Tottenham Hotspur midfielder James Maddison's early goal was enough for his side to end a barren home run in the Premier League by beating fellow strugglers Manchester United 1-0 in an entertaining clash on Sunday.
Maddison, back in the starting line-up after injury, tapped in a rebound from close range after 13 minutes to settle a contest in which both sides showed their frailties.
Tottenham's first home league win for 105 days eased the pressure on their Australian manager Ange Postecoglou with his team moving above United into 12th place with 30 points.
VICTORY IN N17! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/lblA2QlizI
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 16, 2025
United manager Ruben Amorim's tough start to life at Old Trafford continues though and the Portuguese has now lost eight of the 14 Premier League matches since he took charge.
His side dropped to 15th with 29 points as they became the first United outfit to suffer defeats in a league double against Spurs since the 1989-90 season.
It was another underwhelming display by the visitors although they did have their chances with Alejandro Garnacho wasting a golden opportunity in the first half.
Tottenham's injury list is finally shrinking and Postecoglou welcomed back first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and playmaker Maddison into his starting team while Destiny Udogie, Wilson Odobert and Brennan Johnson were all on the bench.
In contrast, United's woes worsened this week with the news that the versatile Amad Diallo, one of the few bright sparks this season, is likely to be out for the rest of the campaign.
United's bench resembled a youth team with nine of them aged 19 or under.
The home fans staged a pre-match protest against Chairman Daniel Levy's running of the club and while one victory will not cure the side's woes, it was a step in the right direction.
United did have the game's first big chance with Rasmus Hojlund forcing a sharp save from Vicario who then reacted well to keep out Garnacho's follow-up.
Spurs took the lead when Son Heung-min's volleyed cross fell to Lucas Bergvall whose shot was clawed away by Andre Onana into the path of Maddison who converted from close range.
Back in the team. Back in the goals. pic.twitter.com/Cjm54kHdMA
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 16, 2025
Garnacho should have equalised soon after but lifted his shot well over the bar with the goal at his mercy.
United grew in confidence after the break as the hosts became increasingly edgy.
Garnacho forced two fine saves from Vicario and Joshua Zirkzee glanced a header wide of the target but Tottenham protected their lead as they enjoyed consecutive Premier League clean sheets for the first time in 16 months.