Luke Shaw Praises 'Outstanding' First Half Performance From Man Utd Despite Crushing Defeat

Luke Shaw was disappointed that Manchester United were unable to capitalise on an "outstanding" first half performance in the heavy defeat to Tottenham on Monday.

United had the better of the first 45 minutes at Old Trafford but failed to take advantage, and quickfire goals from Harry Kane and Lucas Moura early in the second half gave Spurs an unassailable lead.

Moura added a late third to inflict the heaviest home defeat of Jose Mourinho's career, but Shaw did not feel that the scoreline reflected the balance of the match.

"You look at the first half and I think we were outstanding,” he told United's official website. "We had a lot of chances to put the game to bed. Of the chances we had, [we should have scored] maybe one or two, then for me it would have been 'game over'.

"We spoke at half-time and Jose [Mourinho] said they hadn't had one corner, one cross or one dangerous opportunity. Then, from their first corner in the second half they had a goal, but even then we should have been relaxed because it was only one goal and we still had a lot of time. 

"But then came another mistake, another silly, stupid goal. We were so on top and it is just really disappointing, everyone in the dressing room is really sad, especially after the first half we had."

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Shaw came in for heavy criticism last season but he was again among United's better players on Monday, and was the first to receive a comforting arm around the shoulder from Mourinho after the match.

He will hope that United can use their first half display as a spring board to bounce back when they travel to Burnley next Sunday.