A James Maddison goal was the difference in a contest that lacked any real quality for either side.

It was a patient and commanding display from the Lilywhites in the first half who utterly dominated possession with over 70% of the ball.

Maddison marked his return to the starting eleven with his ninth Premier League goal of the season.

Lucas Bergvall neatly turned before shooting and forcing a save out of Andre Onana. The parry was straight into the path of Maddison who duly obliged by tapping home.

Alejandro Garnacho spurned a glorious opportunity to equalise midway through the first period.

The Argentine had acres of space after being found by Bruno Fernandes but he inexplicably blazed an effort over the crossbar.

After the interval, Guglielmo Vicario, who was also making his first appearance for an extended period, produced multiple smart stops to preserve the clean sheet.

A vital three points takes Ange Postecoglou’s side above Manchester United and into 12^th position in the league standings. Here are our player ratings.

Vicario’s first appearance since November was a positive one as he kept a clean sheet.

The 28-year-old made a double save in the tenth minute to keep the scores level. Admittedly, both shots were directly at him, but the Italian deserves credit for his solidity in his first taste of action of the calendar year.

Vicario flung a strong wrist at Garnacho’s driven effort and positioned himself smartly to thwart several attempts on goal in the second period.

Despite being one of the players to play the most minutes for Tottenham this season, Porro seemed to have the most energy of any player in Lilywhite this afternoon.

In customary fashion, the full-back bombed up the right flank, which occasionally came to the hosts’ detriment.

The Spaniard’s positioning left a lot to be desired as his lack of awareness allowed United to have chances, particularly in the first half.

Danso was a formidable figure in his first Premier League appearance for the Lilywhites. He did well to distract to Garnacho midway through the first half, which saw the winger blaze a presentable chance way over the crossbar.

The January signing used his pace and power to intervene and prevent Rasmus Hojlund from reaching a hopeful through pass from Joshua Zirkzee.

The physical demands of the match took its toll as the Austrian looked to be limping and was replaced by Archie Gray in the closing stages.

Davies played his part in Spurs keeping their sixth league clean sheet of the campaign.

The experienced Welshman initially lost the run of Hojlund but recovered in time to put himself in a position to clear the ball and prevent it from reaching the Dane.

He flew into a couple of challenges and was rightfully penalised with a yellow card for a robust tackle, again on Hojlund.

Another all-encompassing performance from the full-back earned him Sky Sports’ Player of the Match Award for successive league games.

Spence displayed his typical strength and endeavour to cover every blade of grass down the left side.

Offensively, he consistently offered an option on the overlap and made the right decision with his pass.

The teenager did excellently to force Onana into diving low to his left which saw the Cameroonian inadvertently set up Maddison.

Bergvall carried the ball well and overwhelmed the ageing Casemiro at times with his youthful exuberance.

Bentancur’s deep cross towards Heung-min Son helped manufacture the opening goal.

The Uruguayan looked leggy as the contest drew on was replaced by Yves Bissouma. He was spotted with an ice pack strapped around his shin, which hopefully for Spurs was just a precaution.

Maddison scored the winner as he was alive and alert to the situation to tap past Onana. The United defence was static and the Englishman reacted quickest to break the deadlock.

His creative elegance was instrumental this afternoon for Tottenham and helped his side retain control.  His influence made such a difference that when he wasn’t on the pitch, the Lilywhites looked considerably more vulnerable.

The former Leicester man was slightly lucky to escape a yellow card after a desperate lunge on Noussair Mazraoui.

Maddison was taken off just past the hour mark with Ange Postecoglou looking to ease him back into action.

By Kulusevski’s high standards it was a relatively ineffective performance. Majority of the play was down the left-hand side in the match so the Swede wasn’t as involved as he usually would be.

In the second period, he opted to take a shot with his left foot when the angle required his weaker right foot. Onana comfortably stopped the shot from breaching his net.

Tel was very wasteful on his home debut but showed flashes of potential with his clever movement.

The Bayern Munich loanee pressed with intent and was often seen rallying his teammates to join him in his pursuit for the ball.

Tel peeled off well to allow Son to tee him up, but Onana was equal to his effort from his weak foot.

He had the first shot on target of the second half with a poked effort that was comfortably gathered by the goalkeeper.

Arguably should’ve scored, but couldn’t react in time to divert Spence’s cross that took a nick of Kulusevski.

The Frenchman had numerous other attempts but none of them concerned the United stopper.

It was an average display from Son who provided width for Tottenham.

The South Korean did well to connect first time with a volley from Bentancur’s cross-field pass moments before Maddison’s winner. Son’s crossed bounced around the box before finding Bergvall whose shot created the goal.

The Spurs skipper smartly drew a yellow card from Casemiro by protecting the ball. Son came off late in the second-half and looked shattered.

The Senegalese was brought on as part of a double alteration alongside Brennan Johnson with 25 minutes to go.

Added some energy to a midfield that was in desperate need of fresh legs.

Johnson caused some issues for Patrick Dorgu on the right-flank for Spurs. Postecoglou will be extremely pleased to welcome back his top goal scorer after being ruled out for a month with a calf issue.

The teenager was given a rare rest after filling in in almost every position due to the recent injury crisis in N17.

Replaced Danso for the final quarter of an hour and assumed his role with the required focus.

The Malian entered the fray late on and helped Spurs defend their lead with the opposition frantically trying to find a late equaliser.

Odobert made a brief cameo after missing the last four months and looked lively.More news about