Tottenham stars ignored Jose Mourinho's advice during Man Utd defeat

Jose Mourinho admitted Tottenham took Manchester United too lightly as his former side subjected him to a first defeat with his new club.

Marcus Rashford scored twice to give United a win that moved them up to sixth to ease the pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with Tottenham scorer Dele Alli admitting Mourinho’s players suffered from “arrogance and overconfidence”.

Rashford gave United an early lead, before Alli equalised just before half-time. Rashford restored United’s lead from the penalty spot just after the restart, with Mourinho left to bemoan his side’s failure to rise to the occasion.

Mourinho said: “I tried to fight that state of mind, I tried to tell them exactly the way United approach these matches at home – the strong starts, running, pressing, the morale of the supporters.

“When United face the big teams, people think it will be more difficult, as the responsibility changes, but they feel more comfortable.

“We knew what we had to do, but after one minute of the second-half, we conceded a goal. United will be happy with the points and overall they deserve it.

“We only have ourselves to blame.”

Alli, who got Spurs back on level terms, said: “Maybe it was a little bit of arrogance and overconfidence. We’ve been playing well.

“You have to have confidence and arrogance in games like this but have to use it in the right way. We were a bit sloppy but you can’t do it in games like this or you’ll get punished.”

Rashford took his goal tally for the season to 12, just one short of his career-best, with boss Solskjaer heaping praise on the striker for his man-of-the-match performance.

“It’s the best he’s had under me,” said Solskjaer. “He was mature and strong against good Premier League players.

“His penalty was calm and composed, and his first goal, we know he’s got those strikes in him and he also had three or four chances.

“It’s like he was back on the playground or in the back garden.

“We want them to have fun, there’s nothing dangerous out there – just 75,00 people, wanting to see the best of them.

“The three points are massive for us. We’ve had too many draws this season and given too many points away from winning positions.

“When we turn the corner and win three or four games on the run, they will get that Man Utd feeling again.”