English Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur blitz Manchester United

London: Dele Alli, Toby Alderweireld and Erik Lamela struck in six second-half minutes as Tottenham Hotspur swamped Manchester United 3-0 on Sunday to keep Premier League leaders Leicester City in sight.

A game delayed half-an-hour by United’s late arrival due to traffic congestion burst to life in the 70th minute with three rapid-fire goals that allowed Spurs to trim Leicester’s advantage back to seven points.

Leicester, 2-0 winners at Sunderland earlier in the day, remain overwhelming favourites for the title, but Spurs’ display showed that Mauricio Pochettino’s side will not give up without a fight.

Pochettino had not beaten United in six previous attempts, first with Southampton and then Tottenham, and Spurs had not scored against them in three games under him. Both trends were reversed in stunning fashion.

The result, Spurs’ first home league win over United in 15 years, had the additional effect of securing Leicester’s place in the Champions League and United’s hopes of joining the Foxes at Europe’s top table are fading.

Louis van Gaal’s side finished the weekend four points below fourth-place Manchester City in fifth place, raising the stakes ahead of Wednesday’s FA Cup quarterfinal replay at West Ham United.

United’s late arrival prevented them from warming up fully and there was ironic applause when they finally trotted out for the warm-up, five minutes after the scheduled kick-off time.

Van Gaal made a change at half-time, sending on Ashley Young for Marcus Rashford, but rather than move Anthony Martial up front, he tasked Young, who habitually plays on the wing or at full-back, to lead the line.

Young spent most of the second half as a spectator as Spurs began to impose themselves, with De Gea repelling a succession of potshots from Eriksen, Eric Dier and Kane.

But on came Spurs, De Gea kicking Danny Rose’s deflected cross away and Kane seeing a cross headed clear by Fosu-Mensah, who hobbled off moments later to be replaced by Darmian. Within seconds Darmian found himself ambling over to close own Eriksen, but the Dane cleverly took him out of the game with a deft left-foot cross and Alli applied the finish. Four minutes later Lamela’s free-kick was met by Alderweireld, whose header found the bottom corner, and two minutes after Lamela swept in the third.