When
Paul Pogba came on against
Tottenham, United had their two biggest talents on the pitch together for the first time and this could prove decisive in the run-in
It was, you suspect, a move that Paul Pogba had been practising barefoot in his Cheshire front room for the last three months: tweaking, fine‑tuning, waiting impatiently for the moment when he could unleash it on some poor unwitting mug of an opponent. And here, 10 minutes from the end of a taut and enthralling game, it was Eric Dier who found himself desperately lunging at thin air, giving away the penalty from which Bruno Fernandes earned
Manchester United a deserved share of the points.
Pogba and Fernandes. Fernandes and Pogba. And Scott McTominay, of course, although you suspect he’ll struggle to share top billing. If not quite the most ambitious crossover event in history, then the entrance of Pogba as a substitute in the 63rd minute – joining the Portuguese international on the pitch in a competitive fixture for the first time – marked the point at which United fans got their first look at their new £136m midfield axis. The early auguries, it has to be said, were good.