Tottenham Hotspur kept up their 100% start to the season and ramped up the pressure on Jose Mourinho with a 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday.
The Red Devils seemed determined to prove a point after their defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion and should have taken the lead when Romelu Lukaku missed an open goal on 15 minutes.
However, upon falling behind to Harry Kane's 52nd-minute header, Mourinho's men capitulated defensively and Lucas Moura added a second for Spurs within 90 seconds.
The Brazilian winger capped off Tottenham's biggest win at Old Trafford in 46 years six minutes from time when he burst past Chris Smalling for his third goal in two games.
Relive the action in Manchester with Sports Mole's minute-by-minute updates below.
Two of Manchester City's prospective challengers meet in a tasty early-season Monday Night Football as Manchester United host Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford, with both teams looking to show why they could mount a title challenge this campaign. What a way to finish your Bank Holiday weekend!
Jose Mourinho will be demanding a response from the Red Devils after a calamitous defensive performance saw them lose 3-2 to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend. The Special One has made it perfectly clear what he thought of that display by making SIX changes tonight. Here are the teams in full...
MAN UTD: De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Jones, Shaw; Matic, Herrera, Fred, Pogba; Lingard; Lukaku
Subs: Grant, Lindelof, Young, McTominay, Fellaini, Rashford, Sanchez
Subs: Grant, Lindelof, Young, McTominay, Fellaini, Rashford, Sanchez
SPURS: Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Dembele; Lucas, Alli, Eriksen; Kane
Subs: Vorm, Sanchez, Davies, Aurier, Winks, Lamela, Llorente
Subs: Vorm, Sanchez, Davies, Aurier, Winks, Lamela, Llorente
Nemanja Matic and Antonio Valencia make their returns from injuries which have kept them out of United's first two matches. Phil Jones and Chris Smalling is the centre-back partnership as Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly - the Ivorian is not even in the squad - pay the price for the Amex Stadium debacle.
Jesse Lingard also makes his first start of the season after taking an extended break following England's World Cup campaign. Ander Herrera is brought into midfield to give Paul Pogba more attacking freedom in what appears to be a very narrow formation with Romelu Lukaku up top on his own.
There has been speculation that Matic may be used in defence upon returning from an abdominal problem. With the amount of central midfielders in that United lineup, it is not out of the question that the Serbian slips into a back three tonight so that is something to keep an eye on at kickoff.
Anthony Martial, linked heavily with a move to Tottenham over the summer transfer window, Juan Mata and Andreas Pereira, all starters against Brighton, join Bailly on the sidelines for this match, but Alexis Sanchez is named among the substitutes after missing that with a minor muscle problem.
For Spurs, Hugo Lloris starts despite being arrested and charged for drink driving earlier this week. France's World Cup-winning captain also retains the armband which is a statement from Mauricio Pochettino that he is going to back his skipper unreservedly through this sticky off-the-pitch situation.
Pochettino makes two changes from the XI which started the 3-1 victory over Fulham last Saturday, dropping the three-at-the-back formation to accommodate Mousa Dembele in midfield. The silky Belgian was tipped to leave Spurs this summer but is a player for a big-game midfield battle.
Both Toby Alderweireld and Danny Rose were apparently up for sale too which makes the omissions of Davinson Sanchez and Ben Davies all the more surprising. It did appear that the latter pair had established themselves as first choice but Pochettino has reverted to the former duo tonight.
Choosing a testing trip to Old Trafford to reintegrate Alderweireld and Rose to his starting lineup is a sign that Pochettino is ready to offer both a fresh start and put his full faith in them again. Alderweireld has turned down a new contract and Rose has been publicly critical of the club's ambition.
A couple of months ago, plenty of people would have predicted that Alderweireld would be wearing United red tonight. However, new reports have claimed that the Manchester giants did not lodge a bid for the Belgian international despite him being top of Mourinho's centre-back wish-list.
Elsewhere for the visitors, Lucas Moura gets another chance to establish himself as a Pochettino regular in the absence of Son Heung-min, whose South Korea side advanced to the semi-finals of the Asia Cup today. Moura is the closest thing that Spurs have got to a new signing this season and got off the mark in the Premier League with a left-footed curler at Wembley against Fulham.
