Tottenham’s dreams of securing a UEFA Champions League spot was dealt a major blow on Thursday after they lost 3-1 to Sheffield United.
Sander Berge’s strike gave the Blades the lead in the first half of the encounter at Bramall Lane.
Although Harry Kane equalized later for Spurs, it was cancelled by VAR for a handball against Lucas Moura.
Lucas seemed to have kicked the ball against his arm in the build-up to the goal, leaving Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho angry.
Mourinho’s men suffered more infliction as Lys Mousset and Oli McBurnie scored after the half-time break.
Tottenham were to later get a consolation goal from Kane’s last minute strike, with the loss leaving them nine points behind Chelsea in fourth.
They are seven points adrift of fifth placed Manchester United after their first defeat since the restart.
On the other hand, the win is the Blades’ first in five matches since the resumption of the Premier League action.
The victory take them two points ahead of Tottenham into seventh place, keeping their hopes of making it to Europe alive.
– Sloppy defending –
Tottenham responded when Eric Dier flashed a header just wide, with Moussa Sissoko stretching in vain to reach it at the far post.
Kane couldn’t hit the target from Steven Bergwijn’s pass and Tottenham were punished as Berge put the Blades ahead in the 31st minute.
After spreading the ball wide to Chris Basham, Berge broke into the Tottenham area, collected the return pass and drilled his low shot into the far corner.
It was the Norway midfielder’s first goal since his January move from Genk.
Tottenham thought they had equalised two minutes later as Lucas sprinted forward and, despite being pushed over, managed to knock the ball onto Kane, who cut inside and fired home.
Kane’s celebrations were curtailed when VAR disallowed the goal for a handball by Moura, who had the ball kicked against his arm as he tumbled under pressure from several United players.
Mourinho was disgusted with what appeared to be an extremely harsh decision and his mood wasn’t improved when already-booked United midfielder Oli Norwood escaped a red card for elbowing Son Heung-min.
Tottenham were struggling to find their rhythm and United nearly doubled their lead when David McGoldrick shot into the side-netting early in the second half.
Ben Osborn was making his first Premier League start and the United midfielder had a key role as they struck again in the 69th minute.
Breaking into the area, Osborn’s deft pass picked out Enda Stevens and he squared for the unmarked Mousset to slot home from close-range for his first goal since December.
McBurnie put the result beyond doubt when he tapped in from Berge’s cross in the 84th minute after more sloppy Tottenham defending.
Kane had scored against 28 of 29 teams he has played against in the Premier League, with United the only ones to hold him in check.
He got off the mark against them with a simple finish from Son’s pass, but his 199th career club goal was far too late to avoid a painful defeat.
