MAN UTD 1, TOTTENHAM 0
Henrikh Mkhitayan experienced the full range of emotions as Manchester United’s home victory against Tottenham moved the Reds to within six points of a Champions League place.
There was the joy of scoring his first goal for United at Old Trafford that earned three important points against one of their rivals for a top-four place.
But that was tempered by the pain and anguish as the Armenian captain left the field on a stretcher near the end after sustaining an ankle injury.
It was a win that United edged as it always looked as though one goal would suffice in the battle of the fifth and sixth-placed sides.
Spurs enjoyed 60-per-cent possession, but United created marginally more goal attempts, 15 against 12.
And it was due to the brilliance of keepers Hugo Lloris and David De Gea that only one goal was scored.
But perhaps the most telling stat were the number of fouls – 19 by United and 17 from Spurs – as it made the game at times disjointed.
United manager Jose Mourinho was satisfied as his side extended its unbeaten record to eight games in all competitions.
And after drawing four consecutive home games, it was good to win as he explained: “After so many matches playing well and not getting results, we needed points rather than performance.
“We knew all about Tottenham who are a complete team and to win we knew we needed to play very well.”
Mourinho dismissed suggestions it was a must-win game, but added: “In terms of the evolution of the team, the result is a plus, but the objective is to improve and improve.
“We still have ambitions in the competition and after winning this game we can feel the fifth and fourth teams so this result is very important.”
Mourinho selected Mkhitaryan as man of the match followed by Lloris adding he made key saves and was also saved by the woodwork, again pointing out his side ought to be scoring more goals.
United made six changes from the side that played in Ukraine on Thursday at Zorya Luhansk.
There were recalls for De Gea, Antonio Valencia, Phil Jones and Matteo Darmian in a completely new defence, Michael Carrick in a holding midfeld role and Anthony Martial wide left.
They took over from Sergio Romero, Ashley Young, Eric Bailly, Daley Blind, Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney as United reverted to the side that started at Everton last Sunday.
United almost made a dream start when Paul Pogba forced a decent save from Lloris after Mkhitartyan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic set up the midfielder.
De Gea was called into action to make a decent stop to turn away a low 25-yard free kick from Christian Eriksen.
Mkhitaryan saw an excellent goalbound strike blocked by Jan Vertongen.
The breakthrough came just short of the half hour when Mkhitaryan scored his first goal at Old Trafford and three days after scoring his first goal for the Reds.
Ander Herrera threaded a fine through ball to Mkhitaryan who outpaced Jan Vertongen before firing a shot high into the roof of the net from 14 yards.
Ibrahimovic had the chance to double the lead, but his shot was well kept out by Lloris.
De Gea made the save of the game to turn over a terrific shot from Heung-Min Son who cut in from the right.
Spurs made a bright start to the second half and had two great chances to equalise.
Eriksen’s fierce drive was punched out by De Gea and then Victor Wanyama headed wide from seven yards when he was left completely unmarked from an Eriksen free kick.
United came agonisingly close to doubling their lead after 63 minutes when Pogba’s free kick struck the crossbar.
Pogba was denied again moments later when he forced a terrific save from Lloris after playing a return pass with Herrera.
Spurs remained a threat and Eriksen’s free kick forced another important save from De Gea.
United made their first change with 18 minutes left as Martial was replaced by Marcus Rashford.
Mkhitaryan’s afternoon came to a sad end as he left the field on a stretcher six minutes from time after injuring his ankle following a challenge by Danny Rose.
There was always the fear with a slender one-goal advantage that United might get caught late on as they have lost seven points in the last 10 minutes of games.
They managed the latter stages, including seven minutes of added time, well and never looked like allowing further points to slip from their grasp.