Mourinho criticises United's "ridiculous' start at Spurs

United suffered a 2-0 defeat at Wembley.

Author: Victoria GloverPublished 1st Feb 2018

Jose Mourinho lambasted United's "ridiculous'' start against Tottenham as they conceded within 11 seconds before going on to lose at Wembley.

Spurs raced ahead as Christian Eriksen scored the third-fastest goal in Premier League history before United had even touched the ball.

United then gifted Tottenham their second when Phil Jones turned Kieran Trippier's cross into his own goal as Mauricio Pochettino's side ran out deserved 2-0 winners.

Mourinho cut a glum figure as he watched on from the touchline, with City's win against West Brom leaving United 15 points adrift of their rivals.

The Portuguese felt his players had forgotten everything from their planning ahead of the game and counted a number of errors which led to such a woeful start.

"I don't think it is very normal to concede a goal like we did after 15 seconds,'' he said.

"It is especially ridiculous because the players, they watch it before, we analyse opponents and work on opponents' dynamics and routines.

"The players they knew the long ball, they knew that Harry Kane - before the kick-off, is already inside the opponent's half. We knew everything.

"Then we don't press the ball; one mistake. We don't pick the ball in the air; second mistake. We don't win the second ball on the ground; third mistake. We don't cover the inside when Eriksen comes; four mistakes.

"Four mistakes after 15 seconds and you are losing 1-0 against a good team. Then I think (we had) a good reaction.''

Tottenham's win puts them just two points off the top four and six clear of neighbours Arsenal.