Premier League: Tottenham sack Nuno Espirito Santo following defeat against Manchester United

London: Tottenham announced on Monday they had sacked manager Nuno Espirito Santo after just four months in charge following their fifth defeat in 10 Premier League games. Spurs gave an insipid display in their 3-0 defeat at home by Manchester United on Saturday, with fans booing and chanting “You don’t know what you’re doing” at the former Wolverhampton boss. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and managing director of football Fabio Paratici are understood to have met on Sunday to discuss the Portuguese manager’s fate. A statement from the club on Monday said Nuno and his coaching staff had been “relieved of their duties”. “I know how much Nuno and his coaching staff wanted to succeed and I regret that we have had to take this decision,” Paratici said in the statement. “Nuno is a true gentleman and will always be welcome here. We should like to thank him and his coaching staff and wish them well for the future.” Spurs said a further coaching update would follow in due course. Tottenham have lost five of their past seven Premier League matches and are eighth in the table, 10 points behind leaders Chelsea. Nuno, 47, was announced as the new boss of the north London club on 30 June, replacing Jose Mourinho, who was sacked in April. The ex-Valencia and Porto boss was appointed by Spurs after former manager Mauricio Pochettino, Antonio Conte, Paulo Fonseca and Gennaro Gattuso were all inked with the job. Tottenham’s 17 games in all competitions since his appointment have featured seven defeats. They did not manage a single shot on target against United, with England captain Harry Kane largely anonymous. Kane, denied a move to champions Manchester City in the transfer window, has only managed one Premier League goal so far this campaign after winning his third Golden Boot last season. Nuno guided Wolves from the second-tier Championship into the Premier League in 2018 and secured consecutive seventh-place finishes in their first two seasons back in the top-flight before a 13th-place finish last term. Spurs fans are desperate to challenge again for the Champions League places after missing out on European football’s premier competition for two consecutive seasons. They were regular top-four finishers under Pochettino, reaching the Champions League final in 2019, but have not won silverware of any description since 2008.