Tottenham Hotspur Take Their Chances to Secure Pre-Christmas Boost over Burnley

WHITE HART LANE, LONDON — Tottenham Hotspur beat Burnley 2-1 in their final Premier League home match before Christmas two years ago too.

Back then, in manager Mauricio Pochettino’s first year with the club, Harry Kane and Erik Lamela struck either side of Ashley Barnes to ensure plenty of festive cheer on the Lilywhite side of north London (coincidentally neighbours Arsenal also dropped points on that corresponding weekend as well).

On Sunday, Barnes was the Clarets’ man on the scoresheet again, this time giving his team the lead. Dele Alli and Danny Rose cancelled out the strike for Tottenham.

Spurs have had difficulty putting sides away at points this season—think the blown lead at home to Leicester City or missed opportunities away at West Bromwich Albion and Bournemouth. Yet this, like in the recent home wins over Swansea City and Hull City, felt like a game in which they took their chances.

📊 30 shots at goal and the rest of the stats from today’s win. 📊 #COYS pic.twitter.com/qaoWwasXvo

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 18, 2016

It may not seem like it when you look at Spurs’ statistics. Of their 30 shots, just nine hit the target.

But amid the bombardment of crosses and the ambitious long shots that challenged but did not trouble Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton, they found ways to score at crucial junctures in the contest.

Alli’s run for a Christian Eriksen pass down the left gave impetus to the move that preceded his goal, four minutes after Barnes’ opener. He stayed alert even as the ball switched to the right, allowing him to make an untracked run inside and convert Kyle Walker’s low centre.

Like Walker did on the right flank, fellow full-back Rose got up and down the left side all afternoon, this despite not playing the out-and-out wing-back roles they did versus Hull.

When substitute Moussa Sissoko burst through the middle in the 71st minute after recovering Kane’s intercepted pass, Rose was there with him. He took the pass in his stride and finished superbly, blasting his shot past Heaton.

“You know, I feel very pleased for our performance because we fight—and we needed to fight—and we played when we needed to play and created a lot of chances,” Pochettino said afterward in his post-match press conference.

“In the first 15 minutes, I think [there] was a moment to kill the game because we created a lot of chances, but in the end, you’ve conceded a goal that was a little bit unlucky, and they believe they can get some positive things here in White Hart Lane. But if we analyse the game, I think we fully deserved the three points.”

Burnley boss Sean Dyche naturally had a different take. Perhaps rueful of not hurting Spurs—Andre Gray could have given them the lead sooner but fired straight at Hugo Lloris, and other attacks threatened—and definitely annoyed Sissoko did not get sent off for a late challenge on Stephen Ward, he thought his team did not get the rub of the green.

“It’s not easy coming to these places,” Dyche said. “These are a fine side, I think. They can change it in many ways. They can change their shape. They can change it from the bench, and I thought we handled it a lot.

“Not everything, because they are still a good side, and they created some chances, but a lot of what they threw at us today, I thought we handled it very well and played our own game. I was really, really pleased. It’s just a shame that we …

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