Mourinho laments ridiculous start as Spurs stun United

Jose Mourinho was left lamenting a "ridiculous goal" after one of the quickest strikes in Premier League history sent his Manchester United side on the way to a damaging 2-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Wednesday. Christian Eriksen fired Spurs into the lead after just 11 seconds before an own-goal from United defender Phil Jones secured victory for the home side before the break. Defeat left United second in the table but a huge 15 points behind runaway leader Manchester City.

Jose Mourinho's record at Man United away in the Premier League against the other "Big 6":

9 games 1 win 3 draws 5 losses 4 goals 12 conceded Struggling. pic.twitter.com/F3h6v1Ufhv— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 1, 2018

In the Premier League era, Eriksen's express finish is tied for second-quickest with a Mark Viduka effort for Leeds United against Charlton Athletic in 2001. Only Ledley King's 10-second goal for Tottenham against Bradford City in 2000 and Alan Shearer's after the same time for Newcastle United against City in 2003 are ahead of Eriksen and Viduka. "It's a performance that starts with a ridiculous goal. That goal after a few seconds has a big influence in the game because Tottenham can play the way they like to play," United manager Mourinho told the BBC.

Alexis Sanchez’s Premier League debut for Man United did not go to plan.

Jose Mourinho explains why “the game was not for him.” pic.twitter.com/CpEfuIc1bT— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) February 1, 2018

"In the end we played against a very good team. Both goals were ridiculous goals. "The first goal is an accumulation of mistakes in spite of the fact that everything happened so fast. My players have watched the Tottenham kick-off many, many times," the Portuguese boss added. "It was a really, really bad goal."

? Mistake for the first goal ? Same old Fellaini problem ? Post-match team inquest?

"The first goal is a big mistake and then we're in Tottenham's hands."@DesKellyBTS spoke to Jose Mourinho after Man Utd's 2-0 defeat. pic.twitter.com/mt6JgkcfpH— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 31, 2018

But Mourinho said conceding an own goal had done almost as much damage to the visitor's morale as Eriksen's extraordinary opener. "The second goal mentally kills the team. A team to win matches need to score goals and also defend well - on this occasion we were very bad." In the second half, Marouane Fellaini came on as a United substitute only to be replaced just a few minutes later but Mourinho said there was a simple explanation. "He came off because he had something in his knee," the Portuguese boss said. "Unlucky for him and unlucky for me. He came on with enthusiasm, but he has an injury in his ligament."

Read Jose Mourinho's match reaction: https://t.co/gTK92z8XgG#MUFC #TOTMUN pic.twitter.com/S4ZdhjyzMy

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 31, 2018

Victory saw Spurs close to within two points of the top four and a Champions League place and Eriksen told BT Sport: "It feels a bit weird to score from your first touch. It was the perfect start to a game and after that we never gave it away. We had a lot of chances to score more goals, I think we had a strong game."

Quickest #PL goals:

10 secs - Ledley King (2000) 10 secs - Alan Shearer (2003) 11 secs - CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN (2018) 11 secs - Mark Viduka (2001) pic.twitter.com/WiGWjdi5it— Premier League (@premierleague) January 31, 2018

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino added: "We always try to be aggressive from the beginning. "Our aim is to be focused from the beginning. You can win a game if you're ready to fight. It was massive to be up early in the game."