Man Utd's Antony put Tottenham star on his backside with silky footwork | OneFootball

Manchester United dropped arguably their greatest performance of the Erik ten Hag era so far with an impressive 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night.

While the adjustment to life under Ten Hag certainly hasn’t been without its teething problems, you’ve got to say that – for the most part – the Red Devils have looked like a team refreshed, renewed and reinvigorated under his stewardship.

And having already taken the scalps of Arsenal and Liverpool at Old Trafford this season, United secured their latest ‘top six’ victim in front of their fans in the form of Antonio Conte’s Spurs.

A buzz at Old Trafford

However, it was less about the scoreline that United secured and more about the manner in which they produced it, turning on the style with the finest execution of 'Ten Hag Ball' to date.

There was an electricity and dynamism about the hosts that whipped up the 'Theatre of Dreams' into exactly the kind of buzz that it's been lacking in recent years.

Season after season of dull and drab football has turned down the volume dial at Old Trafford to unrecognisable levels, but that most certainly wasn't the case as Spurs were put to the sword.

And although the guile and gusto of United's display was most clearly evidenced in Fred and Bruno Fernandes' match-winning goals, it also coursed through countless tiny little moments across the 90 minutes.

Antony turns on the style vs Tottenham

One such flash of brilliance came from summer signing Antony, who underpinned the delight of the home atmosphere by sparking a reaction with the mere flash of his fleet-footed skills.

An entertaining winger by trade, Antony has instantly become a fan favourite for his dazzling footwork and Arjen Robben-like knack of cutting in from the right wing with furious energy.

And none other than Ivan Perisic can vouch for just how hard it is to stop the Brazilian forward in full flow as he was sat down on the Old Trafford turf in his attempts to wrestle back possession.

In the space of just a few seconds of deft poise and impudent balance, Antony sold Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Perisic down a river, leaving the latter doing his best impression of the splits.

It's by no means a life-changing piece of skill lifted straight from a Ronaldinho compilation, but it's nevertheless a cheeky spark of magic that got the Old Trafford crowd cheering - check it out:

Video: Antony makes sitting down Perisic look easy

Fan reaction

A step in the right direction for Man Utd

Sometimes, all it takes is a little bit of invention like that to get the crowd on their feet.

There was a buzz about Old Trafford that you just can't understate and even in seemingly trivial moments like those, you could feel that United really did have their 12th man on the scene.

And a large part of that seems to be down to the fact that the United supporters are really feeling a lot of love for their players right now.

While that might seem like a statement of the obvious, it's really not, because there has been a lot of anger and disharmony between the United fans and the players they watch week in, week out across the tumultuous post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.

And who knows, maybe there was some symbolism in Cristiano Ronaldo controversially walking down the tunnel before full-time and Antony getting cheered for his quick-thinking on the ball.

Was it, dare we say, out with the old and in with the new?