LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur won the battle of the Premier League’s underachievers 1-0 on Sunday to inflict another dismal result on Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim.

James Maddison scored the only goal on 13 minutes as Spurs moved above United in the table into 12th thanks to a third win over the Red Devils this season.

Maddison, who returned to the starting line-up, goal came just days after the former United midfielder Roy Keane took a scathing swipe at Maddison.

Maddison was riled by Keane’s criticism and celebrated his goal by miming throwing a dart and then put a finger to his lips.

Asked afterwards if that had been aimed at anyone in particular, the 28-year-old told Sky Sports: “Just a little bit of outside noise, wasn’t there, this week?

Victory eased the pressure on under-fire Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou after exiting both domestic cup competitions this month to go with their lowly league position.

United now find themselves down in 15th, but do enjoy a 12-point cushion over the bottom three.

“The place in the table is my worry, I am not worried about me,” said Amorim, who has won just four of 14 Premier League games since taking charge in November. “I hate to lose. That feeling is the worst. The rest I am not thinking about.

“I understand my situation, my job, I am confident in my work and I just want to win games.”

Tottenham’s first home league win since November came amid a spirit of revolt among their support.

Before kick-off and after the match Spurs fans again vented their frustration towards owners ENIC and chairman Daniel Levy.

A huge banner read “24 years, 16 managers, 1 trophy — Time for change” as a sizeable contingent of the home crowd joined a protest calling for Levy to go.

However, the mood for Postecoglou was lifted even before kick-off as he was able to welcome back a host of first-team regulars who have been sidelined by injury.

Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario made his first appearance since November while Destiny Udogie, Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert were on the bench.United have their own injury troubles with Amad Diallo joining Lisandro Martinez on the sidelines for the rest of the season and Kobbie Mainoo ruled out for a month.

Amorim had to name eight teenagers among his nine substitutes, forcing Rasmus Hojlund and Jos­hua Zirkzee to start together up front after both were overlooked for United’s last league game — a 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.

“I could see today Ruben had to put a team together, players out of position, kids on the bench,” said Postecoglou. “Welcome to my world and that’s for one game. Now do that for two months, for any club.”

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2025