Spurs Scrape Past Burnley to Sneak Back into Top 4

Sunday 15th May 2022 - 12:00pm

Match Report

Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 0 Burnley

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

Competition: English Premier League

"Pre-Match Thoughts – The race for the top 4 remains in Arsenal's hands, they have a tricky fixture away at Newcastle tomorrow though. Spurs have to keep winning to stay in with a chance of sealing a precious Champions League spot.

Burnley have been a bit of a bogey team for us in recent times, they beat us 1-0 at their place back in February. Tottenham simply cannot afford another slip-up today.

Fixture congestion has been known to hinder Conte's teams, so I think we're in for a difficult afternoon. I'm backing us to win it 2-1 though."

Romero was out again as it was confirmed he's likely to miss the rest of the season due to a hip injury. Sánchez came in for him in the Arsenal match and performed well. He was selected to start in his place again, and fans hoped to see another solid performance.

Lucas Moura also came into the side, he replaced Kulusevski, who was said to be one of a handful of Spurs players suffering from a stomach bug making it's way around the club.

It was a lively start from Spurs, putting heavy pressure on Burnley from the off. They couldn't quite find the early goal to settle those nerves though.

45'+1' The closest of the bunch came right on the brink of half-time, Moura did brilliantly to work his way down the right side to the byline before sliding it back to Kane who struck it first time but it flew narrowly wide of the left post.

45'+4' It emerged that VAR was checking for a penalty. The ball had bounced around in the box before making it's way out wide to Moura. Replays showed that as Sánchez volleyed it up in the air it struck the outstretched arm of Ashley Barnes.

His arm was in an unnatural position and the decision went in Spurs' favour.

45'+8' GOAL! Kane stepped up and drilled it into the bottom left corner. Nick Pope was rooted to the spot. 1-0.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – We created a load of chances early on, but the more of them that failed to find the net, the more anxious the atmosphere in the stadium became. It was a huge boost to find one right before the break, and hopefully Spurs come out and capitalize on more of them in the second half."

Spurs failed to increase their advantage and Burnley began to press for an equaliser.

61' McNeil threaded a ball through to Barnes, central on the edge of the area, he took a touch to set himself before firing right-footed at goal. The shot had the beating of Lloris but crashed against the left post.

65' Moura did well on the right side before sneaking it inside to Højbjerg in a pocket of space. He played it into the feet of Son, who laid it left to Kane on the edge of the area, he slipped it to Sessegnon on the overlap down the left side, who pulled it back first time to Son, who slid to finish left-footed but Nick Pope made an excellent save down low to prevent it from finding the net.

81' Bentancur flighted a ball from halfway out to Sessegnon in space down that left wing again. He dribbled down the side of the box before crossing it to Son, who took an excellent first touch to control it with his back to goal and swivelled to get the shot away, but Nick Pope was there again to beat it away and keep the score at 1-0.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – Job done, another vital three points in the bag. It wasn't seen out in style, it was actually incredibly nervy towards the end, but a Kane penalty was enough to see us through. Now we'll all be supporting Newcastle against Arsenal tomorrow."

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 1. Hugo Lloris – 7 – Kept another clean sheet. Wasn't tested too often but did well to claim crosses delivered into the box.

• 6. Davinson Sánchez – 8 – Another good performance from him. Kept it tight at the back and was involved up top as he hoisted up the ball that won us the penalty.

• 15. Eric Dier – 8.5 – Professional, experienced, composed. Organised the backline well and allowed minimal Burnley attacks to get by him.

• 33. Ben Davies – 8 – Reliable again. Did his work defensively and going forward. Worked well with Sessegnon on that left side.

• 12. Emerson Royal – 7 – Pretty good out there again. Had a shot tipped over in the first half and worked hard to keep their attacks down his side at bay.

• 30. Rodrigo Bentancur – 7 – Tidy in possession. Lovely long ball over to Sessegnon in the build-up to a big Son chance. Took a painful knock at one point but carried on.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 7.5 – Another workhorse performance from him. Ran about making tackles and interceptions to ensure we won the battle in midfield.

• 19. Ryan Sessegnon – 9 – Looks to be growing in confidence game by game. Produced another promising performance all around. He was getting his head down and charging down that left wing before finding dangerous crosses into the box and would have had two Son assists were it not for excellent saves from Nick Pope.

• 27. Lucas Moura – 6.5 – Worked hard and made some good dribbles and passes to start up attacks for us.

• 7. Son Heung-min – 6.5 – Did well to get himself into dangerous positions but couldn't quite finish his chances today.

• 10. Harry Kane – 7 – Not his greatest game but was always looking to get involved and drilled home a crucial penalty that won us the match.

Substitutions:

• 27. Lucas Moura ⬅ 79' ➡ 21. Dejan Kulusevski – 5.5 – Determined to get on the ball when he came on. Didn't create a whole lot though.

• 12. Emerson Royal ⬅ 90' ➡ 14. Joe Rodon – N/A – Another late cameo from him to bolster the defence.

Man of the Match – 19. Ryan Sessegnon