Palace give oldest stager Roy a day to remember
TOTTENHAM’S superstar squad arrived late at Turf Moor because of traffic chaos – and then broke down agonisingly in their title push. Victory would have left Mauricio Pochettino’s aristocrats two points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City but Burnley blocked their route towards the top.
Pochettino was left with no alternative than basically to throw in the title towel – a disappointing decision on a day when the Tottenham boss was boosted by the return of Harry Kane, who marked his comeback with an equaliser.
But Burnley deserved their unexpected triumph, with goals from Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes, to remain amazingly unbeaten in 2019 and undefeated in eight league games.
Pochettino admitted he was out of order to confront referee Mike Dean angrily after the game, furious over the award of the corner which led to the opening goal.
The Spurs boss said: “I will accept everything that can happen from the FA but we hope it doesn’t go any further. We need to find someone to blame but it is myself and us because we have in our hands to win the game and we didn’t.
“It’s unusual for me
– one day there were crossed cables inside my brain. It happens. It was weird and strange and has not happened in 10 years. Something stupid may happen and you react. I was never out of control but what happened there happened.”
Pochettino now believes it’s a lost cause trying to battle with City and Liverpool for the title honours.
He said: “I said for me this game is going to be key to put pressure on our opponents. If we didn’t win, we cannot put pressure on them and we cannot think now of being a real contender.
“It is a massive opportunity lost for us. We made some mistakes on the pitch and I made some mistakes afterwards on the pitch.
“In this kind of level, if you want to be a contender you need to come here and show your credentials and say we are here because we deserve it. But it didn’t happen.
“If you want to make history you must win these kind of games. You have to come here and fight. I am massively disappointed and we need to prepare for the next game.”
Burnley boss Sean Dyche was delighted with his side but couldn’t hide his frustration at Danny Rose nicking yards to take a quick throw-in for Kane to finish off.
Dyche said: “I don’t think the fourth official wanted to be part of it. That
BURNLE Y ............. 2 TOTTENHAM ........ 1
allows them to play quickly, which he does from eight yards down the pitch and it leads to a goal.
“But it’s such a big day when you beat a team like Tottenham. The players are now performing very, very well and the feeling in the camp has grown in every game.”
Tottenham fought hard to cope in a full-blooded first half, when Kane should have got on the scoresheet in his early combat.
Kane showed all his old craft in weaving across the box before delivering a low shot which skidded just past the upright. And Christian Eriksen’s tame effort was comfortably collected by keeper Tom Heaton. Burnley had to wait until the
36th minute to have a real go, when Jeff Hendrick pulled back for Barnes to shoot just over. Five minutes after the break, Kane was in the thick of the action again. This time he let fly when no one expected and his swerving, dipping 30-yarder was brilliantly saved one-handed by Heaton to impress watching England boss Gareth Southgate.
Then came the dramatic opener in the 56th minute. Dwight McNeil couldn’t have delivered his corner any better and Wood powered in with his head and shoulders.
In the 65th minute, Spurs levelled and no prizes for guessing who came up trumps. Rose pinched those yards to release Kane and he poked the ball in, much to Dyche’s annoyance.
The equaliser ended a frantic period from Burnley, with Hendrick whistling a shot past the post and McNeil’s effort being bundled away.
Burnley’s faithful were on their feet and roared with delight when the winner was struck with just seven minutes left.
Substitute Johann Berg Gudmundsson ran through the Spurs ranks and scuffed a shot across goal for Barnes to finish off – his fourth goal in four successive games.
Leicester 1 Crystal Palace 4 Harry Pratt
AS the oldest swinger in town will no doubt tell you: if you can’t be good, be lucky. That must have been going through Roy Hodgson’s mind when his Crystal Palace side scored with their first effort just before the break.
It’s unlikely in four decades as a manager that Hodgson had seen a team of his torn to shreds like his Palace side were by Leicester City.
Yet when Michy Batshuayi stuck out a leg and diverted the ball past wrong-footed Foxes keeper Kasper Schmeichel, Palace were ahead.
Hodgson, who yesterday became the oldest Premier League manager ever at 71 years and 198 days, could scarcely believe his good fortune.
And after Jonny Evans hauled Leicester level on 64 minutes, Palace grabbed three more against the run of play – through Wilfried Zaha’s double and Luka Milivojevic’s penalty.
The Eagles are now six points clear of 18th-placed Southampton, who travel to Arsenal today.
Under-fire Foxes boss Claude Puel saw his side perform brilliantly without reward.
Puel recalled Jamie Vardy to the line-up. That nearly paid dividends in the ninth minute as the former England striker glanced Harvey Barnes’ cross inches over.
Yet it was Palace who broke the deadlock – and how much Batshuayi knew about his first Palace goal is debatable. The on-loan Chelsea hitman aimed a leg at James McArthur’s speculative 30-yarder and the ball flew past Schmeichel.
Leicester finally pierced a resilient rearguard when Evans fired in Barnes’ cross. It was only brief respite as Zaha scored either side of Milivojevic’s 80th-minute spot-kick.