Ange Postecoglou's Spurs side has had one of its best results of the season, travelling to Old Trafford for a 3-0 win over Manchester United and bouncing back from earlier losses to hit the top half of the Premier League table. 

Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke got on the scoresheet in a dominating performance over 10-man United as the visitors ran roughshod over the bedraggled Red Devils.

The Spurs have climbed to eighth in the table on 10 points after six games, while beleaguered United, who saw captain Bruno Fernandes sent off in the 42nd minute for a high challenge on James Maddison, are 12th, with seven points in a loss that will again raise questions about manager Erik ten Hag.

"I thought it was an outstanding performance," Postecoglou said. "We started the game well, scored a great goal and probably should have had two or three.

"The pressure then overwhelms them and they get the red card. After that, I thought we controlled the game well.

"Just an outstanding effort from all the lads."

Tottenham went ahead in the third minute when defender Micky van de Ven carried the ball over half the length of the pitch before playing a low centre across the six-yard box for the wide-open Johnson to tap in for his fourth goal in four games.

"Eleven vs 11, or 11 vs 10, we completely dominated the game," Johnson said. "We had a clear game plan and we did exactly what we wanted to do."

The result for Postecoglou's side was the fourth-straight win across three competitions — the Premier League, League Cup and Europa League.

It followed a 3-1 home win over Brentford last week as Spurs rebounded from earlier Premier League losses to Newcastle and Arsenal.

The Australian will be looking for his team to consolidate its position and move towards the European qualification spots and the top four, with upcoming games against Brighton, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Ipswich Town.

If they can put together a longer string of wins, they could be challenging by the time they travel north to meet defending champions Manchester City on November 24, Australian time.

Spurs ran circles around United on a nightmare evening for Dutchman Ten Hag in rainy Manchester.

"To concede a goal after two or three minutes like that, it did something to our belief," he said. 

"Totally unnecessary. This is not good enough. We have to accept this and get better. Focus on the next game and do things better than we did today."

Tottenham doubled their lead in the 47th minute when Lisandro Martinez slipped on the halfway line. Johnson sprinted away and his deflected cross fell to Kulusevski, who acrobatically clipped the ball past goalkeeper Andre Onana.

Solanke had scores of angry United fans heading for the exits when he stuck his leg out to poke the ball home from close range in the 77th minute after Pape Matar Sarr headed on a corner kick from fellow substitute Lucas Bergvall.

The delighted Spurs fans did not stop singing all afternoon, breaking into a chant of "Is there a fire drill?" as thousands of United fans beat a hasty exit after the third goal.

"We struggled a bit," Fernandes said. "We tried to force it a little bit, to rush it and go too quick. When they have the high line we made mistakes on the ball and then we got punished and it didn't go the way we wanted from there.

"Then the red card makes it worse."

The score could have been more lopsided if Spurs, who had 10 shots on target to United's two, had taken more chances. Onana made a spectacular double save in the second half to keep out a shot by Timo Werner and Solanke's attempt from the rebound.

Alejandro Garnacho had probably the best of United's opportunities when he rang a shot off the post late in the first half. Casemiro fired wide in the second half and smacked himself in the head twice, which summed up United's frustration.

Reuters/ABC