The Portuguese had hoped to prove a point against the club that sacked him but he got it all wrong during Tottenham's tame 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford Jose Mourinho finally got the best out of Marcus Rashford. And, for that matter, Jesse Lingard. On his return to Old Trafford, the newly-installed Tottenham manager simply gave the game away.

Not only was his own selection baffling – leading to an error-strewn display against, frankly, one of the most average teams in the Premier League – but he permitted Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to do a job on him without offering very much in return.

Mourinho’s decision to play with Moussa Sissoko as the closest player to Serge Aurier was a disaster from the get-go. Solskjaer could hardly have believed his luck, with his game plan of getting the ball into the Spurs right-hand channel paying dividends immediately.

It appeared as though Rashford, Lingard and Mason Greenwood were taking it in turns to appear in that gap to receive the ball. It was no surprise that Manchester United’s goals – and their other good chances – came from that sector.

The problems with Mourinho’s line-up bled into other areas of the team. He fielded Sissoko beside Harry Winks for the first time in a midfield pivot. By choosing Dele Alli up alongside Harry Kane he lost a third midfielder.

With Lingard rotating in and out of the strike-line in the absence of Anthony Martial, he and Scott McTominay and Fred had plenty of time and space to find their passes in and around the centre of the field.

What’s more, Mourinho never corrected it. At half-time he had the option of turning to Tanguy Ndombele, Christian Eriksen or Eric Dier to alleviate the pressure on his midfield but he did not take it.

Within seconds of the restart, United had moved the ball to Rashford. He blitzed both Aurier and Sissoko to win his penalty.