Title looks too much now, says Pochettino
Spurs 10 points adrift as boss admits Wembley curse is now a reality
IT TOOK 14 minutes for West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster to start slowing play down. A Spurs shot went out for a goal kick and he took plenty of time over it.
He did it again a little later. And again. And again. And again. He held on to the ball when Spurs won a corner and a frustrated Dele Alli had to wrench it from his grip.
Referee Michael Jones had a word. Foster protested his innocence. Boos and jeers rained down every time he took a kick. Eventually, in the 82nd minute, he was shown a yellow card. So, too, was Allan-Romeo Nyom, for delaying over a throw-in.
If West Brom’s owner Guochuan Lai wanted an antidote for Tony Pulis’s anti-football, it was probably not 66 minutes of running the clock down, nor defending their own penalty area for the majority of the match, as they did here under interim manager Gary Megson.
Twenty seven per cent possession, one shot on target and one goal from Salomon Rondon earned the draw following Harry Kane’s second-half equaliser. It was not pretty but the pragmatists will see this as a crucial point away from home against one of the top sides.
Tottenham’s pragmatic manager Mauricio Pochettino also admitted that Tottenham will be out of the Premier League title race if Manchester City win today. Pep Guardiola’s side take on Huddersfield and a victory will move them 13 points ahead.
Pochettino said: ‘Yes it is true the gap now is 10 points. It is massive in the Premier League. But now we need to be focused on trying to improve and try to be more consistent here at Wembley. And try to win more games here like last season at White Hart Lane. It’s true it’s different to White Hart Lane. That’s our reality and we cannot escape it.’
Pochettino had been talking up Davinson Sanchez as potentially the best centre-back in the world in the build-up, so it was no surprise that less than five minutes had been played when something went wrong for the Colombian. Alli was most at fault for allowing West Brom’s opening goal, losing possession in the centre of the park easily to Jake Livermore by dallying on the ball. Spurs players were high up the pitch, exposed and Livermore fed Rondon. Sanchez was unable to race back quite in time and, when he attempted to shoulder barge the striker, he thumped into an immovable tank, one that applied the cutest finish to roll the ball through the defender’s legs and into the far left of goal, with Hugo Lloris rooted to the spot. Spurs were not working and Pochettino switched from virtually a back five, set up with the intention of drawing West Brom further up the field to make them easier to open up, to a more attacking formation halfway through the first half — and they proceeded to dominate it.
It worked, with Heung-Min Son, now out on the left, receiving the ball and cutting in to shoot, forcing Foster into a diving save. Eric Dier met Kieran Trippier’s corner and headed on target and, though Alli was lurking, Foster grabbed the ball. The kick out took a while.
‘The noise I heard from Tottenham most of the time was slaughtering Ben for what they deemed taking too long,’ said Megson. ‘I didn’t think Ben was taking that long for the amount of time Hugo was taking at the other end. We had to speak about that at half-time, that we didn’t bring the crowd into it.
‘With the result the way it was going and the way our supporters were going, we were doing fine. The last thing we needed was to give them an opportunity to get back into it. He wouldn’t be the first goalkeeper to take his time.’
Son, again a nuisance down that flank, sent in a powerful low cross right in front of goal, too quick for West Brom’s defence but also for his team-mate Kane, who was in position to convert from close range but could not connect.
Still West Brom stood firm and Pochettino switched things around again, bringing on a striker for a defender — Fernando Llorente replacing Jan Vertonghen — and Mousa Dembele for Harry Winks.
Finally, after all the chopping and changing, the equaliser came 15 minutes from time. Alli popped the ball in from the right and Kane’s deft touch sent it through Foster’s legs — for a bit of added retribution.
But West Brom held out for the draw — and Pulis would have been proud of that performance.
TOTTENHAM (5-3-2): Lloris 6; Trippier 6, Vertonghen 6 (Llorente 60min, 6), Sanchez 5.5, Dier 6, Davies 6; Winks 5.5 (Dembele 60, 6), Eriksen 6, Alli 6.5; Son 6, Kane 6.5. Subs (not used): Vorm, Sissoko, Foyth, Aurier, WalkerPeters. Booked: Dier.
WEST BROMWICH ALBION (4-3-3): Foster 6; Nyom 7, Hegazi 7, Evans 7, Gibbs 7; Barry 6 (Yacob 79), Livermore 6, Field 6 (McClean 67, 6); Phillips 6, Rondon 7.5, Rodriguez 6 (Robson-Kanu 67, 6). Subs (not used): Myhill, Burke, Krychowiak, McAuley. Booked: Barry, Gibbs, Nyom, Foster. referee: M Jones 6.