TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1
TOTTENHAM’S revenge mission against Leicester ended in disappointment as Ahmed Musa earned the Premier League champions a draw at White Hart Lane.
Leicester beat Spurs to the title last season and they frustrated Mauricio Pochettino’s men again, Musa’s second-half equaliser cancelling out Vincent Janssen’s first Premier League goal from the penalty spot.
The draw gives Leicester their first point away from home in the league this season while Tottenham have now gone five matches without a victory.
Janssen’s goal will come only as a crumb of comfort for Spurs, who have struggled for attacking fluency since beating Manchester City so impressively here at the start of the month.
Harry Kane could be back from injury for the north London derby against Arsenal next weekend and it seems the striker’s return cannot come soon enough.
Leicester, meanwhile, are now eight points behind their opponents in the table but they showed some of the old resilience that has been so far lacking in their stuttering title defence.
Dele Alli and Danny Rose tested Kasper Schmeichel with two stinging drives early on but, for all Tottenham’s possession, they struggled for any clear-cut chances. Alli went down in the box under pressure from Christian Fuchs but it was little more than a nudge and even the Spurs midfielder appeared unconvinced it deserved a penalty.
Leicester did have a couple of openings, Jamie Vardy unable to get the ball out of his feet when slid through on goal and Shinji Okazaki heading over Riyad Mahrez’s cross. Just before the break, Alli crashed Kyle Walker’s cross against the crossbar, and the visitors conceded a penalty.
Referee Robert Madley adjudged Robert Huth to have pulled down the twisting Janssen, who grabbed the ball purposefully, before driving it hard and straight past Schmeichel.
Tottenham’s lead, however, was short-lived. Three minutes into the second half, Leicester equalised as Vardy latched on to Victor Wanyama’s wayward header back and then squared for Musa to bundle home his second goal of the season.
The hosts then almost nicked it when Jan Vertonghen’s header clipped the top of the crossbar. Andy King’s header was then saved at the back post by Hugo Lloris and Rose’s finish hit the side-netting.