If nothing else, José Mourinho can be grateful there was no mutiny. He still heard his name being sung and at the final whistle Old Trafford was not too unkind on the manager or his players. He milked it, too, marching over to the Stretford End to thank them for their generosity. Yet the ground was half-empty by that stage and the mass walkout, after the third goal, was probably a better reflection of Manchester United’s night.

This is the first time England’s biggest club have lost two of their opening three fixtures for more than a quarter of a century and, to put it into context, that is as many defeats as Manchester City encountered during the previous title-winning campaign in its entirety. The last time it happened, at the start of the 1992-93 season, Sir Alex Ferguson recovered to win the league. But who, realistically, could imagine history repeating itself with today’s accident-prone team?

José Mourinho demands ‘respect, respect, respect’ after Spurs defeat Read more

The problem for Mourinho is that chants of “you’re not special any more”, audible from the corner housing the victorious Tottenham Hotspur supporters, are threatening to become the soundtrack to United’s season.

He has never lost a home game so heavily at any of his clubs and was reduced afterwards to holding up three fingers, one for each goal, in the post-match press conference and asking his audience what else that number might signify. “Three-nil but also three Premier League titles,” he explained, eyes blazing. “I won more, alone, than the other 19 managers together. Three for me, two for them.”

Mourinho wanted “respect” and made that point very loudly, repeating the same word over and again, as he stomped out.

Play Video 0:29 José Mourinho demands reporters show him 'respect' after Manchester United defeat – video

It was some performance, even by Mourinho’s standards, but his argument was undermined by the simple fact that the season has not even reached September and the club’s title ambitions may already have suffered irretrievable damage. It is straying dangerously close to a crisis and, defensively, their second-half performance here was so wretched it was difficult to recall another 45-minute display when a Mourinho-managed side have looked so vulnerable.

In the process Spurs joined Liverpool, Chelsea and Watford as the only teams with an immaculate record from their opening three games. Mauricio Pochettino’s side took a while getting to grips with Mourinho’s new 3-3-3-1 formation but their improvement in the second half was rewarded with a brilliantly taken header from Harry Kane and two fine finishes from Lucas Moura.

Spurs had lost their previous four visits to Old Trafford without scoring a goal but they took full advantage of United’s shortcomings and, on this evidence, Lucas can compensate, perhaps, for the club’s lack of summer signings. Pochettino made a point afterwards of thanking the scouting staff who had identified the Brazilian last season.

Amid all the references to his previous trophies, Mourinho had a fair point when he argued that United were the better team in the first half. It would also be unfair to say their confidence looked broken. Yet Mourinho also admitted he did not know his best defence, prompting his decision to switch to the new formation.

That system had Ander Herrera, a central midfielder, operating as a right-back in a defence featuring recalls for Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw were deployed as wing-backs while Paul Pogba and Fred had modified roles either side of Jesse Lingard in the positions directly behind Romelu Lukaku. In total that meant half a dozen changes from the side that lost so abjectly at Brighton, with Anthony Martial not even warranting a place on the bench. Eric Bailly was also left out of the squad and Juan Mata was another notable by his absence.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Romelu Lukaku rounded Hugo Lloris but was unable to find the empty net from a tight angle. Photograph: Andrew Yates/Reuters

MUTV, United’s in-house channel, was so confused by all the changes it announced before kick-off that Matic would be playing as a centre-half. Yet the home side started brightly and the night might have taken a different complexion entirely if Lukaku had been more clinical, a quarter of an hour in, when Danny Rose’s back-pass to Hugo Lloris fell short. A goal seemed inevitable once Lukaku had eluded Lloris but the striker had taken the ball wide and his diagonal shot, right to left, rolled wide of the far post.

According to Mourinho, United should have been winning 3-0 at half-time. A more realistic view was that Spurs often looked dangerous despite being under concerted pressure, with Lucas, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli working busily in the spaces behind Kane. The away side might also have had a first-half penalty after Jones barged Lucas over and, after the break, it must have been startling for Mourinho to see how easily Spurs cut through his team.

Kane’s goal came from Kieran Trippier’s corner and a brilliant piece of centre-forward play to out-jump Jones, leaning back but keeping his eye on the ball, then bracing his neck muscles to direct a looping header past David de Gea.

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The next goal arrived within two minutes, with Eriksen supplying the pass from the right and Lucas firing in a low shot; but an honorary mention should also go to Lloris for his save, at 1-0, to deny Lukaku an equaliser. Pochettino’s decision to retain Lloris as his captain will divide opinion, a few days after the goalkeeper was arrested on a drink-driving charge, but that save changed the course of the evening.

Mourinho brought on Alexis Sánchez and Marouane Fellaini to give his side more presence in attack. The ploy failed to work and Victor Lindelöf, who replaced the injured Jones, almost gave away another goal with a back-pass that Alli intercepted. De Gea saved that one but soon afterwards Kane sent Lucas running through the middle. Smalling’s challenge was weak and, when Lucas buried his shot, the night air was filled with the clanking of thousands of red plastic seats being emptied. The early leavers had seen enough.