YOUR MONDAY BRIEFING: 9 TALKING POINTS

YOUR MONDAY BRIEFING: 9 TALKING POINTS

A lot goes on in the world of Manchester United over the course of a weekend, which is why Your Monday Briefing is here to provide an update on the latest news, views and events…

1: UNITED 1 TOTTENHAM 0The Reds secured an important Premier League victory at Old Trafford thanks to an 81st-minute goal from substitute Anthony Martial, who beat Hugo Lloris from an excellent Romelu Lukaku assist. The victory over our title rival from north London has maintained the pressure on current leaders Manchester City, who worked hard to beat West Bromwich Albion 3-2 later that Saturday afternoon.
2: YET ANOTHER LATE GOALOur Man of the Match, Martial, scored his sixth goal of the season and, impressively, it was also his fourth as a replacement – emphasising the France international’s consistent ability to change games from the bench. Furthermore, Jose Mourinho’s spirited squad have now scored 10 goals in the last 10 minutes of Premier League matches this season - which is some 43 per cent of the total (23).
3: YOUNG WAS SUPERBTony Martial earned the star man award due to his winning goal, receiving 53 per cent of votes cast by followers of @ManUtd on Twitter, but Ashley could easily have won the prize. He ended up in second place with 40 per cent after an all-action display at left wing-back. The experienced Red also earned street cred from fans, following his crowd-pleasing first-half encounter with Spurs midfielder Dele Alli.
4: JONES AND BAILLY RETURNEDThe two centre-backs began the season in outstanding form as a partnership, but recently missed several matches with injuries. Thankfully, both were fit enough to return against Tottenham as part of a back-three that also featured Chris Smalling. It’s a significant boost for the manager with big games coming up.
5: GOMES WON THE WORLD CUPAcademy star Angel Gomes was part of the England squad that lifted the Under-17s World Cup in India, after a 5-2 win over Spain. The Young Lions had trailed by two goals, but roared back to seal a famous victory that was watched by over three million people on the BBC. Gomes, who made his senior United debut last May, was a substitute in the final and scored two goals in the competition.
6: IBRAHIMOVIC MET ANTHONY JOSHUAZlatan was among the 75,000-crowd at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium to watch the Briton defend his world heavyweight titles against courageous challenger Carlos Takam. Ibra was pictured with Joshua in the fighter’s dressing room and later spoke to boxing channel IFL TV, joking he might take AJ on: “I can only learn from Joshua but if he wants to learn some Bruce Lee skills, I can teach him.”
7: TWO WINS FOR THE YOUTHUnited's Under-18s dug in for victory on Saturday by coming from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1, thanks to strikes from Aidan Barlow and Mason Greenwood. On Sunday, against the same opposition, our U23s claimed a 1-0 win at Eppleton Colliery via Demetri Mitchell's penalty.
8: ASSIST FOR LOAN STARAndreas Pereira provided the pass from which Simone Zaza scored the opening goal in Valencia's 2-1 win at Alaves. The Red has made nine appearances since joining the La Liga club for the season in September.
Tim Fosu-Mensah was an 11th-minute substitute in Crystal Palace's 2-2 draw with West Ham, and Sam Johnston kept a clean sheet for Aston Villa in the Midlands derby against Birmingham.
9: BENFICA ARE NEXT UPOur next match is against Benfica on Tuesday and the Portuguese champions will visit Old Trafford on the back of a 1-0 Primeira Liga win over Feirense, after Jonas scored the only goal of the game. The Eagles will hold a press conference and train at the Theatre of Dreams this Monday afternoon.