Monday Briefing: 9 Things You May Have Missed

Here are nine things we feel every Manchester United fan should know about this Monday…

1: TOP FOUR NO LONGER POSSIBLE
United’s chances of finishing in the Premier League’s top four were ended by two results in London on Sunday. The Reds' 2-1 defeat at Tottenham, added to Liverpool's earlier 4-0 away win over West Ham, left Jose Mourinho's men with too big a gap to close with only two top-flight matches to go against Southampton on Wednesday and Crystal Palace next Sunday. Of course, Champions League group stage qualification can still be earned by winning the Europa League final against AFC Ajax later this month.

2: FAREWELL, WHITE HART LANE
Sunday's game was the last-ever fixture played at Tottenham's famous old stadium, which will soon be demolished as a new, larger venue is constructed next door (Spurs will play their home games at Wembley Stadium in 2017/18). In total, United have won 25 of 89 meetings at the Lane, drawing 31, with the hosts winning 33 times. The Reds scored 112 goals, compared to Spurs' 146 goals. Wayne Rooney's strike was his seventh at White Hart Lane, putting him one ahead of Sir Bobby Charlton as United's top scorer there.

3: A NEW FACE ON THE BENCH
Demetri Mitchell was among the substitutes in north London as Mourinho rotated the squad, with a number of first-team players either injured or needing a rest. The Reserve Team Player of the Year nominee did not feature in the end, but the experience was undoubtedly positive as he watched alongside his fellow Academy graduate Scott McTominay, who made his senior debut at Arsenal last weekend.

4: JOSHUA PAID A SURPRISE VISIT
World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, fresh from his famous win over Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium, paid a surprise visit to the Aon Training Complex on Saturday to meet the squad. The fighter posed with Mourinho, a known boxing fan, alongside a United shirt with ‘Joshua 1’ on the back. He even took part in a quick skills session with the players, as you can see in our gallery.

5: AJAX MISSED OUT ON THE TITLE
Upcoming Europa League final opponents Ajax suffered a blow by missing out on the Eredivisie title to Feyenoord. The Amsterdam club needed to win and hope their rivals slipped up, yet Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side held their nerve by defeating Heracles Almelo 3-1 thanks to a Dirk Kuyt hat-trick.

Ajax won 3-1 at Willem II, despite their manager Peter Bosz fielding the youngest starting XI in Eredivisie history for the game, with an average age of only 20 years and 139 days. The team's captain Davy Klaassen, at the age of 24, was the only player aged over 21 who started. Their next match is against United at the Friends Arena in Stockholm on 24 May.

6: CUP FINAL APPLICATIONS NOW OVER
The deadline for fans to apply for a Europa League final ticket has now passed and a ballot will now take place to distribute the club’s allocation. Visit ManUtd.com/EuropaLeague for more information.

7: THREE REDS UP FOR AWARD
The race for the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award is one of the closest ever with less than 100 votes currently separating the three leading candidates in the supporters' poll on ManUtd.com. The results so far show Ander Herrera, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Valencia - listed there in alphabetical order - are the three early front-runners. You can vote until 16:00 BST on Thursday.

8: THE UNDER-18S’ SEASON IS OVER
United's youngsters brought down the curtain on the 2016/2017 league season with a 4-2 home defeat to Blackburn Rovers, albeit a richly entertaining one, at Altrincham on Friday evening. Ethan Hamilton scored both of the goals for Kieran McKenna's Reds and you can read more in our match report.

9: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PATRICE
We would like to finish by wishing United legend Patrice Evra a very happy birthday, as he turns 36 today. Amazingly, the Frenchman has already used his ever-popular Instagram account to celebrate his big day, on this occasion by singing 'I Feel Good' by James Brown and shouting his catchphrase "I love this game!" to the camera. If you haven't seen it, we guarantee it will make you smile this Monday morning.

Credit:Manutd.com