EPL: Tottenham humiliate Man Utd at Old Trafford

Tottenham piled more pressure on Erik ten Hag’s position as Man United manager with a dominant 3-0 win at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Spurs made a flying start when Brennan Johnson tapped in from Micky Van de Ven’s storming run after three minutes.

Tottenham should have added to their lead long before Man United were reduced to 10 men when captain Fernandes was shown a straight red card on 42 minutes.

Dejan Kulusevski finally doubled the visitors advantage two minutes into the second half before Dominic Solanke rounded off the scoring.

Ten Hag began the season under scrutiny after surviving an internal review at the end of last season.

A shock FA Cup final victory over Manchester City was widely credited with saving the former Ajax coach’s job after finishing eighth in the Premier League last season.

A third defeat in United’s first six league games of the new campaign leaves the Red Devils down in 11th and time surely running out for their beleaguered boss.

United face daunting trips to Porto in the Europa League and Aston Villa on league duty next weekend before a two-week international break that clubs often use to implement managerial change.

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou was himself under pressure just over a week ago.

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But Spurs have won four games in 12 days and turned in arguably their best performance of the Australian’s reign.

Van de Ven’s stunning surge from well inside his own half to the United by-line set the tone as his cross left Johnson a simple task to score for the fourth consecutive game.

Tottenham were without injured captain Son Heung-min and missed the South Korean’s clinical finishing as they tried to kill the game off.

Andre Onana saved one-on-ones from James Maddison and Timo Werner, while Johnson smashed another effort off the post.

At the other end, Joshua Zirzkee had United’s best chance to equalise when he was denied by a brilliant low save from Guglielmo Vicario.

Any hope of a United fightback was killed off by a moment of madness from their skipper.

Fernandes slipped as he slid into a challenge with Maddison but raised his studs to catch the England international.

Ten Hag responded by sacrificing his only striker in Zirkzee for the much-criticised Casemiro at half-time.

The Brazilian was one of those at fault for the second Tottenham goal.

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Solanke outmuscled Casemiro to send Johnson tearing down the right and his deflected cross was cleverly flicked beyond Onana by Kulusevski.

Thereafter the 10 men showed plenty of fight and Casemiro came close to halving United’s deficit.

But more calamitous defending allowed Solanke to slide in Tottenham’s third from a corner.

Solanke should have rubbed salt into United wounds when Onana saved another one-on-one.

The travelling support taunted Ten Hag with chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” during the second half.

United’s new football leadership team handed the Dutchman an extension to his contract less than three months ago.

How quickly they backtrack on that decision now appears a matter of time.

Manchester United’s Dutch manager Erik ten Hag reacts after the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on September 29, 2024.

Manchester United’s Portuguese midfielder #08 Bruno Fernandes is sent off by English referee Chris Kavanagh during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on September 29, 2024.

EPL: Tottenham humiliate Man Utd at Old Trafford

Salah scores as Liverpool top Premier League table

Liverpool moved to the top of the Premier League table as Mohamed Salah’s penalty handed them a 2-1 victory over Wolves at Molineux.

Manchester City’s 1-1 draw at Newcastle United earlier on Saturday handed Arne Slot’s Reds the chance to go top, and Salah hit the winner from the spot after Nelson Semedo fouled former Wolves forward Diogo Jota.

Ibrahima Konate had nodded Liverpool into the lead before his mistake at the other end allowed Rayan Ait-Nouri to briefly draw Wolves level early in the second half.

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Wolves never looked likely to equalise for a second time as their wait for a first win of the season continued, with Liverpool going close to a third goal on a couple of occasions.

While the result took Liverpool one point clear of City and Arsenal at the summit, Wolves remain rooted to the bottom, with only one point from six matches.

Salah scores as Liverpool top Premier League table

Osasuna end Barcelona’s unbeaten run in six-goal thriller

Osasuna had an incredible evening to remember as they defeated Barcelona 4-2 in La Liga, with Bryan Zaragoza’s first-half goal and assist combo helping the Rojillos emphatically end a run of five winless head-to-heads against the Blaugrana.

Los Rojillos showed plenty of early intent, especially with balls behind Barcelona’s youthful backline, although the visitors initially stood firm with Eric García flying out to block a Zaragoza strike.

Ante Budimir then made a burst up the pitch on the quarter-hour mark before smashing an attempt that fizzed agonisingly wide of the far post.

The Croatian opened the scoring soon after, as Bryan worked some space from Jules Koundé and delivered an inviting cross that Budimir reached ahead of Pau Cubarsí and clinically headed home.

Osasuna were relentless and caused another scare, as Iñaki Peña rushed out of his box and could only clear to Rubén García, whose attempt hit Budimir. Peña was left helpless on the floor moments later, as Bryan latched onto Pablo Ibáñez’s perfectly-weighted through ball and audaciously rolled it around the goalkeeper before scoring.

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Barcelona regained some semblance of control, but were unable to find Robert Lewandowski with their balls into the box, and Koundé came closest seconds before the break with a header that hit the crossbar.

Barça finally got Lewandowski more into the game after the restart, but the striker hit a free-kick agonisingly wide and he was then denied by Sergio Herrera. The goalkeeper gifted the visitors a way back into proceedings moments later, though, throwing the ball straight to Gerard Martín before failing to stop Pau Víctor’s shot as he stumbled back.

Lamine Yamal and Raphinha were introduced with Osasuna pinned back just before the hour mark, although the hosts fought back and Budimir came close, before Ferran Torres ghosted through but was denied by Herrera.

Budimir then regained his side’s buffer, winning a penalty from Sergi Domínguez that he sent out of Peña’s reach. An outstanding evening was then capped off with an equally impressive strike from Abel Bretones in the 85th minute.

Even though Yamal responded with an exquisite goal of his own, Osasuna earned a fourth consecutive victory at El Sadar in a single La Liga campaign for the first time since March 2008. That achievement is made even more special as they defeated a Barcelona side who previously had a perfect record in the league this term.

Osasuna end Barcelona’s unbeaten run in six-goal thriller