Football news - Mauricio Pochettino: Defeat was Spurs' best performance

Pochettino's side fell behind to Marcus Rashford's winner at the end of the first half, but put in an exceptional second half attempt only to be thwarted by a string of even better David de Gea stops.

The Argentine expressed his pride after the match, teling Sky Sports: "I am so pleased and I'm proud. After four-and-a-half-years, the second half was the best performance I have seen Tottenham play. It was amazing and I think David de Gea made 11 saves which is unbelievable. In football, sometimes you deserve to win and don't and other times, you do not and you win. That is why we love football.

"We dominated in the first half but we didn't organised ourselves well when we lost Moussa Sissoko and that is how we conceded the goal. United were deeper in the second half, but to play against that system it was amazing to create 11 chances in the second half. I feel so proud and I am leaving Wembley with a good feeling.

"We conceded a counter attack in the first half but the second was the best performance I have seen. We were not clinical and sometimes you score with less opportunities but it is nothing to complain about. The team played unbelievable football and everyone who watched the game can feel the same as myself."

Pochettino also appeared to hint that his side may need reinforcements after Harry Kane limped off with an injury at the end of the game.

"My worry is that it was a bad tackle in the last moment. It wasn't the intention of the United player but it was a bad tackle and now he has bit of a swelling on his ankle and he was limping after the game," he said.

"We are going to lose Son for the Asia Cup and if Harry Kane suffers an injury, it is going to be massive for us."