This was not a league win for Tottenham Hotspur but it was still a victory for their manager.
He really needed it too, Andre Villas-Boas having been knocked about during a caustic 6-0 defeat by Manchester City last weekend and left vulnerable to another kicking. The Portuguese would be wounded last week, too, by comments from Sir Alan Sugar which asked questions of the Spurs manager's tactics.
The former Tottenham chairman was likely being facetious when he suggested it was his dream that Sir Alex Ferguson might become bored with retirement and return to management at White Hart Lane, with his intention perhaps to impress his lack of confidence in Villas-Boas. That sentiment would seem to ring hollow yesterday after Spurs fought to a 2-2 draw with Manchester United and was drowned out completely as the home support chanted their manager's name.
They had opportunity to clear their throats twice before that; Kyle Walker putting the London side ahead with a free-kick and Sandro later re-establishing their lead with a thudding drive. Villas-Boas took his usual position on his haunches as his side unnerved United and he would only wobble when Wayne Rooney twice responded with goals for the visitors.
His second from the penalty spot just before the hour and would have stung Villas-Boas, although he seemed more aggravated by the comments made by Sugar and also an English reporter who had been scathing after Spurs' defeat by City. "I think it's a very driven agenda by somebody that doesn't honour the club, neither myself nor my players," said Villas-Boas, of Sugar's remarks. "It's their team, their passion and they don't trade it for anything else, not like Alan Sugar, who trades it for money."
The Portuguese then turned his attention to an article written about him last week. "A couple of people insult my integrity, my human values, my professionalism and one of these people is sitting over here," he said. "It insults the success that I have achieved in other clubs and I don't think it's fair. I think it's a lack of respect and an attack on a person's integrity.
"I don't want to undermine other managers. You can easily compare situations. We have sat above Man City before and above Man United before and we haven't seen any kind of these personal attacks to somebody so I think that is unfair. It's something that comes with the 6-0 thrashing but more important is the team and the response and I think the players did that in great fashion."
The Spurs players had waited a full week to respond in the Barclays Premier League so they would have not have thought much of another 18 minutes of their meeting with United yesterday. When Paulinho - a persistent, driving presence for the home side - was knocked over by Jonny Evans, Walker stepped up to the free-kick. United's wall jumped and the Spurs man struck a low shot underneath and into the net.
Roberto Soldado and Aaron Lennon both tried to hit United again with shots, but neither were able to find a way past David de Gea. Spurs were stirred, though, and when Rooney connected with a loose touch from Walker, the United forward's kick also caught the home side in the teeth.
It signalled a more persuasive charge from the Old Trafford side but they would be tripped up by Sandro nine minutes after the break. The home side continued to fight and Hugo Lloris perhaps took it all to heart when the Spurs goalkeeper collided with Danny Welbeck in the penalty area. The Frenchman was punished with a yellow card and a second goal for United.
A draw would still seem meek for the Old Trafford side, though, since their Champions League match in midweek had comprised a 5-0 win over German side Bayer Leverkusen, away. "We had a great win in midweek," said David Moyes, the United manager. "But for a minute in Cardiff near the end you would have been saying that Man United had a really good week.
"Tottenham had their own pride which they showed in their performance. So it was disappointing. United have to win. That was why in the end we were trying to get a third goal but we could not quite do it."
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