KNOCKOUT BLOW
Spurs fall short and Alli is in hot water over punch
LEICESTER can complete one of the most remarkable title victories in English football history at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Tottenham’s chase faltered after Craig Dawson, who had scored an own goal, headed an equaliser for West Bromwich.
And in what could be another huge problem for Spurs, midfielder Dele Alli may be banned for the rest of the season after appearing to punch Albion midfielder Claudio Yacob in the stomach.
Leicester can win the Barclays Premier
Leicester will win the league if they beat Manchester United on sunday. that is it, the bottom line. Yet this may only be part of the misery for tottenham, on a night of consequences.
craig Dawson’s 73rd- minute equaliser and the two points dropped at home to West Brom will in all likelihood prove fatal to their title hopes, later if not sooner.
Yet even if tottenham catch a break when league leaders Leicester visit Old trafford at the weekend, two incidents here may leave them with an even greater hill to climb.
eric Dier disappeared down the tunnel late in the second half, possibly with a head injury, while Dele Alli left the pitch with the sword of Damocles hanging over his head.
Whether the PFA Young Player of the Year kicks another ball for tottenham this season will depend on the Football Association’s appetite for controversy, and their willingness to review footage that appears to show Alli striking West Brom defender claudio Yacob off the ball.
Alli has been so influential here this season that, without him, it is hard to see tottenham getting the results they need to match Leicester.
While the FA make up their mind, however, and the doctors confer about the extent of Dier’s shakiness, tottenham must reflect on the immediate consequences of Dawson’s goal. it stunned White Hart Lane into silence and no wonder. this was tottenham’s banker. these were their three points in the bag. chelsea could be tricky, southampton are a decent side, Newcastle may have it all to play for on the final day of the season — but West Brom?
After last week’s dismantling of stoke, few were expecting problems here. they obviously had short memories. it was March 1 when West Brom travelled to Leicester and earned a 2-2 draw against all expectations.
tottenham hit the woodwork three times last night, yet West Brom were good for their draw. they were resilient, goalkeeper Boaz Myhill had a stormer and they had more shots than tottenham in the second half.
if Dawson’s goal was the killer, tottenham cannot claim they had not been warned. this was classic West Brom, a dead ball delivered with supreme accuracy by craig Gardner, a powerful header, brave and strong.
salomon rondon struck a shot from inside the box which was tipped over by Hugo Lloris. Gardner curled in a corner, typically dangerous, and Dawson arrived first and most forcefully to head the ball into an unguarded net.
Why unguarded? Well, Lloris had come out to collect, missed the ball, and punched his team-mate Dier instead. He may have missed a career in the boxing ring because Dier’s a big boy and did not recover. the same might be said of tottenham’s title ambitions.
strangely, though, Lloris might not even have delivered the most significant punch of the night. that came from Alli in the first half and could end up deciding the potency or otherwise of tottenham’s title challenge, if the FA take a negative view.
How ironic that on the day Jamie Vardy appeared before the FA to try to talk his way out of further suspension, tottenham’s talisman should now find himself accused.
in Alli’s case, the allegation could result in a three-game ban if referee Mike Jones is similarly minded to get involved.
the best that tottenham can hope for is that the FA will consider it a storm in a social media teacup — although, if they do, there will be some at Leicester who will consider any action against Vardy a grave injustice.
in short, it’s a minefield. if the FA don’t act they will be suspected of bottling it, if they charge Alli they will be accused of evening up the disciplinary process.
so here are the basics. At some time in the first half, missed by just about everybody at White Hart Lane, Alli tangled with claudio Yacob in the penalty area.
As Yacob got free and ran on, Alli appeared to turn and punch him in the midriff.
there was little fuss from Yacob, few complaints from West Brom and nothing that would capture the attention of the referee or the authorities.
then, as the game progressed, footage began to circulate online of the incident, apparently taken from a foreign television feed. this is where the FA come in.
they have two choices. Decide that the game cannot be refereed by a collection of nerds with a grudge via slo-mo and wave play on; or accept that this was an incident which, had the referee spotted it, would have resulted in serious action even if Yacob took it in his stride.
if they take the latter course, they are duty bound to ask Jones whether he saw it.
if he says no, they have to ask what he would have done if he had. And if he says he would have shown a red card to Alli — and it is potentially a red-card offence — that’s it: Alli will play no further part in the season. if Leicester perform their next miracle on sunday, of course, none of this may matter.
then again, if the race is back on, it will be a crushing blow for tottenham to be denied Alli’s influence.
He was at the heart of the matter on several occasions here, as tottenham threatened to have the match wrapped up by half-time.
Harry Kane had a shot tipped on to a post after seven minutes, a christian eriksen free- kick skimmed the bar after 12 and Myhill made several more outstanding saves from eriksen and Kane as the half progressed.
Finally, though, tottenham broke through.
it came in the 33rd minute. West Brom were stout in defence, so tottenham caught a break when erik Lamela went over quite softly in a tussle with Gardner — who could be heard telling referee Jones as much very forcefully as they went down the tunnel — and the home team collected a free-kick.
eriksen’s ball came over the top and dipped, with Dawson trying to prevent Jan Vertonghen getting the vital touch. it was the usual round of push-me-pull-you and in desperation Dawson dragged Vertonghen down with him.
Unfortunately for West Brom, in what looked like a pile-up at the first at Aintree, the ball struck Dawson and slipped under Myhill.
Leading by a single goal at halftime did not flatter tottenham at all.
they were by far the better team in that spell, although West Brom’s resurgence after the break did them enormous credit.
Lamela was the third tottenham player to hit the woodwork but as eriksen chipped the ball wide seven minutes later, tension rose inside White Hart Lane.
Maybe they sensed it is nights like this which define champions. Nights when the title winners find a way. And tottenham couldn’t. For all the energy, youth and glorious football under Mauricio Pochettino — the best in the Premier League this season — they fell short. We know what sir Alex Ferguson would have said about that. ‘Lads, it’s tottenham.’