Harry Kane finally shook off his August hoodoo with the third goal against the Cottagers. The England captain missed the trip to Old Trafford last season through injury, but did play in the FA Cup semi-final defeat when he was marked out of the game by Smalling, and mocked on social media for it by the competition's official social media account! Kane will want to prove a point to Smalling this evening.
Kane has only scored once in eight league games against the Red Devils. His solitary goal in 645 minutes in this fixture - in a 2-1 win in the last ever match played at White Hart Lane - is his worst Premier League ratio against any of the 26 different teams he has scored against.
Pochettino is seeking his 200th win as a professional manager. Of his 199 victories to date, 123 have come with Tottenham although only two of them have come away to top-six opposition.
Tottenham's record at Old Trafford is particularly bad. Their 21 defeats at Old Trafford is the most by any away team at a single stadium in Premier League history, and their four visits under Pochettino have yet to yield a single goal.
Pochettino has lost 11 competitive fixtures against Mourinho, more than against any other manager. The most recent of those was at April in Wembley when questions over Tottenham's big-game credentials were again raised. And yet the Argentine continues to be tipped as Mourinho's successor?!
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Zinedine Zidane and Massimiliano Allegri are also being linked to Mourinho's hotseat with the Portuguese's future at Old Trafford looking increasingly uncertain. He only signed a new contract back in January but board friction and poor performances have quickly increased the pressure on him.
Since taking over ahead of the 2016-17 season, Mourinho has guided the Red Devils to 153 points - 16 fewer than Tottenham in the same time period. However, he has led United to two major trophies - the Europa League and FA Cup double in his first season - while silverware continues to allude Spurs.
Only in the inaugural Premier League season of 1992-93 have United lost more than one of their opening three matches. Even at this early stage of the campaign, a second defeat would be damaging, both psychologically and in the table as it would leave them six points adrift of Liverpool and Spurs.
Should they lose tonight, it would be their 50th Premier League home defeat out of 502 games. Of their 49 losses to date, 31% percent have happened since Sir Alex Ferguson left as manager, despite the legendary Scott overseeing 81% of their home matches in the competition.
History suggests that the half-century landmark won't be reached tonight. A London team has not won away against United in the Premier League since a very rare Spurs victory on New Year's Day in 2014. Since then, clubs from the capital have taken just seven points from a possible 66 at Old Trafford.
Two members of the Premier League's 100 club are tonight's most likely match winners. Lukaku has 102 goals to Kane's 109, and the Englishman also has two more against established top-six sides despite playing 2,008 minutes fewer than the Belgian, accused of being a flat-track bully, in those games.
An issue for Lukaku this evening could be getting isolated with a lack of recognised offensive support in the United lineup. The striker does have a good relationship with Lingard but the academy graduate may be the only midfielder to have a true license to get close to Lukaku on attacks.
Lukaku is up against some familiar faces tonight - Belgium teammates Vertonghen and Alderweireld. The former Ajax duo have long been thought of as the best defensive partnership in the league, but they have actually only played together in a defensive two twice in the past 12 months.
Just over five minutes until kickoff at the Theatre of Dreams, and a late blow for Tottenham as Erik Lamela has tweaked a hamstring in the warm up. His place on the bench has been filled by young midfielder Luke Amos, who made his Premier League debut at Newcastle on the opening day.
BENCH WATCH: Without Lamela, Tottenham's bench does look short of attacking options which does make it even more curious as to why they didn't do any recruitment. Fernando Llorente is an option to Pochettino but Spurs have not found a way to get the best out of the Spanish striker.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils have Sanchez, Rashford and Marouane Fellaini. Could that be the difference?
PREDICTION: United fans will see this game as must win after what happened at Brighton; Mourinho may only see it as must not lose. The way that the hosts appear to be lining up suggests this could be a tight and compact encounter. United might sneak it off the bench, but I'll go for a 1-1 draw.
KICKOFF: The action is underway at Old Trafford and there is immediately a half-chance for United as Fred races onto a Lingard flick-on, but loses his balance as he advances into the area and pokes a shot wide.
