SUPER DELE DELIVERS AGAIN

Spurs forward off to flyer after World Cup exploits but Poch demands more

THEY say football is a game of fine margins, and the nine millimetres which helped Tottenham to this opening-day victory could yet prove significant next May.

That was the distance between the white of the goal-line and the white of the ball when Jan Vertonghen’s header came down off the crossbar to give the visitors an early lead.

In a pre-technology age, the goal would probably not have been awarded. Referee Martin Atkinson, however, felt a vibration on his wrist and there were no complaints when he relayed the news, despite the naked eye having you believe Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka had scooped the ball to safety.

Dele Alli — like Vertonghen, a World Cup semi-finalist — then nodded what proved to be the winner in the infancy of the 18th minute, this after Joselu had headed a rapid reply to t he opener.

And it was that pair air of scorers who looked ed by far the sharpest t of the five Spurs starters who appeared in the last four in Russia. For Mauricio Pochettino’s side were a little fortunate to em er gee with three pointsts after a display which hich was more about perspirarspiration than inspiration.

World Cup Golden Boot winner Harry Kane looked in need of a sun lounger to rest his weary limbs, as opposed to being tasked with leading the line after just five days of training and the birth of his second daughter this week. Mo Diame and Salomon Rondon cracked the woodwork for Rafa Benitez’s hosts in the second half. A draw would have seemed fair. But after a summer of no signings, players returning late from their international excursions and a delay y to the club’s new stadiu stadium, the aesthetics of S Spurs’ maximum return re mattered not. Such is the standard a set by Manchester City, this was about getting the win which allows Spurs S to keep pace during d t he early w weeks and not, as they the did last year, drop seven points in their first five matches. Pochettino knew as much and he delivered a slap- down to any player who may have returned from Russia wrapped up in their own personal glories — World Cup-winning captain Hugo Lloris was also a starter. ‘If we want to win something, if we want to challenge for big things, we all need to put our minds and energy into the collective and understand that the collective is the most important thing,’ said the Argentine, who has now spent four years without a trophy in North London.

‘If individual goals are the priority for them, they are not going to help the team and they are going to be out of the squad.

‘I told them yesterday, it’s like we are starting from zero. The players who want to stay at Tottenham need to show their commitment until the end. It’s not one week, two weeks or one month.

‘If you stay at Tottenham, the rules are clear — the manager will decide who is going to play, names or no names. The players who deserve it are going to be on the pitch.’

You could not fault the collective here and they were in front on eight minutes when Davinson Sanchez met a Christian Eriksen corner and Vertonghen headed on to the bar and over the line. Just.

The lead lasted three minutes and Joselu headed level from Matt Ritchie’s centre.

The Spaniard, though, had been afforded the freedom of the area, just as Al li was at the other end when he peeled free to meet Serge Aurier’s delivery and return a cute nod into the bottom corner. It was the same spot from which he scored against Sweden in last month’s quarter-final.

Alli played like a man on a high from his summer exploits and he drew gasps of admiration from the home crowd when nutmegging DeAndre Yedlin.

Kane, by comparison, was leggy and allowed one Eriksen pass to squirm under his boot when better control would have put him in on goal.

It is now 14 matches in the month of August without scoring for the England captain, who did not register a shot on target.

He would have regretted that miscontrol had Rondon not seen his deflected strike come back off the bar in the 85th minute. It was that sort of afternoon — fine margins.