United 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0

Goals in either half from Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes were enough to give the Reds the three points, who put on a confident display the day following the 68th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster.

The visitors had been reduced to 10 men with less than 30 minutes played, when Cristian Romero was dismissed for a mistimed challenge on Casemiro.

A debut for Tyler Fletcher, towards the end, capped another enjoyable afternoon at Old Trafford.

FIRST HALF - MBEUMO MAKES DIFFERENCE

In his fourth game in charge, Michael Carrick named an unchanged XI from the side that beat Fulham the previous weekend, with match-winner Benjamin Sesko remaining on the bench.

Carrick and Spurs boss Thomas Frank laid wreaths in memory of those who lost their lives in Munich, as Old Trafford commemorated the 68th anniversary of the tragedy ahead of kick-off.

United looked to start the contest by replicating the Busby Babes’ famed attacking prowess, with a wonderful move, led by Fernandes gliding through midfield and sliding in Mbeumo, whose shot edged over the angle of post and crossbar with barely 30 seconds played.

United continued in the ascendancy for the opening period, with Casemiro setting his radar from distance with a first effort blocked and deflected back into Fernandes’s path who uncharacteristically scuffed his shot, before it came to Casemiro again to set himself from range and draw a terrific diving save from Guglielmo Vicario.

Spurs responded with a clever move of their own, Xavi Simmons clipping a ball over the top for Conor Gallagher to volley goalwords on the run, with Senne Lammens producing a low stop. Palhinha and Pape Matar Sarr drew blocks from Casemiro and Harry Maguire with a pair of efforts from outside the box, before Casemiro was in the thick of it again, mopping up after a dangerous Destiny Udogie cross had almost found Dominic Solanke.

Matheus Cunha and Fernandes each went close in quick succession, in moves built down the right-hand side through good play from Diogo Dalot and then Amad, as the pair flashed efforts just past either upright.

Approaching the half-hour mark, United continued to enjoy more of the ball, and the game took on a new dynamic when Romero received a straight red card for a late tackle on Casemiro. The Brazilian, who had been at the heart of much of United’s play at both ends of the pitch, soldiered on after receiving treatment for a couple of minutes. It instigated a reshuffle from Spurs, as boss Frank ushered on Radu Dragusin to fill the void left by Romero in central defence.

The Reds soon made our man advantage count with less than 10 minutes of the half remaining, executing a clever set-piece routine to perfection. Fernandes played it low to Kobbie Mainoo, just in front of the near post, whose flick caught out the Spurs defence to find Mbeumo free near the penalty spot, where he guided a cool left-footed finish into the bottom-right corner.

Casemiro could have made it two minutes later as Mbeumo crossed following another corner, with only a sensational acrobatic save from Vicario keeping him at bay. The goalkeeper was in inspired mood as he did brilliantly to take the ball off the toes of the onrushing Amad in stoppage-time, as we entered the interval with a deserved one-goal lead.

United picked up where we left off after the restart and had the net bulging again within five minutes, but Amad had finished off Shaw’s centre from an offside position.

Casemiro hit the target again from distance, albeit without much causing Vicario much trouble on this occasion, while Fernandes had a shot well blocked from similar range and Simons flashed one just past a post at the other end. Spurs had to make a change at left-back 10 minutes into the half, with Souza replacing Udogie, who was unable to continue.

Meanwhile, Reds full-backs Dalot and Shaw both went close within a matter of minutes at the other end, drawing Vicario into a couple of smart stops from range before the hour-mark.

Shaw had another opportunity to shoot after a corner was cleared into his path and his effort was blocked by Dragusin, before Cunha had the ball in the net again, but the linesman had raised his flag long before that point with Fernandes encroaching the last line of defence in the build-up.

But United oozed confidence - Old Trafford enjoyed a trivela cross from Fernandes down the right and tricky interplay between Mbeumo and Casemiro - and that remained even with a slight change in personnel in attack, as Mbeumo shifted to the left flank as Benjamin Sesko rereplaced Cunha.

Sesko’s size in the box was immediately apparent, as Dalot whipped in an enticing delivery from the right which just evaded the Slovenian, but with some inevitability, Fernandes had ghosted in behind him and converted for our second of the afternoon. The cross had bounced just up in front of him and the skipper managed to catch Vicario off guard as he guided the ball back across goal and into the bottom-right corner, despite the goalkeeper getting a hand to it.

Mbeumo nearly made it three a couple of minutes later, with a first-time effort just over after being teed up nicely by Amad, before Carrick made a triple change for the closing quarters - bringing on Noussair Mazraoui, Manuel Ugarte and Joshua Zirkzee.

Mainoo was next to make way in stoppage-time, and, on a day that we remembered the Busby Babes, it felt fitting that Academy graduate Tyler Fletcher was the man to replace him, making his maiden first-team appearance in the process.

There was still time for a final United chance, as Sesko headed straight at Vicario with the last touch of the game, before referee Michael Oliver called time on a fourth consecutive triumph for the Reds.

MATCH DETAILS

United: Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw (Mazraoui 87); Casemiro (Ugarte 87), Mainoo (T. Fletcher 90+2); Amad, Fernandes (c), Cunha (Sesko 75); Mbeumo (Zirkzee 87).

Subs not used: Bayindir, Heaven, Malacia, Yoro.

Goals: Mbeumo 38, Fernandes 81.

Booked: Amad 45.

Tottenham: Vicario; Gray, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie (Souza 55); Palhinha (Bissouma 80), Sarr, Gallagher (Kolo Muani 80); Odobert (Dragusin 32), Simons, Solanke (Tel 80).

Subs not used: Kinsky, Byfield, Olusesi, Williams-Barnett.

Booked: Udogie 27, Palhinha 70.

Red card: Romero 28

Attendance: 73,985.