‘Fantastic’: Nemanja Matic raves about Tottenham man after playing against them on Saturday evening

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Manchester United midfielder, Nemanja Matic, has praised Antonio Conte and Tottenham for making life difficult for his team at Old Trafford this weekend.

United ran out 3-2 winners thanks to a memorable hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese star rolled back the years to produce a performance for the ages in front of the home crowd. However, had it not been for Ronaldo’s individual brilliance, United could have been in trouble.

Tottenham did have the better of large spells of the game and twice came from behind to look on course to snatch a point. And speaking to Manchester United’s official channels, Matic admitted that Conte and his team had set up well.

“It was an extremely difficult game to play against a very good team. As you know, [Antonio] Conte is a fantastic coach, and they prepared for the game very well,” Matic said. (Manchester United Official)

With Arsenal winning on Sunday, the result left Tottenham six points off the top four spots. United, meanwhile, are just a point shy, albeit they’ve played three more games than the Gunners.

TBR’s View: Tottenham Improving Under Conte

While Spurs remain inconsistent, there is a sign of big improvement in certain games since Conte took charge.

On another day and without Ronaldo, Tottenham probably take something from this game and come away with a good result against a top four rival.

Matic is right to comment on how Conte set his team up here. And if Spurs can reproduce that sort of set-up and performance more often, they should win more games than they lose.