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It wasn’t pretty by any means, but Tottenham Hotspur were able to grind out a 0-1 win over Burnley at Turf Moor tonight.
The game appeared to be petering out into a 0-0 draw as the second half ticked away, but with just under 15 minutes to go, Son Heung-min was able to head home following another assist from Harry Kane to win the game for Tottenham.
The win moves Jose Mourinho’s side up into fifth place, while Burnley remain down in the relegation area, currently sitting in 18th. Sean Dyche’s men remain winless in 2020-21 and will need to change things around soon.
Here are 5 talking points from Tottenham’s 0-1 win over Burnley.
#1 Tottenham’s magical combination strikes again
Despite dominating possession tonight, it appeared that Tottenham were going to draw a blank. Burnley’s deep, tight defensive style was frustrating Spurs, who were unable to create many proper chances – and when they did, their shots were usually blocked before testing Nick Pope.
However, when you have Harry Kane and Son Heung-min on the pitch, as Tottenham do, it seems like a goal is never far away. Prior to this game, the duo had already combined for a total of seven goals during the 2020-21 campaign. And somehow, they found a way through Burnley’s defensive wall to find a winner tonight.
Unlike their usual quicksilver passing style, tonight’s goal actually came from a set-piece. Kane reacted quickest to Erik Lamela’s corner by heading the ball through the packed penalty box, and Son then reacted quickest to that to head home.
The goal was only what Tottenham deserved tonight, and it was hardly a surprise that Kane and Son had once again produced the goods when they were needed. The two have now combined for 29 Premier League goals – the second-most in the competition’s history. And it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see them overtake Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba in the near future.
#2 If Burnley vanish, will anyone miss them?
If you were to judge tonight’s game purely by statistics, it’d be easy to assume that Burnley dominated proceedings. Sure, they only had 38% possession, but they had 13 shots on goal – four more than Tottenham – and had more attempts on target, too.
However, the truth is a little different. Tottenham came to attempt to win tonight’s game by playing their usual free-flowing football, while Burnley came to stifle, frustrate and perhaps sneak a goal on the counter.
There’s nothing wrong with counter-attacking football. At times it can be unbelievably entertaining, as Tottenham showed when they sliced Southampton open earlier in the season. However, Burnley’s hyper-physical style is about as far from entertaining as it gets.
Prior to 2020-21, Sean Dyche’s side have always been able to find a way to grind results out with this style. And so their existence in the Premier League has never really been questioned. At times, in fact, they’ve been able to thrive.
But the current campaign has seen them pick up a single point in a dour 0-0 draw with West Bromwich Albion. Their other four games have ended in defeat, and worryingly, they’ve shipped a total of nine goals in the process.
All of this begs the question: if Burnley do end up being relegated, would anyone but their own fans miss them? Due to the brand of football they play – and judging by games like tonight’s – the answer is probably no. Looking to stifle and spoil will only ever take a side so far, and the Clarets may have reached the end of the road.
#3 Tottenham find a way to win without playing well
The current Premier League season appears to be more wide open than any in recent memory. With top sides like Liverpool and Manchester City falling to shock results – and then the sides who conquered them, like Aston Villa and Leicester in turn collapsing – no team has truly stood out at the top of the table.
That means that the Premier League title could well be anyone’s for the taking. And judging on current results, Tottenham have to be in the conversation. Sure, their collapse against West Ham United – a game that saw them go from 3-0 up to 3-3 in the space of ten crazy minutes – was a concern. But tonight they did something champions tend to do.
Jose Mourinho’s side were able to go to a tricky ground like Turf Moor against a team looking to stifle and frustrate, and found a way to take three points. Did Tottenham play well? Absolutely not. In fact, this was probably their worst Premier League performance since their opening day loss to Everton.
But the bottom line is that football is a results business, and in the record books, it will say that Tottenham defeated Burnley 0-1. The result now puts Tottenham in fifth place, just two points off the top of the table – and more to the point, they face strugglers Brighton & Hove Albion next.
Some of the Premier League’s pundits may not like it, but it definitely appears that Jose Mourinho has built a Tottenham side capable of winning the title this season. And tonight’s performance was the kind of showing that wins championships.
#4 Should Barnes have been in trouble for his challenge on Alderweireld?
Tonight’s game was thankfully free of any VAR controversies. Sure, Burnley had a goal disallowed, but a blind man could probably have seen that Ashley Barnes was offside, and so even the Clarets were unable to protest.
However, it’s worth questioning whether Barnes should’ve been on the pitch to score the disallowed goal in the first place. With around 12 minutes of the match gone, the striker jumped for a challenge with Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld. Barnes clearly led with his elbow and left the Belgian in a heap on the floor.
Worse still, Alderweireld came away with a bad cut over his right eye and had to sport a questionable bandage for the majority of the game. Had things been slightly worse, the defender’s vision could well have been affected.
So why did referee Michael Oliver and his team not check the challenge using VAR? We’ve seen similar incidents punished time after time since the introduction of the system, and yet Barnes was able to get away scot-free.
At best, Barnes probably warranted a yellow card for the challenge. In his post-match interview, Jose Mourinho praised Oliver and mentioned the incident – and there was clearly a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Once again, the inconsistencies of the current officiating system were laid bare here.
#5 When will Mourinho unleash Bale in the Premier League?
Tottenham’s signing of Gareth Bale in the recent transfer window was easily the biggest capture in the club’s recent history. Sure, the Welshman is only on loan from Real Madrid, and the deal was done because he’d fallen painfully out of favor at the Bernabeu. But he’s still a player who’s won the Champions League on four occasions.
Bale arrived back in North London carrying an injury but made his second Tottenham debut from the bench during last weekend’s draw with West Ham. The Welshman then started last week’s Europa League win over LASK – and when he was withdrawn during the second half, it seemed to be leading to a start in tonight’s game.
And yet we never actually saw Bale tonight, as Mourinho decided instead to deploy Erik Lamela, Giovani Lo Celso, and Joe Rodon as his substitutes instead. So when will the Portuguese boss unleash the Welshman in the Premier League?
Bale himself suggested after the LASK game that he’s still getting up to full fitness, so perhaps tonight’s match was one too early for him. That means that Sunday’s game against Brighton could be the first in which we see Tottenham sport a front trio of Bale, Kane, and Son – something that should strike fear into the rest of the Premier League.
Tottenham fans will now be keeping their fingers crossed for a front trio of Steven Bergwijn, Lamela, and Carlos Vinicius for Thursday’s game against Royal Antwerp - a clue that Bale could be involved against Brighton from the start.
