Mkhitaryan first PL goal helps Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur to close gap on top four
Manchester United have closed the gap on the top four in the Premier League to six points courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford this afternoon.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored his first Premier League goal to earn all three points for United, ending a four-match winless streak at home and handing Jose Mourinho‘s side their first victory over a team currently in the top half of the table this season.
Chelsea’s win over West Bromwich Albion earlier in the day saw United start the match 16 points adrift of the leaders, but they wasted no time in looking to close that gap and Paul Pogba should have broken the deadlock inside two minutes when he put his finish too close to compatriot Hugo Lloris after being found by a combination of Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The in-form Christian Eriksen was the next to come close when he lined up a free kick from 25 yards and looked to catch David de Gea out of position, but the United keeper scrambled across to palm the ball away.
The visitors were largely limited to long-range efforts, though, and it was United who were creating the better chances despite conceding the majority of possession.
One such chance arrived midway through the half when Jan Vertonghenmade a crucial block to deny Mkhitaryan before Lloris gathered a long-range Ander Herrera strike from the resulting corner.
A rare mistake from Toby Alderweireld – making his first Premier League appearance since October 15 – invited another shooting chance for the hosts when he gifted the ball to Michael Carrick, who blasted a powerful strike narrowly over.
It was another Tottenham error that led to the opening goal just before the half-hour mark as Harry Kane gave the ball away in midfield, allowing Herrera to play it through for Mkhitaryan, who proceeded to lash a thumping finish past a helpless Lloris.
It was the winger’s first goal at Old Trafford, and he also created a small slice of history by becoming the first Armenian to score in the Premier League.
Another quick break almost undid Spurs again five minutes later when a cross from the right went all the way through to Ibrahimovic, but Lloris was equal to the Swede’s effort at his near post.
Tottenham soon hit back after a spell of United pressure, but once again they could only muster efforts from outside the box as Son was denied by De Gea before Kane drilled one wide of the far post.
The visitors’ best chance of the game arrived just one minute later when Victor Wanyama escaped the attention of Pogba to latch on to a free kick at the back post, only to get his header all wrong when he should have scored.
Having thrown away leads late on in a number of matches recently, United were eager to give themselves a two-goal cushion, and they came within inches of doing so shortly after the hour mark when Pogba rattled the crossbar with a stunning free kick.
The Frenchman was close again just a minute later when he played a one-two with Herrera before firing a first-time effort towards the top corner, but this time it was Lloris who denied the United midfielder.
Spurs continued to offer warning shots as they went in search of an equaliser, and it took an alert low stop from De Gea to prevent Eriksen’s free kick sneaking in on the goalkeeper’s side 20 minutes from time.
There was bad news for United in the closing stages when goalscorer Mkhitaryan was stretchered off with an ankle injury following a tackle from Danny Rose, but the hosts held out for a valuable victory despite late pressure from the visitors.
It is United’s first league win at Old Trafford since beating Leicester in September and extends their unbeaten run in the Premier League to six matches.
Spurs, meanwhile, fall to just their second league loss of the season and are now winless in eight away matches across all competitions having suffered consecutive league defeats on the road for the first time since March 2014.
