Mind The Gap

Didn't see the game last night so I have the dubious pleasure of having to rely on the match reports. Just as well I'm not relying solely on Daniel Taylor in The Guardian, who, compared to the other reports, seems very begrudging of our win:

Gibson's was an extraordinary double in an otherwise ordinary performance from Sir Alex Ferguson's men, in which they withstood long spells of pressure from opponents who moved the ball well but found United's defence considerably less generous than Wigan's had been two Sundays ago. Tottenham matched their hosts in just about every department and it is a measure of their ambition that their manager, Harry Redknapp, was unusually critical of his players afterwards.

Like I say I didn't see the game but writing that as if both clubs were fielding their strongest teams, the other Guardian report tells it:

Harry Redknapp, for all his talk about preferring a top-four finish to a day out at Wembley, eventually rested only Niko Kranjcar and Benoît Assou-Ekotto from Saturday's starting line-up. Tom Huddlestone, Peter Crouch and Vedran Corluka were named as substitutes and incoming players of the calibre of Jenas, Robbie Keane and Gareth Bale hardly counted as fringe performers.

While we played the young players who were, so the papers told us, so awful against Besiktas... And yet Daniel Taylor would have it as some sort of achievement that Spurs "matched their hosts..."
The Mirror's report is their usual unreadably dull rubbish.
Good selection of quotes in The Times' report - including Sir Alex:

“To me, the two stars tonight were Gibson and Anderson. They did very well. Anderson started to impose himself in the second half. He’s very quick and powerful and when he does that he’s a handful.

“I think they [the young players] are gaining playing in these matches, they’re definitely getting better. I thought they did very well.”

Henry Winter is good as ever in The Telegraph:

Soon it was the turn of United’s attacking talent to catch the eye again.

Dimitar Berbatov was proceeding around the pitch at his own unhurried pace, playing a neat flick there, a clever pass there. With seven minutes of the half remaining, Berbatov turned sweetly 30 yards out, ignoring Bassong’s close-marking attentions and sweeping the ball inside to Gibson. Here was a moment that will have particularly delighted Ferguson as he sat on the naughty step in the directors’ box, completing his two-game suspension for criticising Alan Wiley.

Here was a superb 1-2 that spoke volumes for the technical skills taught in United’s Academy. Welbeck responded to Gibson’s first-time lay-off with the subtlest of touches, the ball flicked back elegantly with the outside of the striker’s boot. Beautifully set up by Welbeck, Gibson brought his right down into the ball, sending it swerving past Gomes.