Player ratings: Manchester United 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur

David de Gea: 7

Made several smart stops, but more importantly gave his defence a proper telling-off when they let Victor Wanyama slip their attentions for Tottenham's best chance of the game. We don't quite know why the sight of De Gea telling hundreds of millions of pounds of footballing talent to pick up their man is so pleasing, but it was.

Antonio Valencia: 6

Had a fairly quiet game, but then so did Christian Eriksen, so job done.

Phil Jones: 7

The resurrection of Phil Jones is by some distance the most heartwarming story of 2016, and we just hope he makes it to the other side of Christmas without spearing himself on some iron railings while attempting to make a snowman.

Marcos Rojo: 6

While Rojo seems the obvious candidate to drop from the defence now that Eric Bailly's fit, his time filling in hasn't been the living nightmare we were all fearing. So that's nice.

Matteo Darmian: 4

Had a weird game. Seemed to be more intimidated by Moussa Sissoko than Son Heung-Min, which suggests he hasn't really been following Spurs this season, and on occasion looked on the verge of dissolving completely. But in the end, he didn't do anything too disastrous.

Michael Carrick: 7

Did Michael Carrick things, and they seemed to work. Finding a younger, fresher-legged player who can pass the ball is, all of a sudden, one of United's biggest priorities for next summer.

Ander Herrera: 7

Excellent vision to spot Mkhitaryan's run, and excellent technique to perfectly weight the through ball. Beyond that, admirable commitment to the cause of annoying the opposition: he rolls around on the floor; he flaps his arms; he chirps at the referee; and he has the happy knack of being able to dodge a yellow card for far longer than should be possible.

Paul Pogba: 7

Perhaps the best way to think about Pogba is to make peace with the fact that a lot of what he tries — the backheels, the turns, the jinks and the janks — simply won't work. And then to think about if what he does do — the crossfield passes and booming crosses, the free-kicks, the driving runs, the quick feet, as well as all that fancy stuff when it works — is worth it. Games like this, it looks as though it is. And by way of a bonus, this was Mousa Dembele's quietest game

Henrikh Mkhitaryan: 8

Scored his first Old Trafford goal with a deeply pleasing thump into the roof of the net, and generally looked menacing all afternoon. His speed with the ball is such that he was able, with just ten minutes to go, to leave the not-exactly-slow Danny Rose trailing in his wake … which is why Rose, humiliated and beaten, decided to kick him. Hopefully the damage isn't too bad.

Anthony Martial: 6

Not great, but not great in a very Mourinho-appropriate way: he tracked back regularly, worked hard, and together with Mkhitaryan he kept Spurs' fullbacks busy in their own half of the pitch. Seems to be firmly back in favour.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: 6

Not his most involved game as a goal threat, but he stuck at the less glamorous parts of lone striker play and generally linked up well with his colleagues.

Marcus Rashford (on for Martial, 72'): —

Takes free kicks now, apparently.

Eric Bailly (on for Mkhitaryan, 85'): —

Didn't take bloody and savage revenge on Danny Rose, which was a bit of a disappointment.

Marouane Fellaini (on for Herrera, 90+7'): —

Booing your own players is probably a bit stupid. However tempting.