Spurs’ chance of title is over, insists furious Pochettino
At the end, it was all too much for Mauricio Pochettino. The Tottenham manager, furious at seeing his team beaten at Turf Moor, confronted Mike Dean in the centre of the pitch.
The conversation was heated, with a number of the club’s coaching staff becoming involved, too. Yet while he took out his anger on the referee, Pochettino’s real frustration was caused by the sight of a Premier League title challenge slipping away.
Still, there may be consequences beyond the disappointment of defeat. There was no physical contact during the incident, but there may yet be a Football Association charge to follow for the Argentine.
Pochettino said afterwards he was prepared to apologise to Dean, having admitted his behaviour towards the official was out of character.
“It was weird and strange and something that had not happened before in 10 years,” Pochettino said. “Some stupid things happen and you react.
“I was never out of control but what happened there, happened there. We lost the game because of us, not because of excuses.
“We need to find someone to blame, it is myself and us because we have in our hands the capacity to win the game and we didn’t.
“I will accept everything that can happen from the FA but I think the things that happened on the pitch, I hope they won’t go any further.”
Make no mistake, this defeat hurt for Pochettino. Had Tottenham won at Turf Moor, they would have moved to within two points of Manchester City and Liverpool at the top, albeit having played more games than both, and the talk of a title challenge would only have increased.
It had all looked set up for them to win when, 20 minutes into the second half, Harry Kane marked his return from ankle ligament damage by striding through to score his 21st goal of the season and equalise Chris Wood’s opener.
It came about from a dubious decision in the visitors’ favour; Danny Rose had taken a quick throw-in down the left, five yards farther forward from where the ball went out of play, allowing him to clear Burnley centre-back Ben Mee’s head.
The coolness of the finish impressed England manager Gareth Southgate, watching from the stands, but he was not the only international head coach who left with something to think about. Austria’s Franco Foda saw Ashley Barnes touch in Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s cross seven minutes from the end to win the game. Bath-born Barnes, who scored for the fourth match in a row, qualifies for Austria through his grandmother. His goal may be as significant for his international career as it was damaging for Pochettino, who indicated his belief that Tottenham’s title challenge is over. “I said for me, this game is going to be key to put pressure on our opponents,” Pochettino said. “If we didn’t win, we could not put pressure on, and we could not think now of being a real contender. It is a massive opportunity lost for us.”
As Pochettino fumed, Southgate left with a squad taking a little more shape for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro next month.
Kane’s goalscoring return pleased him but he would have been impressed too by Tom Heaton, who made a flying save early in the second half to tip away the England captain’s fierce, bending 25-yard shot. Heaton, who has been outstanding since displacing Joe Hart at the end of December, must fancy his chances of a call-up.
It proved a crucial save. Seven minutes later, Burnley opened the scoring, courtesy of one of the decisions that perhaps riled Tottenham’s manager. It came from a corner the visitors felt should not have been awarded, with the officials having judged Jeff Hendrick’s attempted cross had touched Jan Vertonghen last before going out of play.
With that bubbling, Dwight McNeil delivered the set-piece and Wood rose above Juan Foyth to head in off the underside of the bar.
Up until that point the spotlight had been on Kane’s comeback, which showed promise in the opening 20 minutes when he darted across the face of the penalty area, past three flailing Burnley defenders, before driving a shot just wide.
Yet Burnley had built a seven-match unbeaten run to pull themselves clear of relegation trouble. As Tottenham probed, Sean Dyche’s side stood up to the challenge, sometimes going up to the boundary of legitimate force.
Barnes was involved in an early tangle that left Foyth with a torn shirt and, puzzlingly, a free-kick awarded against him, while Rose was left crumpled by a robust tackle by Hendrick.
Burnley offered an attacking threat as well as stamina and sturdiness and almost fashioned a superb opening goal just after the half-hour mark, as Barnes swept a dipping shot just over the bar with a clever first-time effort from Hendrick’s cross.
To Burnley’s credit, they did not falter after losing their lead and continued to make chances. Hendrick and McNeil went close before Barnes provided the twist.
Burnley, in the bottom three at Christmas, are now within sight of the top half. “That is the Premier League,” Dyche said. “The top six are way in front, and that is why it is such a big day when you beat them.
“The key focus since Christmas has been getting back to focusing on ourselves and the players are now performing very, very well.”