Rashford: We executed the manager's plans

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made a change to the team's formation, switching from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-1-2, the side led by a strike partnership of Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani.

Both forwards found the back of the net, either side of half-time, to give United a two-goal lead before Rashford came off the bench to seal the win.

It was a confident performance from the Reds and a crucial victory after last week's result against Liverpool.

"It was a difficult week," Rashford admitted to club media post-match.

"The only way to respond is to win the game and get three points. I thought we did that well today but also the way that we executed the manager's plans was really top.

"We were always connected throughout the game, even when it got a little bit stretched towards the end, we stayed tight as a unit and made it difficult to score against us.

"Against a team with as many quality players as these have, you have to be switched on at all times and I thought the lads at the back did exactly that, and the midfielders put a shift in, the forwards scored the goals."

It was a controlled display from United and that's exactly what fans wanted to see from the team: an element of control and a well-executed game plan.

Rashford explained that a few days without a match allowed the team to get stuck into their preparation.

"We've had a full week to work on it," Rashford said.

"It's a little bit unusual for us not having a midweek game, but I think we used it terrifically.

"We had to clear our heads from a terrible result against Liverpool and sometimes that can take a couple of days itself, and just focus throughout the week on playing against Tottenham and getting the three points, so I think we got what we deserved today.

"I think it was a confident performance, we defended well, we were compact, we were tight. The main thing was that we were all together on the pitch."

There's not so much time before United's next game, a UEFA Champions League group stage match away at Atalanta on Tuesday. The Reds will rest on Sunday before travelling to Italy on Monday.

Whether this performance against Tottenham is used as the blueprint for future matches is yet to be seen.