Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Manchester United bounced back emphatically with a comfortable 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and substitute Marcus Rashford see off a Spurs side who couldn’t live with United on Saturday night.
Heung-Min Son had a great chance to lead Tottenham in the 24th minute, but chased a volley over the gate from close range.
His team-mate Christian Romero did better. After a corner, the central defender pushed the ball over the line from a very short distance. However, the Argentine was just offside.
Bruno Fernandes brought the ball sharply from the left edge of the box onto the second post, where Ronaldo volleyed to make it 1-0 in the 39th minute.
The Red Devils played well after just under an hour. Again United played a counterattack nicely. Fernandes captured the ball, played to Ronaldo, who stuck through to Edinson Cavani after a short hook. The Uruguayan striker stayed cool in front of Hugo Lloris and made it 2-0 in the 64th minute.
Tottenham continued to run, but a goal would not succeed. United, meanwhile, defended the lead confidently and closed another well-played counterattack by Marcus Rashford to make the decisive 3-0 in the 86th minute.
Solskjaer is battling for his job after last weekend’s 5-0 humiliation by Liverpool, but as has been the case so often during his reign at United, his team delivered a result when he needed it the most.
United climbed to fifth place and are currently only three points behind their city rivals Manchester City. There are still eight points on front runner Chelsea.
Spurs are two points further back in eighth and host Vitesse Arnhem in the Europa Conference League next before a trip to Everton.