It has been an encouraging start from the hosts. They have six players who are making their first starts of the season but there are no signs of ring-rusts. A couple of interesting things to observe with United's system - Fred is playing the most advanced of the midfielders and it appears as though it is a back three for the hosts but with Herrera and not Matic in defence. Very interesting!
It has been quite a week for Lloris and it won't have been helped by a couple of nervy touches in the early going here. Fred and Lingard are pressing high and it will be a tough test of the Frenchman's ball skills.
Craig Pawson is our referee tonight, and he awards Spurs a free kick for a foul by Valencia on Eriksen. The Dane scored 11 seconds into this fixture at Wembley last season. In contrast, Tottenham have barely been in the United half in the first seven minutes here.
YELLOW CARD! Lucas Moura is into the book early on for a very high boot on Phil Jones. Luckily no contact was made but, had it been, the Brazilian may have seen red as it was potentially a very dangerous challenge.
Tottenham appear to be a bit surprised and unsettled by the intense nature of United's start. They need to get Dembele on the ball to help calm things down, just get through the first 20 minutes.
Spurs get around the United box for the first time, with Eriksen afforded space 35 yards from goal to dink a cross over the top for Kane, who can't execute a difficult control of the ball on his chest.
Alli and Rose do well to squeeze out Pogba in the corner, earning Spurs a goal kick. Rose's inclusion is the biggest surprise tonight but Tottenham fans won't be complaining. If he can stay fit and happy then he is probably still their best left-back, however well Davies has progressed recently.
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MISS! They may well have some complaints now! Rose leaves a back-pass to Lloris woefully short and Lukaku intercepts before doing the hard bit and rounding Lloris. However, the Belgian misses an open goal from 12 yards out to the right of centre, dragging his shot wide of the far post!
What an incredible chance that was for Lukaku. For a striker of his calibre, it is not an excuse but had that been on the other side of the area - and on his left foot - he surely would have buried it. It just doesn't happen for the Belgian against Spurs though - one goal in 10 league appearances.
CHANCE! Another chance for Lukaku as Lingard knocks in Shaw with a good ball into the left channel. The left-back tees up Lukaku who scuffs his shot from 18 yards out and Lloris gathers easily.
YELLOW CARD! Referee Pawson evens up the card count, with Herrera joining Lucas Moura in the book after wiping out the Brazilian who had skipped away from the makeshift centre-back on the left touchline.
SHOT! Valencia has scored some screamers in his United career but he doesn't quite get this one right, slicing across his 25-yard effort which flies harmessly high and wide of Lloris's goal.
YELLOW CARD! United's players are not happy with Kane as they think he leaves a foot in on Valencia while going in for a 50-50. Referee Pawson agrees and gives Kane a yellow for catching the Ecuadorian with his follow-through.
CHANCE! Matic dallies on the ball on the edge of his own box and Alli pinches it from him. It should be a great chance for Spurs but the midfielder can't sort his feet out and Smalling makes an important tackle to bail his mate out.
CHANCE! Shaw stands up a cross which Lukaku glances wide with his head. Lloris probably had it covered had it been on target as the Belgian could not generate much power on his effort.
PENALTY APPEAL! Spurs should have had a penalty! Lucas shows what different he can bring to this Tottenham team with a pacey 50-yard dribble in which he takes on two United defenders. Jones gets back and thuds into the Brazilian to bring him down. It is a stonewaller and Jones is very lucky.
SHOT! At the other end, Fred works room for a left-footed curler which did not have quite enough movement on it to come back inside Lloris's far post.
The hosts break through Lukaku and Pogba, whose through-ball sends Lingard too wide and the chance goes begging.
CLOSE! Fred tees up Pogba for a 25-yard shot which Lloris pushes away. Valencia recyles play and centres it towards Matic, whose flick takes a deflection off Vertonghen and looks for all of the world as it is looping into the net. Spurs breathe a sigh of relief as it drops a yard wide.
A poor touch from Eriksen brings a promising United attack to an end. The Dane has barely had a kick so far. The pace of the game has been a bit too fast for him to get his foot on the ball.
Shaw intercepts a Dembele pass aimed for Trippier and United break and switch the play quickly. Lingard is forced back on himself by Lukaku's misplaced pass and Rose gets a tackle in.
