Spurs outclass Man Utd

London : Christian Eriksen scored within 11 seconds as Tottenham brushed aside a below-par Manchester United to seal a crunch 2-0 victory in the race for the top four.

Eriksen’s strike, coming after four Spurs passes, is the third fastest in Premier League history, slower only than Ledley King and Alan Shearer.

A Phil Jones own-goal then put Tottenham in charge before half-time at Wembley, with United fortunate not to suffer a more emphatic defeat.

Their chaotic display was summed up by Jose Mourinho substituting Marouane Fellaini in the second half, less than eight minutes after the Belgian had been brought on.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men stay fifth but have reduced the gap behind Chelsea to three points and United to five. A pulsating contest was played out in front of a crowd of 81,978, beating the previous Premier League record set when Spurs hosted Liverpool here earlier this season.

Alexis Sanchez was handed his league debut by Mourinho but by the end the Chilean’s contribution was nothing more than a footnote. Tottenham’s own new star signing Lucas Moura was paraded on the pitch at half-time.

Four Tottenham players had touched ball before Eriksen was celebrating. Mousa Dembele laid the kick-off back to Jan Vertonghen, who launched a pass forward to Harry Kane.

Kane headed into the path of Dele Alli and a feathered flick allowed Eriksen space to finish past David De Gea. Mourinho stood stone-faced on the touchline.

A frantic beginning continued with Jesse Lingard being denied by the foot of Hugo Lloris, but it was Tottenham who looked most likely to capitalise.

Son Heung-min almost skipped past the hapless Jones when left one against one and Spurs wanted a penalty when Kieran Trippier went down under a clumsy challenge from Ashley Young.