da roleta： Manchester United v Spurs is a fixture that is always guaranteed to stir the blood, even for watching neutrals. There are some obvious reasons for this of course, namely that both traditionally play attacking, attractive football while a number of contentious high-profile transfers between the pair has built up a healthy disregard for the other.
da dobrowin： Yet this is infinitely more than a clash of giants – an Arsenal v City, say, or a Forest v Villa for the old guard: this meeting possesses an uncanny ability to offer up controversy and drama by the bucketload. Whoever is entrusted to choose the bizarre moments for the What Happened Next round on A Question Of Sport owes United v Tottenham a great deal. As do neutrals who have jumped from their armchairs on numerous occasions in utter incredulity at what they’re witnessing.
1967 – Jennings scores
Pat Jennings made over a thousand appearances for Spurs, Arsenal and Northern Ireland yet only found the net once. Which is a pitiful return really, a strike-rate that even Connor Wickham would be embarrassed with.
Then again Jennings was a goalkeeper and, in 1967, an already enthralling Charity Shield encounter took a surreal twist when the quietly-spoken legend punted a long kick down the Old Trafford pitch only to see it bounce in front of opposite number Alex Stepney and nestle into the net.
The intervening years have seen the feat repeated on a handful of occasions but back in the grainy black and white era it was so mind-blowing even its very legality was questioned. Are keepers allowed to do that?
2001 – A game of two halves
Sir Alex Ferguson presided over a great many memorable comebacks in his long reign, but few compare to this. And perhaps most satisfying of all for the gruff Scot, he can legitimately take a large slice of credit for it.
United had romped to three consecutive league crowns but a summer overhaul left them vulnerable at the back, a weakness that Glenn Hoddle’s men took full advantage of in a blistering opening 45 minutes that put them three up at the break. This was the Tottenham of Poyet, Ferdinand and Sheringham and in full flight they were a formidable forc, so surely we could expect further goals as the visitors rolled over?
Well, yes and no. There was indeed further goals but Ferguson’s United weren’t in the habit of accepting their lot and the early second half introductions of Silvestre and Solskjaer brought an immediate improvement. And then some. From the 46th minute onwards United were a team transformed and blasted five past the stunned Londoners leaving Sky Sports and a watching nation gobsmacked.
2005 – Carroll’s ‘travesty’
Even eleven years on, this farcical vignette has the power to drop chins to the floor: it would be no surprise if Pedro Mendes still awakes each morning and angrily brushes his teeth while replaying the incident over in his head.
That it occurred in the 89th minute with the game locked in a goalless stalemate makes the over-sight all the more unforgivable: this was a match winner, and what a match winner it would have been.
2009 – Webb cements his unwanted legacy
United and Liverpool were neck-and-neck in a fiercely fought title race, and with just six games to go only a win over Spurs at Old Trafford would suffice. So going two down before half-time was certainly not in the script. With Wilson Palacios and Luka Modric running the show, it looked to one and all like United’s challenge was on the ropes.
Enter Howard Melton Webb, whose decision to give the softest of penalties on the hour mark not only gave the Reds a second wind – they would go on to comfortably win 5-2 – but gave rise to widespread accusations of the famed official having a United allegiance.
Cue years of gifs, tweets, and spoof clips like this one…
2010 – Nani the cheat?
Perhaps the most shocking aspect of this calamitous ‘misunderstanding’ is that Nani is revealed to lack sportsmanship. Who knew?
With Spurs trailing by a single goal and the clock ticking towards the ninety, the Portuguese winger fell under his own challenge and clearly grabed the ball on his way down. Upon seeing this, Heurelho Gomez wrongly assumed a free-kick would be awarded and rolled the ball ahead of him in preparation to launch it downfield.
Was Nani opportunistic for realising no whistle had been blown and acting upon it? Or was he being a monstrous, cheating tool? Sticking his tongue out in celebration afterwards sort of gives the game away….
2012 – Old Trafford curse is broken
Unlike the other examples, nothing controversial actually occured here. Spurs took an early lead and rode out a topsy-turvy game to emerge victorious. But it’s fair to say the Lilywhites have been hard done by in their many contests with United – at times the victim of their own implosions, at other times at the mercy of outstandingly poor refereeing – so breaking a twenty year Old Trafford curse in 2012 is absolutely worthy of note.
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