CHANCE! Vertonghen drops a hopeful ball into the area, and it lands at the feet of the unexpectant feet of Lucas Moura. Back to goal, the Brazilian tees up Eriksen whose miss-hit left-footed shot may have been sneaking into the bottom corner had De Gea not got across.
CHANCE! Herrera's lack of defensive awareness shows as he loses Alli over his shoulder. Credit to the Spaniard though as he recovers very quickly to make a crucial block from Alli at point-blank range.
Alli collects a ball from Kane and spins on the edge of the box, but his acute through-ball somehow evades both Eriksen and Lucas.
There will be one minute of added time. United try to break after Fred robs Dier on the halfway line but Spurs have numbers on the cover.
HALF TIME: MAN UTD 0-0 SPURS
It is goalless at the interval but that doesn't tell the story of a pulsating first half at Old Trafford. Open goals missed, stonewall penalties not given, challenges flying in and chances at both ends - everything a big-time Premier League game should be. Apart from the scoreline I suppose!
Who will be the happier manager at half time? I'd say Jose Mourinho. This has been a completely different performance from United to the Brighton defeat. Their intensity off the ball has been as good as I have seen from United in years, particularly in the opening half-hour. and they have created chances. Ten shots on goal is more than they managed in each of the opening two league matches of the campaign.
However, Pochettino will be encouraged with the way that Spurs finished the half as they were beginning to cause United problems. Without doubt, the visitors should have had a penalty with Jones bringing a dazzling Lucas Moura dribble to an end by thumping into his knee as he entered the box.
As well as the non-penalty, the other big talking point from the opening 45 minutes is the Romelu Lukaku miss. The Belgian had the whole goal to aim at after rounding Lloris but his right-footed shot bent inches wide of the far post. It is a bad miss, especially for a striker of his pedigree.
Herrera has not looked out of place in a back three. Maybe Ed Woodward knew what he was doing all along?!
Jose wanted Maguire or Alderweireld
This man knew Herrera was better than both... #MUNTOT pic.twitter.com/bWe6Sq9jbl — Ladbrokes (@Ladbrokes) August 27, 2018
Both managers will probably be reluctant to make changes because any player coming on will have a job on their hands adapting to the pace of the game. Sanchez is the obvious option for United, while Pochettino may prefer to take this deep before trying to nick something through Llorente late on.
KICKOFF: We are back underway at Old Trafford and United start the second period just as quickly as they did the first. Pogba lines up a 25-yard shot and Lloris is scrambling across his goal, but it ends up the wrong side of the post.
SAVE! Kane works De Gea with a hopeful left-footed shot across goal which the Spaniard pushes away, and Lucas is very close to getting his head to the rebound.
CHANCE! Eriksen gets to the right byline and cuts a cross back perfectly for Alli, who connects well on the half-volley but Smalling deflects the shot behind for a corner.
GOAL! MAN UTD 0-1 SPURS (HARRY KANE)
Kane breaks his Old Trafford duck, and it is a world-class header which has given Spurs the lead, arguably against the run of play. He gets above Jones from a corner and, despite being on the back foot, directs a header over De Gea and underneath the crossbar. It is an outstanding finish from an outstanding finisher.
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GOAL! MAN UTD 0-2 SPURS (LUCAS MOURA)
Tottenham hit United with a shock one-two as Lucas doubles their lead within a couple of minutes. Eriksen's run into the right channel is unchecked and the Dane picks out the signing from PSG, who strokes the ball into the bottom corner. Against the run of play, Spurs have surged into a 2-0 lead!
And it could have been three! Spurs break through Alli and Lucas, whose return ball to the England midfielder is a little underhit and allows Smalling to intercept. United were short at the back there and need to find their feet again quickly otherwise this game will soon be beyond them.
SUBSTITUTION: Mourinho has wasted little time reacting to Tottenham's quickfire double, bringing on Sanchez for Herrera, whose experiment in the back three was not necessarily a failure but his good work has been undone by this electric start to the second half.
SUBSTITUTION: Phil Jones is having to come off injured so Victor Lindelof is on in defence. That is a crucial substitution gone for Mourinho, who now only has one of Rashford or Fellaini at his disposal.
