GRITTY SPURS LEAVE IT LATE
IF BELIEF and faith are necessary at this time of year, then this Tottenham team are proving persuasive evangelists.
How many times this season have they seemed to have lost their way and strayed from their chosen path?
And how many times have they eked out an unlikely redemption?
The Champions League was a case in point against PSV Eindhoven, against Internazionale and against Barcelona, when late goals maintained hope amidst the darkness.
Here at Wembley, there was more of t hat. The electronic board showing four minutes of injury time had just gone up when that man, Christian Eriksen, sensed his moment had come.
Frankly, it didn’t look promising. Tottenham had laboured in the freezing rain and underwhelming ambience of a desperately bleak Saturday afternoon.
The mood fitted t he gloomy weather. They had already sent on the A-team, Erik se na nd Heung- min Son coming off the bench. And though they had added zest, it seemed as though the best chances had passed by when Son drove across goal from a tight angle on 86 minutes.
Still, if the measure of a side’s character is its ability to hang on and win games that look like slipping away, then Tottenham are made in the image of Mauricio Pochettino, once a long- haired no-nonsense Argentinian defender.
And, just as against Inter, it was Eriksen who stepped up.
It was really nothing more than a hopeful long ball from Kieran Trippier into Burnley’s box as the clock ticked past 90 minutes. The cross missed its intended target, Fernando Llorente, but reached Dele Alli who, despite being barged, chested it on to Harry Kane.
His ability to hold the ball up whilst seeing off a clutch of Burnley defenders and touch it to Eriksen cannot be overlooked. But most of all, it was the finish, cool and decisive, which impressed.
Every Tottenham outfield player joined him in the corner to celebrate. Moments like these are decisive in the Premier League.
Tottenham are hanging in. The stadium may never be finished; they may never sign anyone again; t he number of centre halves missing may reach double figures. But, as they approach Christmas, hope dares them to believe.
‘ Look what happened in t he Champions League,’ Pochettino said. ‘After three games only one point, no- one believed. And we
believed. And we believed it was possible and in the end we achieved and now are in the next stage.
‘There are a lot of other considerations but the most important thing is belief and faith, in the way that you play and the way that you work and then if you give 100 per cent, all can happen.
‘We are in a very good position. We are there, that is the reality ,after 17 games we are third. That is a massive achievement. We are there, we are close. All is possible.’
A Premier League title, perhaps? Or a trophy, at least? ‘I don’t want to say that because people will twist my words. We are going to try, like previous seasons, to win. And maybe this season it happens. But I think the most important is to give your best trying.’
They had journeyed from the heights of the Nou Camp on Tuesday night and Champions League qualification to a bleak midwinter at Wembley Stadium. They might both be iconic stadia but one has long since lost its lust re for Tottenham. Burnley, with t he second worse defensive record in the Premier League, set out their stall from the start. Sean Dyche’s side are certainly beginning to look a little more like the side that finished seventh last season. ‘They are better performances and they’re coming back to the what we’re about,’ he said. ‘We haven’t got as many points as we like, of course, but that [ attitude] over a season is what ensures you get the points.’ Unusually for Dyche, they set themselves up in a 5-4-1 formation and made their intentions clear. The first booking for time-wasting came on 64 minutes for Robbie Brady and one for Phil Bardsley followed on 60 minutes. Spurs, with a glut of injuries at centre half — Jan Vertonghen had picked up an ankle strain and Eric Dier a virus — were forced to deploy Ben Davies there. Not that it mattered. They weren’t troubled. But Spurs couldn’t get a grip on this game. Perhaps if t he early chances had fallen their way it might have unburdened them. But Lucas Moura volleyed wide on 18 minutes when Erik Lamela lifted a lovely ball into the box for him.
Burnley were fortunate to survive a penalty appeal when James Tarkowski cut across Kane and impeded him in the box. Referee Graham Scott wrongly waved the appeals away, with Kane furious.
And they owed it to Joe Hart that they stayed in the game so long. He came off his line brilliantly to smother Lamela’s chance on 32 minutes. He denied him again on 69 minutes with a fine save.
Tottenham were nearly caught out when Brady’s raking free-kick was driven back across the box by Aaron Lennon and Ashley Barnes met it with a mid-air volley which required Kane to block.
But the bulk of the second half was Spurs trying to break Burnley down. Most had given up all hope. These days, Spurs rarely do.