Image Credit: Evening Standard
By Lee Clow
22 January 2020 | Premier League
Tottenham scored their first goals of 2020 as they scrapped a 2-1 victory over bottom side Norwich City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Going into the game, Jose Mourinho made a surprise selection as he restored captain Hugo Lloris in goal replacing Paulo Gazzaniga who deputised for the Frenchman since his horrific injury against Brighton in October.
Tottenham started very brightly with majority of the possession and almost took the lead on 10 minutes through Erik Lamela. Serge Aurier delivered a good cross into the box where Lamela connected first time and struck towards the top corner, but Norwich keeper Tim Krul got across well to parry the Argentines effort.
Not long afterwards, Norwich almost took a shock lead when Teemu Pukki squeezed through the Spurs defence. Pukki in a tight space managed to skip past Jan Vertonghen and go through on goal but the Fin could not wrap his foot around the ball enough as he placed it wide of Lloris’ goal.
Despite the scare Spurs soon regained control of the game and came close to scoring what would be their first goal of the new decade. Lucas Moura positively gained a few yards with the ball and excellently fed in Son Heung-Min who looked certain to score but the South Korean fluffed his lines and hit the side netting.
Pukki again became a danger for Spurs as he managed to get a shot away without any pressure, but fortunately for the home side the Norwich City striker dragged his shot wide.
Spurs’ dominance finally paid off as Dele Alli placed the ball into the back of the net. Todd Cantwell made a costly mistake as he was robbed off the ball in the centre of the field and this allowed Aurier to pick up the ball down the right hand side and put in a dangerous cross towards Dele who connected and placed the ball home to score Tottenham’s first goal in four games.
Tottenham went into the break leading by a goal to nil but not in full control of the tie with Norwich looking dangerous through Pukki.
Early in the second half, Spurs came close to doubling their lead through Son. Toby Alderweireld, who had been picking out excellent long balls all game, once again delivered a beautiful ball and found Son who latched onto it first time, but the South Korean could only fire over from close range.
On the 68th minute, Norwich were given a lifeline in the game as Ryan Sessegnon tripped up Maxx Aarons in the box resulting in the referee giving a penalty. After a long VAR check, the penalty was eventually confirmed allowing Norwich a chance to equalise. Pukki who had come close all game stepped up to the spot and squeezed his effort into the back of the net past Lloris who guessed the right way.
From this moment, Norwich looked the stronger of the two teams and looked certain to score a second, but Spurs hit the away side with a sucker punch through Son. Giovani Lo Celso, who had been one of Tottenham’s brightest sparks, picked out a good ball towards Dele who struck at Krul before seeing the ball loop up in the air towards Son, who tapped home Spurs’ second letting them off the hook after a poor second half display.
Tottenham managed to hold onto their victory despite Norwich’s late pressure lifting them up to sixth in the table, six points behind fourth placed Chelsea. The narrow defeat means Norwich remain bottom of the table, six points off safety.
After the game, Jose Mourinho spoke to the press about his side’s performance: "It is a very important victory for us against a difficult opponent. We suffered in the second half and we only have ourselves to blame.”
"We are in a situation when I have to think, think, think. I look to bench, and we don't have attacking players. I had to take off Erik Lamela because of fatigue but we showed an incredible reaction to score a second goal.”
Norwich boss Daniel Farke also spoke after the game stating how proud he was of his team despite the defeat: "I can't ask my lads for more. We played a side able to bring on Eric Dier, Christian Eriksen and Gedson Fernandes.”
"The lads left their hearts out on the pitch. It's disappointing to drive away with a loss. We have a special group of players.”
"It was a fantastic away performance even though it was a defeat.”
"It's difficult when you don't win games because it's not good for the mood or confidence. We deserved at least one point. To lose this game because of a deflected cross is tough - no doubt. But you have to keep going."
What’s next?
Both teams take a break from the Premier League on the weekend as they take part in the FA Cup fourth round with Tottenham taking on Southampton and Norwich taking on Burnley.
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