REACTION: United vs Spurs
Amid the confusion of his controversial goal, it was easy to overlook Nani's contribution to a 2-0 Manchester United win.
The Portugal winger's performance was not good enough to support his bold claim that he is one of the world's top players, but it provided further evidence that he has matured into a man worthy of succeeding Cristiano Ronaldo.
...In the absence of Wayne Rooney, the 23-year-old has stepped up as much if not more than Dimitar Berbatov and young Javier Hernandez to limit the damage to United's hopes of regaining the Barclays Premier League title.
The margin of Manchester United's victory on Saturday might have seemed hard on Tottenham Hotspur, but the home side's ability to nullify Gareth Bale, the visitors' most likely source of an equaliser, in the latter stages actually made this win feel comfortable...
...The second goal was unfortunate for Spurs, but it confirmed my suspicion that many commentators and pundits do not know the laws of the game. The referee did not signal either a free-kick or a dead ball as Nani reacted and Heurelho Gomes dozed. It was a fair goal, however harsh it was in the context of the spirit of the game.
Oliver Brown, in The Telegraph
On the one hand, it was a stunning piece of opportunism. On the other, it was an outrageous case of plunder, where Tottenham Hotspur were the sorest victims. Nani’s contentious late strike secured a deserved victory for Manchester United but, such was the audacity of its execution, Harry Redknapp could only reflect that his team had been cruelly denied their chance of a comeback.
[Clattenburg] might have given a free-kick for Nani's subsequent handball. Instead he waved play on. Heurelho Gomes failed to play to the whistle, rolled the ball out for what would have been a free-kick if one had been awarded in the first place and conceded a very silly goal. Mistakes by the referee and mistakes by Gomes, but crucially none by Nani, who was perfectly aware of what was going on throughout a wretched passage of play. Different players need different things. Nani clearly has a fantastic level of skill and athleticism. He can run, dribble, cross, head, shoot, pass and beat players. What he needs is a little devil and a little focus. George Best used to score plenty of cheeky goals and would at times push the boundaries of the laws. Nani isn't George Best. But really effective players do tend to notice these things and take advantage of them. Maybe his horrible goal on Saturday, with all its hard-nosed game-head alertness, might even be the making of him
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