Positive Performance Despite Defeat

Article by Sana Jeewa @Sana859

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There was no mauling from Man City this time. It was not a one sided match defined by diabolical defending, nor was the biggest talking point an incorrectly given red card and penalty. Like the match at White Hart Lane in 2013, it was one where some exquisite attacking play produced the ultimate outcome.

Unlike our last 3 games against Man City, here we managed to impose ourselves on the game right from the start with Chadli, Dier and Kane coming close in the opening 3 minutes. Dier’s header from the corner was perhaps the easiest of the chances and being unmarked in such a glorious position, it was crucial that he took advantage of his opportunity. Despite these misses, we continued as the dominant side, quite a change from our recent horrendous performances against this opponent. We cut through City’s defence magnificently and were unlucky not to be ahead. Dominance is fruitless though unless capitalised upon and so it proved when despite our initial brilliance, City were the team who scored first.

There were warning signs that City were beginning to display their supreme skills when Aguero almost goal bound after a most unusual Lloris slip. Fazio’s intervention resulted in him retrieving the ball successfully but replays showed that he was perhaps lucky not to have conceded a penalty, having made minimal contact with Aguero. Considering our misfortune in these matches in the past, it was great to witness a 50/50 decision go our way for a change. Unfortunately though, 7 minutes later in the 29th minute, City executed a brilliant counter-attacking move with Hart initially finding Silva with his long range throw. With much of our defense having just been on the attack, many were out of position leaving Silva to place an exquisite pass into the path of Aguero. The Premier League’s top scorer then expertly finished into the top corner, beating Lloris at his near post. While we had been the more effective side for the preceding 28 minutes, this stunning finish showed us the importance of being clinical. Taking your chances, especially in big games against tough opposition is vital and that proved to be our undoing throughout the match.

For the rest of the first half, we seemed much less confident going forward, seemingly desperate to avoid going into the second half with a bigger deficit. At 1-0, the game was still within our reach and in the second half we continued to battle hard in search for that equaliser, with Pochettino bringing on both Soldado and Adebayor in his quest to change the game’s outcome. Eriksen’s underwhelming performance meant that his match was over by the 59th minute and it has become clear over the last few weeks that the relentless season has caught up with him. We could have been on level pegging just a minute later when Kane had his shot blocked by Fernando. Instead of shooting, he should have passed to the available Chadli who was clearly in a better position to take a shot at goal. Contrastingly, the score could have been 2-0 in City’s favour in the 62nd minute when Aguero’s heavy touch prevented him from scoring after he had rounded the usually impeccable Lloris.

Our persistent effort resulted in numerous chances even up to the last 10 minutes of the game with Paulinho’s header drawing a low save from Hart in the 83rd minute and Lamela’s acrobatic shot from Rose’s cross also needing Hart to intervene. Ultimately, though, it was not our day and we were made to rue all those missed clear-cut opportunities at the start of the game when we had City on the ropes and unable to gain a foothold in the game. As the stats from Squawka show, no team created more chances than Spurs this weekend (19) and no player created more chances than Lamela (6), who had one of his best performances in a Lilywhite shirt to date. To emerge on the losing end despite all this is quite disappointing, but a 1-0 loss is a far cry from the humiliation we have suffered at the hands of City recently and with the positivity we displayed in attack, is nothing to be ashamed of.

On another day, we could easily have been victorious in a match like this, and I’m sure we all echo the manager’s sentiments of being proud of the players. His words of, “we deserved much more than the result,” and “we created more chances than Man City,” are an apt analysis of the game. Ultimately, though, it is all about being clinical and we need to learn to capitalise during our periods of dominance. The emergence of our full backs, Dier and Rose and their exceptional crossing has become instrumental in our attacks but I feel a crucial area we need to address this summer is at the heart of midfield, with a partner for Bentaleb. While Mason has been doing an admirable job, slotting in someone like Schneiderlin will certainly give us that steel we’ve been lacking.

Overall, though, it was a much improved performance against City, given the fact that our previous 3 games ended with a 15-2 score-line in their favour. Playing with such positivity against the “big teams” bodes well for next season and beyond, and more often than not will result in enthralling victories.

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