October 30, 2021: Tottenham were hosting Manchester United and both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Nuno Espirito Santos' jobs were on the line.
Solskjaer had just overseen a harrowing 5-0 home defeat at the hands of Liverpool, and the writing was on the wall for the Norwegian. In north London, his side overpowered Spurs, with goals from Edinson Cavani, Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford ensuring Solskjaer lived to fight another day.
His opposite number was not so lucky. The defeat was the final straw for Daniel Levy and Nuno was sacked after only three months in charge.
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Spurs swiftly hired Antonio Conte, and 22 days after overseeing the 3-0 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Solskjaer was let go by United after another humiliating defeat, this time to Watford.
With Conte no longer available, there was a serious shortage of top coaches on the market. United decided to adjourn their search for a permanent manager until the summer and install Ralf Rangnick, a sporting director for most of his recent career, as interim coach.
The results were disastrous. The players did not respect Rangnick, who Ronaldo would later claim to have never heard of, and United sunk to their lowest points total in 30 years in the Premier League.
Tottenham, meanwhile, staged a remarkable turnaround to clinch fourth spot and Champions League football.
At the time, the decision to keep faith with Solskjaer and allow Conte to go to Tottenham looked like yet another woeful move from United's hierarchy.
One year on, however, not hiring Conte appears to have been a masterstroke.
