Man Utd vs. Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs' Rotten Luck at Old Trafford Continues

Referee Mark Clattenburg served up another howler of a decision, or non-decision rather, as Manchester United cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Spurs to keep up the pressure on Chelsea and Arsenal.

The Spurs will always remember the same fixture back in January 2005, when Clattenburg denied Pedro Mendes a legitimate goal after United keeper Roy Carroll spilled the ball over the line before instinctively swooping it away.

Clattenburg argued that the linesman also didn’t see the incident, and denied Spurs a last-gasp winner.

This time around, Clattenburg chose just to ignore the linesman altogether.

It was the 84th minute of the match, and United were in the lead and cruising towards a well-deserved victory thanks to captain Nemanja Vidic’s brilliant header in the 31st minute.

Nani got tugged by Younes Kaboul in the box and went down, grabbing the ball in the bargain expecting a penalty. Clattenburg waved play-on, as Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes took the ball from Nani, rolled it on the ground and lined up to take what he thought was a free-kick. There was no whistle.

Nani, realizing this, sprang up to his feet, went to the ball, gave one look at Clattenburg who kept his hands behind his back, and then slotted the ball past a much bewildered Gomes into the net.

The Spurs were furious, as expected, and charged towards the linesman, who eventually raised the flag.

Clattenburg had a word with his assistant, and looked set to disallow the goal, only to blow the whistle confirming the legitimacy of what was one of the most barmiest goals that the 75,223 people present at Old Trafford had ever seen.

The Spurs were obviously infuriated at the decision, and argued that a free-kick should have been given as Nani had handled the ball. But Clattenurg wasn’t taking any of it as Old Trafford erupted.

In the end, it was a presence of mind which separated Nani and Gomes. Gomes was guilty of not playing to the whistle, and assuming that his side were given a free-kick. Whereas, Nani used his common sense and coolly put the ball into the net, confirming a well-deserved victory.

Nani, who has really taken the onus upon himself after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure and Antonio Valencia’s injury, was all over the park throughout the 90 minutes. He also had an assist in the first goal, as he floated a set piece into the box to find Nemanja Vidic, who rose above everyone and scored an empowering header past a helpless Gomes.

United dictated terms for most of the match, especially in the first half, where the Spurs’ best effort on goal came from a Rafael Van der Vaart scorcher which rattled the post.

United keeper Edwin Van der Sar, who celebrated his 40th birthday the night before, showed the agility of a 20-year-old as he denied Luka Modric, to help his side to victory.

Welsh wonder kid Gareth Bale, who has been carrying the Spurs on his shoulders recently, had a very mediocre game, with the only flashes of brilliance coming in the second half when he sliced through the United defense only to shoot wide of the post.

Spurs brought on Roman Pavlyuchenko and Peter Crouch in the second half, the latter replacing Van der Vaart who complained of hamstring troubles. But, even they weren’t able to spice up things as United replaced both their strikers for the mid-field duo of Paul Scholes and Gabriel Obertan, probably just to ensure that they don’t repeat an Everton.

The Spurs can complain of being at the receiving end of yet another howler of a decision at Old Trafford, but they were guilty of not playing to the whistle. United looked comfortable throughout the match, and never really looked like conceding.

In the end, it was a well-deserved three points for the Red Devils as they kept third spot after local rivals Manchester City lost to Wolves.

(This article was first published on http://www.isport.in)