MIND THE GAP
Tottenham fans stay away as Dier keeps them in touch with leaders, but winless Cardiff look doomed
IT WAS a day when Tottenham’s need for a new stadium screamed out: grey, wet, vast rows of empty seats in the top tier and the yellowing turf of an overused pitch. Happily, from their own perspective, they faced a side who are already beginning to give the impression that the Premier League is way beyond them.
A moment of ugliness telegraphed the gulf in class. Lucas Moura, one of the few who took the game out of monochrome, had sent the ball down the right touchline past Joe Ralls and headed off in pursuit when Ralls sized him up, thrust out a left leg and took him out.
It was a dismal act of cynicism from a player who, on this performance, was not fit to grace the same turf as Moura. Harry Kane’s reaction — sprinting 20 yards to barge the 24-year-old and pin him by the arms — said everything, though the debate last night revolved around whether Spurs had secured the dismissal.
Neil Warnock did not mince his words, having clapped sarcastically at Kane, screamed a four-letter term of abuse and ‘Harry, f ****** well done’, as his player departed the field. Mauricio Pochettino said it was a red-card offence but had no complaints about Warnock: ‘He’s so expressive. He shows a lot of passion. He killed me four years ago, then I was a very good coach!’
It was by no means a clear-cut red card. Ralls was not the last defender. His challenge was more cynical than dangerous. But the dispute was immaterial against the backdrop of a game which should have been done and dusted by the interval.
Cardiff, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that investing only £28m in a squad which did not even have goals in it in the second tier will work in the Premier League. Moura, aided by Kane and Son Heung-min, comfortably deconstructed that notion.
The home side’s display will not live long in the memory. It was scrappy at times. Harry Winks did not display those early hints of world class which he has been struggling to replicate. The defence was occasionally vulnerable. Hugo Lloris was less than commanding. And Pochettino admitted as much. ‘It wasn’t the best performance,’ he reflected, as his side went a point off the top ahead of today’s matches. ‘We need to play better if we want to be a contender.’
But a half-dozen good chances came and went before Tottenham left first gear. Moura jabbed a leftfoot shot wide of the post after Son had located him on the left side of the box. Son powered across into space on the opposite side of the area and blasted over.
If there was a positive to take back to South Wales, Warnock’s centre-halves provided it. Sean Morrison, the captain, helped rescue the side from what threatened to be an avalanche. He was monumental, leaping into three blocks as a confused midfield allowed Tottenham big pockets of space.
But it was an experience which will keep right-back Joe Bennett awake in the small hours. Son and Moussa Sissoko had both raced around him and he was caught flat on his feet when the goal came, seven minutes in, from a short-corner routine. Kieran Trippier initiated it and delivered a cross which — after Davinson Sanchez’s weak header reached Bennett’s feet — Eric Dier poked home.
Cardiff did not entirely vanish. Their struggle for goals — only four of them this season — saw Warnock deploy yet another of his strikers, Josh Murphy, whose pace took him past Danny Rose, midway through the first half. Lloris did not advance towards Murphy, who clipped the ball past him on the acute. Dier cleared from the line as Junior Hoilett ran in to meet it. ‘Junior could have dived and put it in,’ lamented Warnock.
Even with a man advantage, Spurs might have suffered the indignity of an equaliser. Lloris was less then imperious again — scrambling a Morrison header from a free-kick on to the post and requiring Toby Alderweireld to avert the danger.
Rose departed with what Pochettino said was a recurring ‘problem in his groin’. The mood was sombre. Cardiff’s contingent made all the noise. Pochettino looked up to the top tier and was clearly struck by the absence of fans there. ‘I was a little bit surprised it was empty,’ he said. ‘We cannot ask for more from our fans. It was a difficult day with the weather.’
Cardiff are a cause for concern, though, having failed to win any of their first eight league games for
only the third time in their history.
‘I don’t know where the club would go if I do leave,’ reflected Warnock, whose job is not yet under threat. ‘Unless Jorge Mendes brings a manager and five players in January [like he has at Wolves] and runs three clubs.’ But the omens looked as grey as the sky.
TOTTENHAM (4-3-3): Lloris 5.5; Trippier 6.5, Alderweireld 6, Sanchez 6, Rose 5.5 (Davies 87min); Sissoko 7 (Wanyama 85), Dier 7, Winks 5.5; Lucas 8, Kane 6.5, Son 7 (Lamela 71, 6). Booked: Sanchez, Alderweireld, Kane. Subs (not used): Gazzaniga, Walker-Peters, Llorente, Skipp.
CARDIFF (4-4-1-1): Etheridge 6; Ecuele Manga 7, Morrison 7.5, Bamba 6, Bennett 4.5; Camarasa 5.5, Arter 6, Ralls 5, Hoilett 6.5 (Harris 72, 6); Paterson 6 (Ward 78, Reid 85); Murphy 6. Booked: Artter. Sent off: Ralls (58min). Subs (not used): Murphy, Richard, Zohore, Gunnarsson, Harris. referee: M Dean 7.