| Match report
A surprisingly unfilled
Hawthorns saw Spurs race into a 2-0 lead within a quarter of an
hour, then finish off the match in the second half with a Harry Kane
penalty, but West Bromwich Albion might be rueing the chances which
Hugo Lloris kept out that earned Spurs a convincing away win.
The game had barely got
warmed up on a very chilly game at the League's highest ground, when
Spurs took the lead. The dirty Albion midfielder Yacob took
Mousa Dembele down late as he got a shot away and a free-kick was
given just five yards outside the left corner of the box. When
Christian Eriksen lined it up, he had a five man wall in front of
him, but this wasn't enough to stop him as he hit the free-kick over
the wall and Ben Foster (a keeper I have never rated) could only
help it into the roof of the net with his grasping hand.
That gave Tottenham a seventh minute lead.
Walker almost scored when he
broke into the box in the tenth minute, but Joleon Lescott got in
front of him. When the former Manchester City man looked to
clear it, Walker blocked his clearance and the ball ricocheted back
towards goal, but luckily for the home team, Foster was at his near
post to take it. Knocking the ball around comfortably, Mousa
Dembele took a pass centrally and moved left to pass to Harry Kane
before the Belgian was taken down late again. Kane cut inside
Wisdom and smashed a shot past Foster at his near post before he
could react to make it 2-0.
Tottenham's numerical in the
middle of the park gave them the upper hand over WBA's four men and
the fact that their two up front rarely dropped back to help out,
meant that it was a tough task for Albion's midfield. All the
home side could do was to get men back behind the bal and hope for a
stray pass to hand them possession. Spurs were holding the
ball for long periods, but as we have seen previously, they really
needed to finish teams off with more goals. Albion had been
three up in this fixture last season before we came back to 3-3, so
the warning was there.
Brunt tried a low 30 yarder
and it ended up as the Baggies' first shot on target in the 25th
minute, but it only meant that Hugo had to bend down to gather it.
A better effort came a minute or so later, when Albion broke away
after a Spurs attack broke up on the edge of the home box.
Anichebe went forward and played the ball to Morrison, who hit a
drive from 25 yards and it needed a fine stretching tip over from
Lloris to keep it out and put it over the bar. The
corner gave Lescott a chance to head at goal, but he put it over the
top. Then Fazio was adjudged to have fouled Anichebe and the
free-kick was worked well and when the ball was crossed in from
their left wing, Yacob was there to volley low at goal, but Hugo
dived to palm it out with a super save, just in front of the line.
WBA had got a head of steam
up and Spurs were not looking as composed as they had earlier.
They settled back into their passing routine and that kept Albion
away from the Spurs end. When they did, a free-kick swung in
from their right saw Craig Dawson rise highest and put his header
against the bar with Lloris stranded for once.
As the half came to a close,
Anichebe struck a hopeful 25 yard shot weakly and well wide and when
Kane tried his luck from outside the area, the ball swerved the
wrong way and went a few yards wide of Foster's goal.
Tottenham had enjoyed a massive 65% possession in the first half and
while they might not have expected as much in the second half, they
needed to make it pay.
Albion started the second
period and I am sure Tony Pulis warmed the dressing room with a
fiery team talk. Tottenham needed to make another quick start
or to take the heat out of the Albion game. They chose the
latter and after a good couple of minutes passing the ball all over
the pitch, Walker set up Eriksen to drive in from outside the right
corner of the box and hit a low curling shot that beat Foster's dive
and missed the far post by inches.
Spurs engineered a chance in
the box, with Kane and Lamela both having efforts blocked, with
Albion having to clear away a dangerous low cross by Kyle Walker
when the move continued. After a little flurry of
substitutions, Eriksen was provided with the ball on the halfway
line by Dawson and Walker made a rampaging run down the right, took
the ball and crossed, with Joleon Lescott sliding in with his arm
raised to concede a penalty. Harry Kane stepped up to send
Foster the wrong way and hit the inside of the side netting on the
left as he looked at the goal. While it was one of those
that looked a harsh decision, WBA should look at the way Dawson
conceded possession before Eriksen broke away.
Albion's forwards were
resorting to some unnecessary tactics, with Brown diving to get a
free-kick that came to nothing and than he was trying to baulk
Lloris from a corner, but he met his match in sub Nacer Chadli.
Albion kept trying to get the ball in the box, but their best effort
came from Berahino, who drilled a low shot across Lloris' goal from
a narrow angle on their right, but it missed past the far post.
Tottenham hit back with an attack that saw Kane blocked as he tried
to get on the end of some intricate passing on the edge of the box,
but Lescott weakly cleared to Paulinho on the right side of the area
and his fierce ball back across the six yard box was inches out of
reach of the stretching Lamela.
Spurs were grateful to Hugo
again, when Berahino turned Fazio in the box and hitting a shot from
their left to paw away his low shot and Danny Rose slid in to
prevent Brown knocking the ball over the line with a very good
clearance. When Spurs got forward, Chadli set up Lamela, but
he shot wide under pressure from Morrison, then, at the other end,
Berahino once more got away from Fazio, but his cross only found
Lloris at the near post.
Another Yacob foul, finally
brought him a yellow card, giving away a free-kick about 27 yards
out and Harry Kane hit the centrally placed dead ball well, but
Foster touched it over the top. Spurs were winning the ball
back well into the later stages of the match and kept hold of the
ball, the possession ending with Paulinho having a long shot way too
high. Albion were trying hard, but they were loose in
possession and turned the ball over too easily, when they didn't
need to.
Albion fans were heading
home from about the 75th minute and their normally good support had
been poor all afternoon. Maybe they are resigned to their fate
of battling against relegation, with Tony Pulis in charge.
They seemed to have a decent chance in the 85th minute, when a long
left wing cross saw Danny Rose set himself to chest it back to
Lloris, but Gardner jumped at him to head down and force Hugo to a
save at his near post. However, it would not have counted, as
the ref gave a free-kick for a foul on Rose. Lloris had to be
quick off his line when Fazio's back pass fell short and Berahino
got onto it, but Hugo took the ball off his toe.
Harry Kane got a huge
reception as he was replaced by Soldado for the last few minutes,
with the strains of "When the Spurs go marching in" ringing around a
half empty Hawthorns, while the team kept going forward. Kevin
Friend's final whistle brought more cheers from the Spurs end and
Albion sloped off well beaten.
The Heathrow
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