Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 3 Manchester Utd: Two-goal Young consigns Spurs to first home defeat since August

Spurs thought they had taken the lead when Louis Saha’s shot flew in off Emmanuel Adebayor but referee Martin Atkinson ruled it out for a handball and from then on, the visitors put the home side to the sword with a display that showed exactly why they are firmly in the hunt for their 20th league title.

Wayne Rooney rose to nod home an Ashley Young corner on the stroke of half-time and the former Aston Villa man then went on to add two in the second half – the first an acrobatic scissor kick, and the second a world-class drive from 30 yards.

Jermain Defoe pulled one back for the hosts with three minutes left but the game had already long gone by that point. The defeat – Tottenham’s first at home since Manchester City thumped them 5-1 in August – effectively ends any marginal hopes the Londoners may have had of clinching their first title since 1961 and they are now only four points ahead of Arsenal with a tough run of fixtures to come.

United, meanwhile, sit two points behind leaders and bitter local rivals Manchester City and the season looks set to be decided by the showdown between the two next month.

The absence of the suspended Scott Parker, injury victim Rafael van der Vaart and the ill Gareth Bale hit Spurs, although Sandro and youngster Jake Livermore did their best to deal with the imposing United midfield.

The visitors dominated the opening 15 minutes, with Paul Scholes giving a masterclass in dictating the play in the middle of the park. The Red Devils failed to fathom any chances, though, and Spurs soon started to take a grip on proceedings.

Spurs poured forward looking for an opener and they thought they had it in the bag in the 38th minute. Lennon sneaked into the box and Saha turned his cross straight at Adebayor, who backheeled the ball into the net. However, he appeared to control the ball with his arm and referee Atkinson disallowed the goal.

The home contingent in the sell-out crowd vented their fury at Atkinson and their despair deepened on the stroke of half-time as United took the lead as a Young corner was headed home by Rooney.

United added a second on the hour mark. The Spurs defence switched off, allowing Nani to skip in to the box and fire a cross that ricocheted in to the path of Young, who adjusted his body to fire in a fine scissor kick.

United were starting to play some sublime football and their third came in the 68th minute in spectacular style. Tottenham’s defence backed off Young and he made them pay by unleashing a brilliant 30-yard strike that flew past Brad Friedel.

Harry Redknapp put on Niko Kranjcar, Danny Rose and Defoe to freshen things up and the move paid dividends to a minor extent when Defoe pulled back a consolation.