WOOD YOU BELIEVE IT!
Late sickener for Pochettino That will do Nees-ly
THE WAIT goes on for Harry Kane and Tottenham. But for Chris Wood and Burnley, the time is now.
Just when Spurs thought they had killed off talk of a Wembley curse by winning their first Premier League game at the national stadium, it all went wrong.
Dele Alli had put them in front. But Burnley provided a dramatic late twist when supersub Wood, a £15m signing from Leeds last week, smashed a stoppage-time equaliser.
Spurs would have killed this game off if Kane had taken any of his numerous chances. But it’s 13 games in the month of August now without a league goal for the England striker.
Angrily
No such problems for Wood. This was only his second appearance for Burnley and he made Kane pay with a super strike to send the 3,000 travelling fans home happy and prompt boos from the home supporters.
It is just two wins in 12 here now for Spurs, and Mauricio Pochettino, who threw a bottle top down angrily as the equaliser went in, looked absolutely sick at the final whistle.
Burnley were making their first appearance at Wembley since the 2009 Championship play-off final, which they won 1-0 against Sheffield United, and once again they went home happy.
For a long time, it was a struggle for Spurs. They failed to manage a single shot on target in the first half and were jeered by a minority of the 67,862 crowd.
Burnley enjoyed the better chances up to that point, with Ben Mee heading just wide and Hugo Lloris at full stretch to tip away a mishit Robbie Brady cross.
Alli eased the tension by firing the home side in front in the 49th minute. But it was as scrappy as you like.
Burnley twice failed to clear their lines from a routine corner, with Matt Lowton blocking Alli’s initial shot but the England man slammed home the rebound from close range.
Spurs had keeper Lloris to thank for denying Wood when he hammered in a shot the Frenchman did well to tip wide.
Next it was Kane’s turn to go close, but Tom Heaton was down quickly to deflect his low shot around the post.
Kane then had a header cleared off the line by Steven Defour before Heaton tipped over an effort from Christian Eriksen.
Dangerous
Moments later, Kane was so desperate to score he stayed on his feet and watched Heaton block another shot when he could have gone down under a challenge from James Tarkowski.
Wood continued to look dangerous and was denied by a terrific last-ditch saving tackle from sweeper-keeper Lloris.
But when Brady played a stunning pass for Wood to run on to, the Burnley striker made Spurs suffer .