Desperate for an upturn in form, Tottenham were first to threaten when Conor Gallagher met Xavi Simons’ clever ball over the top, but he couldn’t make the desired contact to test Senne Lammens.
This would be about as close as the visitors would come in the first half, as United started to take control.
First, Matheus Cunha was fed by Diogo Dalot and struck a vicious first-time effort just wide from the edge of the box, shortly before Bruno Fernandes dragged wide after being fed by Amad Diallo.
The hosts were cutting through Spurs' defence with concerning ease, and things got even worse for the visitors when captain Cristian Romero was shown a straight red after following through rashly and catching Casemiro on the ankle with his studs.
That came just before the half-hour mark, and just seven minutes later, United were ahead.
Fernandes saw his effort deflected behind, and the resulting corner bore fruit as the ball was worked to Bryan Mbeumo via Kobbie Mainoo, allowing the Cameroon international to stroke cooly through several bodies into the bottom corner, marking his 10th goal of the season.
That wasn’t the last chance before the break, as Guglielmo Vicario had to be alert to tip Caemiro’s header over.
The shot-stopper then denied Amad when he was played in behind, rushing out to slide the ball away and keep the deficit at one.
The Red Devils thought they’d doubled their advantage just three minutes after the break when Fernandes stood the ball to the back post for Luke Shaw, whose cutback was turned home by a marginally offside Amad from six yards.
Shaw then gifted possession to Simons, and Lammens was at full stretch as the Dutch international hammered a shot just wide from 25 yards.
The England left-back was active again, firing off a pair of efforts in quick succession, the first of which was saved by Vicario before the other was blocked by Micky van de Ven as the hosts pushed for a second.
The offside flag came to Tottenham’s rescue again on 65 minutes as Cunha recovered Vicario’s loose pass and found Fernandes, but he was clearly beyond the last man two passes before Cunha put the ball in the net.
Frank made a triple change, throwing on attacking talent with 10 minutes to go, but hopes of a comeback were instantly dashed.
Fernandes was picked out by his international teammate Dalot with a brilliant ball, guiding in with his shin at the back post to land a killer blow to Spurs.
Mbeumo came close to a third late on, but it ultimately didn’t matter as United solidified their place in the top four.
Meanwhile, Tottenham’s winless domestic run stretches to eight games (D4, L4), leaving them 14th and potentially just six points clear of the drop by the end of the weekend.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
