was a great start for the Australian. His team played with a lot of style, which is something the north London team hasn’t shown in a long time.
Sarr, a player from Senegal, scored the first goal of the game early in the second half. This was his first goal for Tottenham since he joined the team in 2021 from Metz.
The late own goal by Lisandro Martinez finished off a strong performance by Tottenham and gave Postecoglou his first win in his second game in charge.
Last week, Postecoglou’s team drew at Brentford, so he’ll be hoping that this impressive win against a poor United team can get his job off to a good start.
After having dull managers like Antonio Conte, Nuno Espirito Santo, and Jose Mourinho, this was more like the “glory game” that Spurs fans think is their heritage.
But while Postecoglou was praised for his success and attacking style of play during his two seasons with Scottish winners Celtic, it will be much harder for him to do the same with Tottenham.
Fans protested outside the stadium before a game because matchday ticket prices were going up. This showed how unhappy fans have been for years because their team hasn’t done well.
Postecoglou has already had to deal with Harry Kane’s move to German winners Bayern Munich. He is also trying to get rid of the bad taste of last season’s troubled campaign.
Kane’s goal in his Bundesliga start on Friday showed how much of a hole Tottenham’s all-time leading scorer has left, but Postecoglou’s first game in north London gave fans hope that the team can still win without the English striker.
In comparison to Tottenham’s quick sense of hope, United boss Erik ten Hag has had a tough start to the season.
United kept the same team that won 1-0 against Wolves on Monday, but it was notable that Harry Maguire wasn’t there because he turned down a move to West Ham this week.
United were lucky to beat Wolves in their first game, but they weren’t so lucky this time. They paid the price for bad finishing in the first half and a strangely slow second half.
– Fashionable Spurs –
Before the game started, the loudspeaker at Spurs said, “The Tottenham way is back,” and after a shaky start, Postecoglou’s team lived up to the hype.
They almost let United score early when Pedro Porro lost the ball outside of his own area and Alejandro Garnacho set up Antony, who missed from a long distance.
Guglielmo Vicario, the goalkeeper for Tottenham, made a smart save from Marcus Rashford after he and Antony worked together to open up the defense of the home team.
When Dejan Kulusevski drove into the United area and took a curling shot that Andre Onana stopped, Postecoglou’s team finally got going.
After Garnacho’s shot hit Cristian Romero’s raised arm, United tried to get a penalty, but it didn’t work.
Bruno Fernandes made a terrible mistake when he failed to score from an open position after Luke Shaw’s cross.
And Porro almost made Fernandes pay when he smashed a hard shot against the bar. A few seconds later, Sarr’s cross hit Shaw and went off him and into the post.
Tottenham took the lead four minutes after halftime. They had taken control of the game.
Porro sent Kulusevski down the right side. His cross was blocked by Martinez and went to Sarr, whose shot from six yards out beat Onana.
Antony’s shot that hit the post after Fernandes passed to him came very close to giving United an equalizer right away.
But Vicario did a great job of stopping Casemiro’s shot after Fernandes’ free kick found the Brazilian. This kept Tottenham’s lead.
Tottenham played with a lot of energy and creativity, and Yves Bissouma’s long shot just missed the goal.
Even Postecoglou’s subs did a great job on a perfect day for him.
After putting on Ben Davies and Ivan Perisic, Postecoglou was thrilled when Perisic sent a pass to Davies in the 83rd minute, and Davies’s shot hit Martinez and went in.