Tottenham Hotspur blew away Manchester United with a remarkable second half display to win 3-0 and keep their title hopes going.

With kick off pushed back to 4.30pm after the United bus was delayed due to a crash at Finsbury Park and the closure of Wightman Road, Spurs had to wait a little longer than expected to avenge their 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford in the very first league game of the season.

Spurs were boosted before the belated start by the return of Jan Vertonghen to the centre of defence after four months out, the Belgian replacing the benched Kevin Wimmer as one of two changes, Erik Lamela in for Heung-Min Son the other.

After the game at Old Trafford, Spurs went on a 14 game unbeaten league run, and they will need a shorter but similar run of form if they are to snatch the title from Leicester City, who beat Sunderland 2-0 earlier in the day.

They will definitely have to improve on their showing in the first 20 minutes, with United dominating possession without creating an outstanding chance, and the visiting fans taunting the hosts with chants of “You nearly won the league” – premature smugness, as it turned out.

Spurs did improve and had a superb spell, fashioning the best chance of the first half on 27 minutes, a deep Christian Eriksen cross from the right met by the head of Lamela at the far post, but he aimed for David De Gea’s near side, and could only hit the side netting.

A minute later a surging Kyle Walker run into the box left Marcus Rojo on his backside and got the crowd on their feet, but it came to nothing.

There were no shots on target in the first half, with Spurs stalwarts Dele Alli and Harry Kane being kept in check by a Manchester United defensive display which was solid for a little over an hour.

Spurs did get some efforts on target in the second half, first a cross-shot by Eriksen being beaten away by De Gea, an Eric Dier strike from 25 yards which the Spaniard held onto, and Kane turning Daley Blind on the edge of the box but hitting it straight at the keeper.

While neither team was at their best, Spurs slowly but surely gained control before exploding into life with 20 minutes to play.

The impressive Eriksen escaped Matteo Darmian on the left – the Italian having just come on as a sub for the much sounder youngster Tim Fosu-Mensah – and crossed for Alli, who had huge amounts of space and time to poke in from eight yards.

Four minutes later, the lead was doubled, and again Darmian was involved as he fouled Kane to give away a free kick. Crossed in by Eriksen, it was perfectly flicked on by Toby Alderweireld and inside De Gea’s left hand post.

United had totally crumbled defensively, the hapless Darmian again found wanting at right back, as Danny Rose had space and time to cross to Lamela on the edge of the area, his low finish sending White Hart Lane into total ecstasy – the third goal in six minutes.

It could have got even more embarrassing for Louis van Gaal’s side, the blameless De Gea tipping over a Kane header, and Walker hitting the post late on.

Sunday’s game was the first of five successive matches Spurs will play after Leicester, meaning they will know exactly what they need to do each time – although the gap at the top may mean they will only know just how improbable a task they have to win the league for the first time since 1961.

However, if they play like they did between the 65th and 75th minute on Sunday, they will surely come as close as they can.