Spurs’ Wembley jinx continues
London, Aug. 28: Chris Wood scored his first goal for Burnley to rescue a 1-1 Premier League draw on Sunday as Tottenham Hotspur’s Wembley Stadium hoodoo struck again.
Spurs looked on course for a first victory since moving to their temporary home while White Hart Lane is being rebuilt when Dele Alli gave them a second-half lead.
But Wood slotted home two minutes into injury time to earn Burnley a point that means Tottenham have won just two of their 12 games at the national stadium since it reopened in 2007.
Spurs appeared to have done enough to respond to last week’s defeat against Chelsea, but it was far from the free-flowing football their fans have come to expect under Mauricio Pochettino.
Tottenham were without Victor Wanyama due to a knee injury as Son HeungMin started, while clubrecord signing Davinson Sanchez was on the bench despite receiving a work permit and international clearance.
It was Burnley who started the game the better and Robbie Brady’s curling effort nearly caught out Hugo Lloris, who managed to push his effort away at the last moment.
James Tarkowski then headed over from a Brady corner as the Lancashire side continued to cause early problems.
Tottenham were struggling to break Burnley down, but England striker Harry Kane appeared to be the man most likely to find the net.
He went close with two deflected efforts and headed over from a Ben Davies free-kick. Eric Dier was next to go close when he nodded over from Christian Eriksen’s cross, but Burnley continued to create chances, with Tarkowski missing the target from another Brady corner.
Tottenham were rewarded for a bright start to the second half.
Alli converted from Eriksen’s corner in the 49th minute after Ben Mee failed to clear and the England midfielder’s initial effort came back to him off team-mate Mousa Dembele.
Kane has never scored a Premier League goal in August and his poor form in front of goal continued as he missed another chance, having been sent up by Eriksen.
After Burnley sent on record signing Wood for his Premier League debut, Stephen Ward shot over on the half-volley when well placed inside the area.
The visitors continued to cause Spurs difficulties on the break as Brady’s drive was pushed wide by French goalkeeper Lloris.
Kane’s misfortune went on, with England teammate Tom Heaton keeping out his left-foot effort from a Davies pull-back. He was then denied on the line by Steven Defour, who kept out his header from Eriksen’s corner.
Burnley continued to look dangerous on the break, however, and only some quick-thinking by Lloris prevented an equaliser after he raced off his line to deny Wood with a sliding tackle.
But Wood, who signed from Leeds United, coolly converted from Brady’s last-gasp through ball to earn Burnley a draw and draw boos from portions of the 67,862 crowd. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger described his team’s performance as “unacceptable” after they were swept aside 4-0 by Liverpool at Anfield.
Arsenal turned in an abject performance in Sunday’s game, despite the return of Alexis Sanchez following his delayed start to the season, and Wenger did not attempt to offer up any excuses for the humiliation. “Everything,” said Wenger when asked what had gone wrong.
“I think from the first minute to the last minute we were not at the level requested for such a game.
“Not physically, not technically, not mentally and we we were punished. That’s basically it.
“Of course, you can analyse the chances we gave away, but I just think overall the performance was not at the requested level.”
Wenger, who spent barely two minutes in his postmatch press conference, could offer little explanation as to why the display was so abject.
But after using the uncertainty over his own future as an excuse for some poor showings last season, he could not do the same at the start of the new campaign.
“That’s a question which is very difficult to answer straight away after the game,” said the Frenchman, who signed a new two-year contract in May, after being asked to explain his side’s capitulation. “There are some reasons, but I don’t think I have too much to comment on that now.
“Last season I said that after 30 games. Now we have played three games.
“Given our first two games, our performances were quite good, but today the performance was not acceptable at that level.”