Jose Mourinho Hails Red Devils' Fighting Spirit Following Crucial 1-0 Victory Over Spurs

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho pointed to the desire his team displayed against Tottenham as the key reason for their 1-0 victory at Old Trafford on Saturday. 

The Portuguese gaffer told Manchester United's official website: "I think we got what we deserved. It was a difficult match that could have been a draw between two big teams. I think both were trying to win but both knew that they opponent was strong. So try to win but with one eye on the thief. I think the only team that had opportunities was us, apart from their Alli chance."

Jose made a point of contrasting the desire his team showed against Spurs against the lack of responsibility the Red Devils demonstrated in their 2-1 defeat to Huddersfield last weekend:

"I was so disappointed at Huddersfield, because it looked like in that match that we didn’t know the responsibility, we didn’t know the ambition, we didn’t know that every point is a precious point.

"Today if we drew the match, or even in the last minute we concede a goal and lose 1-0, I would never be against the players because I felt that from minute one, every ball was like the last ball of their careers. They gave absolutely everything, so I’m really happy with them and, obviously, the result."

The two-time Champions League winning manager also singled out match winner Anthony Martial for individual praise: "Sometimes he starts the match and his contribution is good but not scoring so many times as he does coming from the bench. But he’s playing well – the same as Rashford, the same as Lukaku. 

"These players work amazingly well. Today we had two strikers playing together against three top central defenders, the best we have in Europe. Then Martial scores with a bad shot, but a bad shot can sometimes be a beautiful one."

Following his match winning goal against Tottenham, Anthony Martial has scored more goals as a substitute than any other player in the Premier League this season. The Frenchman has come off the bench and hit the back of the net on four occasions during the 2017/18 campaign.