LONDON: Manchester United squandered an opportunity to put pressure on Premier League pace- setters Chelsea and Manchester City after being held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at Tottenham Hot-spur on Sunday.
Louis van Gaal’s side created a string of chances, with Juan Mata hitting the woodwork and Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris produc-ing a number of excellent saves, but had to settle for a point.
The draw extended United’s unbeaten run to nine games, but left them nine points below Chelsea and six behind City, both of whom play later.
Tottenham are five points further back in sixth place.
“We lost two points I think,” United manager Van Gaal told BT Sport.
“We had the best performance of Manchester United this season in the first half. We could have scored four or five goals and we didn’t reward ourselves.”
Van Gaal kept faith with the team that had beaten Newcastle United 3-1 on Boxing Day and he saw his side completely dominate the first half at a sunny but chilly White Hart Lane.
Lloris saved from Radamel Falcao, twice, Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young, while Mata hit the post with a deflected free- kick and Phil Jones was denied by an offside flag after squeezing a header over the line. — AFP