Mourinho hails ‘historic’ win for Spurs at United

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho hailed his team as history-makers after they hammered 10-man Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Soccer Football – Premier League – Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur – Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain – October 4, 2020 Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær with Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho after the match Pool via REUTERS/Carl Recine

The loss was United’s joint worst of the Premier League era — equalling their 6-1 defeat by Manchester City in 2011.

“It is history for Tottenham, history for my boys and I cannot deny it is also history for me,” said Mourinho after his side superbly exposed the limitations of his former club.

“I won many times in this stadium, mostly with Manchester United but also with Chelsea, Real Madrid and now Tottenham,” added the Portuguese manager.

Spurs’ win was even more impressive coming in their fourth game inside a week and after they went a goal down after two minutes.

“The squad made it, Chelsea, Maccabi and Manchester United – the squad made it. If the squad made it, my club structure made it because that made it possible to have this squad. We came here with fresh legs with some players injured and some in the stands. We can face competitions.

“The message this week was that together and with this squad we can make it.

“To concede in the first minute we could have been destroyed. I feel very happy, it is an honour for us to have this unique record in this stadium,” he said.

Although United were reduced to 10 men at 2-1 down, Mourinho focused on the way his team had dominated before the 28th minute dismissal of Anthony Martial.

“We were the best team. They couldn’t stop us when we were 11 v 11. We were winning already, we were missing chances. The performance was very, very impressive,” he said.

But Mourinho also spared a thought for his opposite number, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who replaced him at Old Trafford.

“I have sympathy for Ole because of the result. I don’t remember I lost by six, but I lost by five and four, I know it hurts, I can imagine that tonight he is not going to sleep very well,” he said.

Reporting by Simon Evans, editing by Ed Osmond

source: reuters.com