Man Utd 0 Tottenham 0: Manchester United departed the ground like a team beaten last night. In a way they were: even without losing United fell two more points behind Chelsea and the gap is now 11 points. Chelsea's blip will need to be about a month long at this rate.
It should have been worse. On 89 minutes Roy Carroll dropped a 50-yard shot from Pedro Mendes over at least two feet over his own line but neither the referee nor linesman were close enough to award the goal. Gabriel Heinze's free kick was then saved by Paul Robinson in a dramatic finish.
Afterwards, Tottenham manager Martin Jol was moved to call for the introduction of video technology following the decision which TV pundit Niall Quinn afterwards described as "the most blatant I have seen in 20 years playing the game and two years watching it".
Jol said: "There is so much technology in the world - it's 2005 - but in football we have to watch television after the game. It's a pity.
"From my situation I thought it could have been a goal but the linesman was too far away. He should have been closer to the goal - it was two feet over the line.
"We feel a bit robbed but it's very difficult for the linesman and even the referee to see it."
Alex Ferguson echoed Jol's calls for new technology, but the Manchester United manager had other concerns. "Everyone's talking about this incident, but we should have had a penalty when Rio Ferdinand went down inside the box and was given outside the box," he said.
As news came through from Stamford Bridge that Chelsea had scored two quick goals against Middlesbrough, it looked like it was going to be another of those nights in which United had to win just to stay nine points adrift.
Tottenham had their own agenda, of course. Jol had coaxed six wins from their previous seven matches, in doing so restoring a measure of faith among their supporters.
Robbie Keane's 10th-minute volley from just outside the United area proved to be the best moment for him - and Spurs - in the first half.
United's Keane - Roy - caused greater excitement with a 28th-minute volley that flew narrowly wide of Paul Robinson's goal, but until then there had been a lot of home possession without the goalkeeper being overly disturbed.
Minute by minute, Tottenham were being pressed back and before half-time there were 10 Spurs men in the final 35 yards. Breaking down such a system requires skill, persistence and when that combination does not work, a little luck.
All three were evident on 36 minutes when Roy Keane's drilled pass found Paul Scholes hanging around the edge of the area. He flicked the ball instinctively to Alan Smith and he bundled through Naybet to toe-poke a shot from 12 yards. It went straight at his former Leeds team-mate and Robinson saved.
Ryan Giggs then departed with a hamstring problem, making United's creativity more difficult, and the sense of anxiety increased just before the interval when Carroll spilled the ball, leading to Mendes rippling the roof of the net.
Giggs' replacement, David Bellion, latched on to a Roy Keane pass shortly after the break. The Frenchman got behind the defence and his first touch was reasonable, enabling him to get a shot away which Robinson smothered.
A familiar pattern of dense Spurs defence and patient United probing then developed. Width was clearly the home team's intention and when Darren Fletcher sprayed a 30-yard pass across to the right, where Philip Neville was overlapping, United had achieved one aim.
His cross was a good one, too, and it was met on the full by Noe Pamarot. The right-back could not help himself crashing a volley into his own woodwork. Robinson was beaten; Spurs escaped.
Released, Spurs now showed friskiness on the break - even Michael Carrick crossed the halfway line. United, meanwhile, were beginning to splutter before Carroll's great escape.
MANCHESTER UNITED: Carroll, Phil Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, Fletcher (Miller 76), Keane, Scholes, Ronaldo (Spector 84), Giggs (Bellion 37), Smith. Subs Not Used: Djemba-Djemba, Ricardo. Booked: Phil Neville.
TOTTENHAM: Robinson, Pamarot, Naybet, King, Edman, Marney, Pedro Mendes, Carrick, Ricketts (Gardner 90), Ziegler, Keane. Subs Not Used: Bunjevcevic, Fulop, Yeates, Ifil. Booked: Pamarot, Marney.
Referee: M Clattenburg.
