James Maddison wows as ‘Remarkable’ footage emerges on MOTD v Man United
James Maddison returned from injury with a bang for Tottenham against Manchester United on Sunday.
Spurs secured their first Premier League win at home since November on 16 February with the Englishman grabbing the winner.
The 28-year-old made the most of a poor save from Andre Onana to convert into a nearly open net with just 13 minutes gone in North London.
This was no less than the attacking midfielder deserved after putting in an excellent performance which caught the eye after nearly a month on the sidelines.
Micah Richards reacts as Man United make it easy for Tottenham ace James Maddison
After Roy Keane’s comments in the week, it was always going to be likely that the Lilywhites’ number 10 was going to have his say in N17.
With that being said, the Red Devils made things easy for the returning Maddison who was afforded all the space he could have dreamed for.
This allowed the ex-Leicester City man to take advantage of gaps between Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes and have a positive impact on proceedings.
This wasn’t lost on Micah Richards who slammed the United duo for the part they played in allowing the Spurs midfielder to control the game.
Speaking on Match of the Day 2 on 16 February, he said: “The time and space that Maddison had in this game was quite remarkable, to say the least.
“He’s the main man, he’s coming back, Maddison is the player who can make the difference. I look at the space between Casemiro and Fernandes where he can just get into a pocket of space and dictate.”
Manchester United slammed for tactical approach v Tottenham
Utilising a midfield pairing of an attack-minded Fernandes and Casemiro who who has been off the boil for many months was certainly a bold strategy.
It is safe to say that this didn’t pay off and Spurs were able to take advantage of the pockets in the middle of the park throughout the game.
The blame for this ultimately has to be down to Ruben Amorim regardless of the lack of available options in his squad in N17.
The Red Devils did get better as the game went on, much to the frustration of Ange Postecoglou, but that came as the Lilywhites were forced into changes.
With Maddison on the pitch, this was easier and there was a notable difference when the Englishman was taken off to get some rest in.
Now it is time to kick on though, especially after his celebration – you cannot just perform once and expect that to disappear, with the class Maddison has ready to make all of the difference.