Match Report: Spurs 2 The Blades 1 – Wow! What an ending!
Match Report: Spurs 2 The Blades 1 – Wow! What an ending!
Yes, what an ending… in the dying minutes of added time – and a goal down – the clock ticking away, suddenly, Richarlison scores, making the crowd go berserk, hugs everywhere, high fives… we’ve at least got a point, we thought, and we’ve kept our undefeated record intact. But it wasn’t over yet… and the clock was still ticking away, the referee hadn’t blown yet… will Sheffield get another one… can we make it to the final whistle… all these thoughts were going through our heads…
… then… Richarlison turned provider by picking out an unmarked Dejan Kulusevski in the box for the midfielder to fire home the winner. “Oh, my God!” gasps everywhere… again, another round of hugs – more intense this time – cries of disbelief, and before you knew it, the referee blows full time. We had won… we pulled a victory out of the jaws of defeat…
The man who said he would “seek psychological help” for personal issues came off the bench to head us level eight minutes into the 16 minutes added-on. Unbelievable!!!!! The hero was the least expected Spurs player…
Even before the extra time, I thought – and probably wasn’t alone – that Ange Postecoglou had lost his first Spurs game and the honeymoon was finally over.
Before all that, though… there was a little matter of getting up early in the morning, leaving the house at 8.30 a.m. and travelling non-stop to Tottenham… actually, that isn’t true; we (Janette and I) stopped for the traditional coffee (first instigated by Mel) before making that non-stop trip to the Tottenham stadium.
The weather was nice and warm; we went to the Spurs shop once parked up… and I got a Tottenham shirt for Janette and some other knickknacks. Then we made our way to one of Mario’s Tottenham stalls – on the corner of White Hart Lane and the High Street – and purchased two shirts with the logo “To Dare is to Digeridoo” – before turning around and getting in the queue – half an hour early – to chat to the regulars who always get there early.
Once in – yes, you’ve guessed it – we got our programmes, up the escalators, sat down… talked to Janet and a few others, got our food and a drink… and then went to our seats. Janette wasn’t sitting near me, so we had to part.
Like all Spurs matches this season, there was happiness in the air… I believe that we are building something special, all thanks to Ange Postecoglou, the Australian/ Greek Digeridoo-blowing fellow who took a dip in his career to manage a UK/ Scottish low-level football team… before embarking on the real test of managing a proper Premier League football club.
The whistle blows to commence the jousting…
Yes, let us repeat that excitement all over again: Richarlison’s match-winning stoppage-time cameo against the Blades said it all. He undoubtedly eased his problems by giving himself confidence and scoring that all-important goal. Which led to Kulusevski getting the winner.
Yes, the man from Brazil said he would “seek psychological help” for personal issues this week and then came off the bench to head us level. When he said he would “seek psychological help”, did he actually mean… help in the sense of pulling our feet out of the fire? It certainly looked that way… and it had done wonders for his – and our – mental well-being (that is our well-being; following Tottenham can be a strain on one’s health since Levy and Lewis took over).
But it wasn’t over for him… oh, no! The man from Brazil turned provider by picking out an unmarked Dejan Kulusevski in the box for him to fire home the winner. Yes, the winner… a game that – as the minutes ticked away on the doomsday clock – we thought we were going to lose… then both players pulled our nuts out of the fire and relief all the way around the stadium.
Thoughts…
Until Richarlison’s intervention, our unbeaten Premier League start under Postecoglou seemed to end thanks to a Gustavo Hamer strike that crept in off a post.
The team that hadn’t managed to win a game yet since coming back up to the Premier League thought they had finally won. You could say that they had seemingly engineered a classic smash-and-grab away victory after soaking up pressure for long periods, with goalkeeper Wes Foderingham making several fine saves, full credit to him. But Richarlison glanced home fellow substitute Ivan Perisic’s corner before Kulusevski left the Blades, who had a player sent off at the end in shock.
We trailed for 15 minutes before we scored, but our turnaround was the latest winning comeback in Premier League history. Yes, we created Premier League history. And it wasn’t the first time we’ve made some sort of historical landmark in our 141-year history. But that is the nature of Spurs… creating history when people least expect it…
After the game, Postecoglou paid tribute to the players, “There’s some real resilience and spirit within that group already, which is great to see because they are a relatively new group”. He went on and said, “You get tested on days like this. It helps fuel belief for us to grow. Our supporters have had an unforgettable day, and all those things help in what we are trying to do.”
Out of our four wins so far, this victory arguably might please our manager and us more, given how we had to battle and persevered with our undefeated record.
As for Sheffield United… they clearly had a game plan to stifle us, and it succeeded for much of the afternoon, although they still needed Foderingham to be at his best. He made an excellent near-post stop to foil Yves Bissouma in the first half and thwarted Pape Matar Sarr, Son, the lively Manor Solomon, James Maddison and Kulusevski.
They also created the odd chance on the counter, James McAtee eliciting a smart save from Guglielmo Vicario in the first half, and Hamer pounced when we fell asleep from a long throw.
Brennan Johnson thought he had equalised with virtually his first touch in a Spurs shirt, but the offside flag denied the deadline-day signing, leaving the stage clear for his fellow replacement to steal the show.
A fourth successive victory means we have our best start to a season for 57 years and keeps us second in the table. Next up will be Postecoglou’s first taste of a north London derby against Arsenic at Emirates Stadium next weekend.
We are currently 2nd in the league, behind City… but above the Scousers and Arsenic, who narrowly beat struggling Liverpool’s B team, Everton.
Other results that weekend.
United lost at home to Brighton 3-1 (who are just above Pochettino’s girl guides), while Pochettino, himself, and his RussianBears drew with strugglers Bournemouth (0-0). And just think, Pochettino wanted to return to Tottenham… luckily for us, he didn’t, as he is doing an excellent job in West London. Chelski are 8 points below us, in 14th place. All lovely jubbly!!!
Up the Spurs!
COYS!
Glenn