Tottenham Hotspur took very few positives away from Old Trafford.
Their 2-0 defeat could have been much worse if goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had been in better form.
A report from Football London described one of the evening’s few bright spots.
Manager Antonio Conte wouldn’t have enjoyed his visit to Manchester.
His side was second-best all across the park and deservedly beaten for the second time in the league this season.
However, Football London report that before the match Conte gave Christian Eriksen ‘a big hug’ when he saw him before the game.
It was a touching moment between the Spurs manager and a playmaker hailed as a hero in north London.
Eriksen returned to the Premier League in January with Brentford after suffering a cardiac arrest during Euro 2020.
He left the Bees in the summer, before signing with Manchester United for the upcoming campaign.
The Italian admitted before the match that Eriksen is a player I enjoy working with, but an offer from Spurs never materialized.
Conte’s reaction when he saw Eriksen before the match shows the mutual respect between the pair.
Conte hugged Eriksen when he saw him yesterday
Eriksen played 60 matches under Conte when he was at Inter Milan.
It wasn’t the move from Tottenham that the Dane had dreamed about, struggling to make an impact in Serie A, although he did win a league title while in Milan.
He would have liked to have started the game yesterday against his former side but didn’t train ahead of the game.
Eriksen made a brief appearance in the final few minutes after the outcome had already been determined.
The spurs looked like a team that was missing an Eriksen-type player in the middle of the pitch.
Conte’s reaction when he saw Eriksen was certainly touching.
And, while Spurs fans wish he was back to his best in white, it’s difficult to bemoan his success after overcoming such a harrowing experience last summer.
