Manchester United league defeat suffered a heavy blow as the Manchester club where defeated by Tottenham hotspur 2-0 at the Wembly stadium on Sanchez league debut. The defeat saw United slip 15 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City, dragging them back into a top-four battle with co rivals Chelsea also suffering a shock loss to Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge yesterday.
Jose Mourinho handed January signing Alexis Sanchez a league debut with Juan Mata dropping to the bench. Mourinho also made a shock 4-3-3 formation as the Portuguese boss opted to attack instead of his trademark of parking men behind ball of which analyst are used. Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen opening barely after 11 seconds as the London club complete a flawless buildup to the goal to put Manchester united a goal down within the first minute of the game. Things got worse for Manchester with Phil Jones directing the ball into his own net to gifted Tottenham a 2 goal lead. Sanchez, making his first league appearance for United, struggled to have an impact as the Chilean was forced to drop deep during the second half with the host heavily dominating the middle of the park. United lucky to leave Wembley with just two goal deficit as the host missed a lot of chances in the game particularly in the second interval.
Mourinho in his post-match conference praised the Chilean for his commitment in the match as the Portuguese believed the intensity of the game was not for Alexis Sanchez who was forced to drop back to get the ball. Mourinho confirmed that his team will continue to fight for the title despite the 15 point difference between them and their Manchester rivals. Mourinho had to admit that even united position in the table is not safe again as his team is barely 5 points ahead of 5th place Tottenham Hotspur.