It has been a breathtaking start to the second period so let me catch up on a couple of things! Valencia has been booked for taking out Alli, and, in the 90 seconds between the Spurs goals, Lukaku went close for United with a shot which Lloris pushed away, after Dembele lost the ball in his own box.
SUBSTITUTION: "You're not special anymore" is the chant from the Spurs fans at Mourinho. He tries to prove them wrong by bringing on Fellaini in place of Matic - the final trick up his sleeve.
CLOSE! Brilliant last-ditch defending from Alderweireld who stretches out a leg to bet Lingard to Lukaku's knockdown and poke it over his own crossbar. It just wouldn't drop quickly enough for the Englishman.
CLOSE! Fred knocks a free kick deep but the angle is against Lindelof who heads into the side-netting.
Fred knocks a free kick deep but the angle is against Lindelof who heads into the side-netting.
CHANCE! Two great chances for Spurs to put this game to bed, both after mistakes from Lindelof. The Swede leaves a back-pass short but De Gea does enough to force Alli wide and then saves his shot on the swivel. From the resultant corner, Kane peels off Lindelof but misses a free header from six yards out.
It had been a decent reply from the Red Devils. but the last couple of minutes show how vulnerable they are to conceding a third on the break. If Spurs can see out the next 10 minutes they may have taken United's best shots and survived. The hosts are still on the front foot mostly though.
SHOT! Sanchez drifts in from the left and sneaks a shot between Trippier's legs, but wide of the target.
Pochettino is continuing to be brave with two up front but when might we see a change? Harry Winks is ready and waiting to give them an extra body in midfield, or could Davinson Sanchez come on in a switch to a back five?
Two very important intervention from Alderweireld have rescued Spurs in the last couple of minutes, when they have been left short at the back. What a professional and impressive performance it has been from the defender.
United want a penalty for Trippier tugging the shirt of Fellaini. It would have been very soft based on what referee Pawson turned down at the other end during the first half.
YELLOW CARD! Rose takes one for the team, a very cynical foul on Pogba to stop United from romping forward.
SUBSTITUTION: Pochettino has been forced into a change with Trippier having picked up a niggle. Serge Aurier is on - Spurs fans will hope that the Ivorian can keep his head in the closing stages.
CLOSE! Spurs are defending brilliantly here, winning their headers and getting their blocks in when needed. Dembele makes up some ground to get a foot in and deflect Lingard's shot onto the roof of the net. It looked for a moment as though it was going to loop over Lloris and in.
SUBSTITUTION: Pochettino makes a second change, bringing on Davies for Rose who rarely completes 90 minutes these days. Winks was ready to come on for Lucas as well - the numbers had gone up and everything - but Poch changed his mind.
GOAL! MAN UTD 0-3 SPURS (LUCAS MOURA)
Game, set, and match, Tottenham! It is a second for the excellent Lucas Moura, who bursts past Smalling and buries his shot past De Gea. What a huge victory this is for Spurs - both psychologically and now by margin too. As for United, we could be in for another tetchy Mourinho press conference...
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Valencia swings in an early cross which Fred heads wide. It has not been a 3-0 game but that is how it might finish here.
SAVE! Lingard takes aim from range but Lloris is equal to the low shot. His week is finishing better than it started...
SUBSTITUTION: Pochettino swaps his Harrys as Winks comes on for Kane whose superb header started all of this.
We are now two minutes into FIVE of added time. But this comeback is beyond even Fergie time.
"You're getting sacked in the morning". "Sanchez, Sanchez, what's the score?" Spurs fans are loving this...
FULL TIME: MAN UTD 0-3 SPURS
More misery for Mourinho but elation for Spurs who record their biggest win at Old Trafford in 46 years. Lucas Moura was the star man - his pace giving Tottenham a threat which they have previously lacked. This is a big reminder to Man City and Liverpool not to count them out of the title race.
That's it from our coverage from Old Trafford. Before you go to bed, check out our match report on the action, and stay tuned for reaction from Mourinho and Pochettino. It's going to be tasty! Thanks for joining us tonight. Until next time, goodbye.
