The focus before kick-off was David De Gea and the rocky start he has endured early into his Manchester United career. Slight in stature, the Spaniard's weaknesses have been put under a microscope since the Community Shield. Poor aerial prowess and the lack of physical strength has left him susceptible to crosses. Tottenham travelled to Old Trafford looking to exploit and attack these key weak points.
I really thought Spurs playing style could make thing difficult for United. Sending crosses into the box should have been the game plan. Sir Alex Ferguson was already without Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, calling on Phil Jones and Jonny Evans to pick up the slack. United was clearly lacking experience to compensate for De Gea's obvious weakness in commanding his area.
The absence of Luka Modric wasn't surprising but his playmaking ability was severley missed. The positive's for Harry Redknapp was the stellar play of Brad Friedel in goal. The save on Tom Cleverley was unbelievable in the first half. Clearly the better option for Spurs, you could see the confidence he gave his defensive line.
Despite the key absences United were on the attack practically the entire match.They hit a rough patch and slowed towards the tail end of the first half, but the better chances went to the home side. Tottenham threatened but nothing that would put De Gea under pressure, the saves were routine. I could not understand why Spurs decided against attacking with high balls and forcing a mistake out of the youngster.
Down the wing Aaron Lennon looked awful in attack . His pace and service was needed but never came into fruition. One chance clearly stands out. After making a nice run down the flank and cutting in from the by line Lennon could have easily set up Rafael van der Vaart for the opener, instead he opted to drill a shot into the crowded penalty area and wasted a perfect opportunity.
That missed chance came back to haunt Spurs when Danny Welbeck was able to nod home a header between two defenders that gave United the lead. Give credit to Tom Cleverley for the sublime cross and direct the blame to Younes Kaboul for losing his marker. Friedel was hung out to dry.
The American then denied Wayne Rooney with a fine save off a curling free kick, but the lead was doubled by Anderson after a brilliant backheel from Welbeck left the Portugese midfielder with the easy task of scoring into an open net. Friedel for the second time was let down by his defenders. Redknapp had his keeper to thank for not allowing the score to get out of hand. United had fourteen shots on target with at least half being quality chances.
Tottenham had a close call late with Jermaine Defoe hitting the post after De Gea fumbled a high ball. You could hear Old Trafford gasp as the cross came into the danger zone. Ferguson will need to address this problem quickly because points will be dropped as the season gets older and mistakes of this nature continue to happen.
Rooney added his second in as many games with an uncontested header to finish off the match and give United the three goal victory. With the win United move into second spot behind rivals Manchester City, but despite the great start to the season questions will continue to swirl around De Gea.
So far the Red Devils have been able to overcome the mistakes at the back and have yet to pay the price in spite of them. Ferguson has been very positive and upbeat thus far as United have yet to suffer defeat, but what's going to happen when points are lost because of these type of errors? Only time will tell, however if the mistakes continue you might see Anders Lindegaard between the posts sooner then you think.
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