Man City 1-2 Spurs:(match review)

Match review: The industrious warriors,the lads of Tottenham Hotspur provided us with yet another tremendous performance,as Mauricio Pochettino masterminds a 2-1 victory over Man City,a team with an endless amount of class, quality and wealth. The Lilywhites cut Leicester’s deficit at the top to just two points, as our title surge and sheer tenacity stuns the rest of English football into silence.

Lead out by our captain Hugo Lloris the lads walked out in to the majestic Etihad stadium to face fourth placed Manchester City in what was our biggest game of the season so far. Our high pressing philosophy was put in to place from the start,as we looked to overwhelm a City side lacking the supreme fitness our lads possess, and our lads looked comfortable in play as we dictated the tempo in the early stages of the match. However,ten minutes in the formidable argentine Sergio Agüero found the ball due to the resulting corner, however the Man City icon blazed the ball surprisingly high into the stands. A little after ten minutes later the speed of Raheem Sterling caused our defence problems, as he found some space from with in the box to hit a thunderous volley which was superbly blocked by the valiant Danny Rose. Rose was thumped right in the chest as he kept the score at nil nil. There were to be no more significant chances in the first 45 minutes as we bossed the centre of the park with the quality presence of Dembele and Dier, we had an impressive 65 percent of the possession in the first half.

Within minutes of the restart Agüero again went close for the sky blues,as he squandered a massive opportunity, Agüero fired the ball into orbit after it rebounded to him. Although, a mere three minutes afterwards a huge slice of luck presented itself to Spurs, a Danny Rose cross hit the elbow of the rising Sterling. To both sets of fans amazement Mark Clattenburg awarded the penalty, with Harry Kane taking the stand. Kane sent Hart the wrong way 1-0 to the Spurs! With the away fans sent into sheer delirium. However City soon found the hunger in their bellies as they looked to avenge our lead, an immediate impact took place as on the 57th minute Yaya Touré hit a ferocious strike from 18 metres which Lloris beat away from danger. Shortly after his introduction for City, the young Nigerian forward Kelechi Iheanacho swiftly took the joy away from the Spurs fans. After being found by Clichy on the edge of the box the wonder kid side footed the ball high into the roof of the net 1-1!

With 15 minutes remaining the Spurs players were unwilling to settle for a draw and their tenacity and superb stamina proved too powerful for City.Substitute Érik Lamela
sprinted with the ball at his feet towards the goal as he thread a perfect ball through the legs of Otamendi as it reached the birthday boy Christian Eriksen, whose deft touch and composure in front of the goal sealed the victory for the Spurs, as he slotted the ball low and beyond the reach of the helpless Hart, 2-1 Spurs! It was a nervy end to the game and in the 95th minute Lloris saved us with his determination and utmost courage, as he palmed the ball away from Otamendi who clattered in to him,but Lloris had done enough as Silva’s follow up was acrobatically volleyed over the bar. The final score Spurs 2-1 Man City a famous victory from Pochettino’s lads as their hard work paid off, our togetherness and belief can win us the league. Our fans overwhelmed with joy as the pride flows higher and harder then ever. Bill Nicholson and Danny Blanchflower would be proud. We can do this COYS⚽️

-Match facts: -Eriksen’s goal was his 5th in the league this season
– Kane’s penalty made it 16 league goals for him this term
– 4 different Argentines played in the match
– Spurs only had 6 goal attempts to City’s 19

We hosted Watford in what was an extremely blustery affair as the wind proved pivotal in deciding the outlay of the match, as long balls became a normality,with the away side using them to uproot us in our quest for victory.
The game itself had an added incentive after Manchester City fell to a three one defeat at the hands of table toppers Leicester in the early kick off, which meant a win for the lilywhites this afternoon would send us to second in the league table. The first half started with Spurs playing quick and crisp attacking football against a highly structured and defensively minded Watford side. The hornets limited are chances in the opening stages of the game as they heavily congested the midfield in order to thwart our creativity in the middle of the park. However, Mousa Dembele was immense as a deep lying midfielder, making some key interceptions and forward driving runs, as his sheer strength overwhelmed the Watford midfield. Another key performer in the opening stages was Kieran Trippier as he was impeccable both in defending and attacking as he searched out Harry Kane with his pin point crosses. Our biggest chance of the first half came on the half hour mark as Ben Davies reached a fine pass and surged forward in to the box as he hit his effort with some venom as it was deflected narrowly wide of the left post. A few minutes afterwards Davies found himself again in a good position after a golden touch to bring down the ball in the same position in the box his attempt was however clasped by former Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes. Shortly before the end of the first half Harry Kane came close after he was superbly picked out by Eric Dier’s wonderful cross in, although Kane was unable to keep his volley in the box down, the scoreline remained 0-0 at the break.

The second half brought with it a revised approach for Spurs and we started it with a sparkle as the chances came in, Trippier was again continuing his promising runs up the right flank and feeding in inviting crosses. And it was Tripper who broke the deadlock in the 64th minute, the recent introduction of Dele Alli brought with it a new edge to the game and the 19 year old assisted Trippier.Alli sprinted down the left wing after some superb midfield work by Dembele, Alli took the ball with great skill and picked out the unmarked Trippier who he assisted with a delightful outside of the boot pass from the edge of the byline and Trippier hammered home with the instinctive technique of a striker, 1-0 Spurs. We continued to improve after taking the lead and we were unfortunate not to have doubled our lead after Son’s close range effort was saved in style by Gomes. The pressure didn’t stop as every Spurs player played sublimely in their respective positions, the defence was magnificent and Trippier was undoubtedly the man of the match. In addition the central defensive partnership of Wimmer and Alderweireld proved as effective as a brick wall as the inform Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney didn’t have a sniff of a chance.

