Premier League
Prodigal Son Returns to Fire Tottenham Into Second Place
Don’t look now, but the Premier League is officially a three horse race. After inching past Newcastle 1-0 on Saturday at Wembley Stadium, Tottenham momentarily climb the table up to 2nd place. Spurs sit four points behind Liverpool and a point above Manchester City, albeit with both rivals having a game in hand.
Frustrating First Half
Spurs dominated the opening stanza but couldn’t find the breakthrough. The best chance they fashioned found the head of Lucas Moura. The diminutive Brazilian was deployed in the striker role in the absence of the inured Harry Kane. In the 17th minute, Erik Lamela delicately chipped the ball over the defense to a wide open Moura. Moura managed to beat the off-sides trap, but came nowhere close to beating Martin Dubravka in goal. Not known for his aerial prowess, Moura’s header from only six yards away fell harmlessly wide. The former PSG attacker was ineffective all day in the number 9 role. No play better highlighted how badly Spurs miss their best player Harry Kane.
Spurs stuck the post seven minutes later. Jan Vertonghen had crept forward from central defense to deliver a teasing cross from the left flank. Newcastle were unable to clear their lines as the ball bounced menacingly through a host of bodies. Lamela was perhaps surprised the ball reached him at the far post and reacted slightly late. The split-second hesitation perhaps cost the Argentinian a goal as he couldn’t keep his header down. Instead, the ball caromed off the corner of the woodwork. The wild sequence ended when the rebound was centered to Moura whose header again missed badly.
Newcastle Nearly Record Second Upset in a Week
Despite ceding the majority of possession, Newcastle looked threatening on the counter attack all match. With Spurs unable to take their chances, the Magpies gained confidence in the second half. The Tyneside club had staged one of the upsets of the season by beating Manchester City midweek. They nearly escaped London with another miraculous result.
USA international DeAndre Yedlin sent an inch-perfect cross into the box in the 51st minute. Salomón Rondón’s header left Hugo Lloris stranded in goal. Unfortunately for the Venezuelan, the ball hit the post. The travelling Newcastle supporters still believed they were destined to get something from the match in the 65th minute. A Tottenham corner was flicked towards goal by Christian Eriksen, but was cleared off the line brilliantly by Fabian Schär. The referee paused to see if goal line technology would alert him of a goal, but the signal never came.
Son Again the Hero for the Cardiac Kids
For the third consecutive Premier League match, Spurs found the decisive goal in the final ten minutes of the game. For the second consecutive game, Son Heung-Min was the one who delivered the late magic. Son has built himself into one of the league’s best wide attackers. His cult-hero status with Spurs fans continued to grow in this match. The South Korean was threatening down the left hand side early in the match, but had faded in the closing stages. That is until he conjured the winner in the 83rd minute.
A long ball was chested down to Son at the top of the box. With his first touch, he shifted the ball away from the defense to his favored right foot. His second touch was a low, driven shot that found its way to the back of the net. Dubravka will be furious with himself, as the goal will be remembered for his glaring error rather than as a brilliant strike by Son. The ball was struck directly at him, but he was unable to sort out his feet as it went under his legs. Dubravka has had a fine season, but this was not his proudest moment as the error cost his side a point.
Tottenham Conjure Winning League Run from the Jaws of Crisis
Only two weeks ago, the consensus was Spurs would soon be locked in a tight battle for the 4th position, rather than be fighting for the title. The club had lost at home to the chasing Manchester United in mid-January. Quickly following that result, Spurs crashed out of both the FA Cup and League Cup in consecutive games. Their manager then agitated the fan base by claiming Champions League participation, not winning trophies, is the club’s priority. Their problems didn’t end there.
Spurs’ squad is also desperately thin. Their talisman Kane is in the midst of a two month injury layoff. Meanwhile Son, their second biggest attacking threat, was away from the club while competing in the Asian Cup. To make matters even worse, the club recently became the first team in the Premier League era to not sign any players for two consecutive transfer windows, as they deal with the financial burden of building a new stadium.
The table was set for Tottenham to succumb to the pressure. United, Arsenal and Chelsea all believed they could overtake spurs in the league table. Instead, they managed to find late goals to win three consecutive league matches.
However, the season only gets tougher for Spurs. A two-legged Champions League tie against Dortmund and league matches against Arsenal and Chelsea await them in the following month. Spurs have every right to be proud of their recent run to second place. Still, they’ll need to replicate these results in February for their season to be deemed a success.
Photo credit to Tottenham via Twitter