The atmosphere was fantastic from the fans as it spurred the players on to a special win. That win moves us up to second 5 points adrift of the leaders Leicester, it sounds surreal but feels fantastic. Every, Spurs fan is in awe of our play our tenacity and most importantly of the excellence of Mauricio Pochettino,who is providing the platform for winners a squad full of talent and a future so bright one must not dare envisage the success that can come with it as the brightness can overwhelm you. We played arguably one of our greatest performances of the season it could have been 3 or 4 nil but it doesn’t matter as the lads were performing out of their skin, and have put the doubters to bed. Spurs are title contenders and no one can argue with
that now, 6 wins on the trot. COYS⚽️

Spurs 3 Norwich 0:

Match review:
This evenings result was absolutely phenomenal, the team put in and outstanding
performance in every aspect of the game and the great bonus of Arsenal drawing 0-0 to Southampton adds to the incredible delight, we have now moved to 3rd position in the league table! In addition we have now won five on the trot.

The deadlock was broken in less than two minutes as Christian Eriksen’s effort was palmed away by Declan Rudd right in to path of Dele Alli and the nimble footed teenager perfectly despatched his effort, he pounced and made no mistake as he fired us into an early lead on a chilly winters night at Carrow road. Our high intensity didn’t drop in the aftermath of our early lead and our ultimate power on the field provided Norwich with a whole host of defensive problems. Eighteen minutes in and another great chance presented itself for Spurs, Kane surged towards the byline and cleverly pulled the ball back to Son who flicked a fine effort against the outside of the post. Over ten minutes had gone since that glorious opportunity to double our lead had taken place, but yet another great opportunity presented itself a Dele Alli shot thwarted by Rudd resulted with Kane being fouled by former Spurs man Bassong on the follow up, and the referee awarded the penalty. Kane stepped up and rolled the ball into the back of the net, as cool as you like, 2-0 Spurs.

Our domination and dictation of play was overwhelming the faltering canaries and two minutes after the goal Kane powered a brilliant effort against the post, a millimetre away from making it three for the lillywhites. And before the first half came to a close, our creativity provided us with a couple of fabulous chances most notably of which came to Dele Alli after a precise cross from Danny Rose found him after his run was executed with perfection, Alli’s header went a whisker wide of the post, 2-0 to Spurs at the interval. The second half had barely started when Norwich attacked us looking for a way back in to the match, Matt Jarvis crossed as Naismith headed a fraction wide of the goal. Two minutes after the Scotsman’s effort Norwich had the ball in the back of the net Bassong had headed the ball in to the goal but it was ruled offside. The long period that followed was a sequence of fine passing from Spurs, the excellent holding of possession was exhibited by the team, as we established ourselves expertly on the stage with the hope of tiring the out of form Norwich. Our defensive partnership of Alderweireld and Wimmer was of the highest quality with both performing outstandingly in the heart of our defence. Our best player of the match Harry Kane unleashed a powerful effort against the post on 82 minutes with his shot rebounding away from danger. However, the England international got a deserved second and wrapped up a three nil win for us in the 90th minute. Some poor defending gifted Kane with a one on one opportunity with Rudd and Kane expertly tucked the ball in to the back of the net, the final score Spurs 3 Norwich 0.

The genius Mauricio Pochettino masterminds another exceptional win making it five wins on the bounce and our exceptional tenacity and our rapidly improving philosophy has every Tottenham fan foaming at the mouth.Something extraordinary is in the making at this football club, has a modern day Bill Nicholson arrived? Dare I guess But Pochettino has us all dreaming of those glory,glory days. COYS

Two main Spurs headlines are dominating the footballing news of the day and they are rather sad for many a Spurs fan. The first bit of news is of the imminent departure of Andros Townsend who confirmed via social media this afternoon that his 16 year stint with the club has ended, in an emotional tweet with a picture of him driving out of Hotspur way for the final time. It has long been known that Andros was likely to depart during this transfer window but nonetheless it does still come as a shock with many a Spurs fan hoping he would once again break into the first team squad. A local lad Andros joined our academy set up aged 8 and developed all the way up the academy ladder at Spurs, I remember first seeing him play in 2009  at Brisbane road, whilst on a months loan at Leyton Orient it was a wet and windy afternoon as Orient played Southampton in league one. Andros then an 18 year old was fearless his confidence was supreme as he sped up and down the left wing his tenacity was clear to see as even on such a poor surface he didn’t give up he wasn’t afraid to shoot his passion of the game was then and still is now of the highest order he loved our club and had some great moments scoring some excellent goals,and contributing a lot to our side over the last couple of seasons. I’ll miss him as he will our club, but it is important for his career to join Newcastle in what is believed to be a £12 million pound transfer, and I thoroughly believe he will become a key player for the magpies. Here’s a toast to the ultimate Spurs professional and a really nice guy 🍻 Andros Hotspur Townsend.

In the second part of this afternoons news, it has been confirmed that Jan Vertonghen has suffered knee ligament damage and could be out for two months as a result of being elbowed by Connor Wickham in our victory over Palace at the weekend, Jan has been key along with Toby this season in keeping an excellent defensive record this season so it is a big blow however our medical team is hopeful that Jan could return sooner. Kevin Wimmer will now be in his place and I strongly believe he will do an excellent job filling in as he showed against Leicester in the cup. Get well soon Jan.