Tottenham’s Dele Alli: We Didn’t Give Up, We Kept Fighting
Tottenham drew one-all against West Brom for the third consecutive game but played better yesterday compared to their last two meetings.
Trailing 1-0 with eight minutes left to go, Tottenham’s dominating efforts against West Bromwich Albion throughout the game was about to go to waste.
That is, until Dele Alli found himself at the right place at the right time to score off of Christian Eriksen’s deflected shot into the bottom right corner.
Leaving The Hawthorns with a point and two dropped is a frustrating feeling for Spurs, especially when the match was their’s for the taking had it not be for some spectacular saves by West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster.
But how Dele Alli described the club’s mentality in the waning minutes of the game, to believe in themselves, earning a draw is still a good result.
“You have to have faith in yourself, belief, to keep going and stick to the game plan and then hope if the chance comes, you put it away,” Alli said after scoring his third league goal (via Tottenham’s official website).
“Thankfully I got the goal but more importantly we got a result and we’re still unbeaten.”
With eight Premier League fixtures in the books already, Spurs still remain the only unbeaten team in the top flight division boasting five wins and three draws.
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Those three draws are reminders that Mauricio Pochettino’s side could have actually lost three games against Everton, Liverpool and West Brom. But the team managed to claim an equalizer just before each game ended.
“It shows the belief we have in the team, we didn’t give up, we didn’t stop until the final whistle and even when we finally scored, we tried to score a second goal straight after. We kept fighting and kept working for each other,” Dele Alli continued, about how Spurs were looking to outright win against the Baggies in stoppage time.
“It’s not easy to play against any team that sits back, soaks up pressure and looks to counter-attack and they are a good team.”
“I felt we dominated from the start and had a lot of chances and it’s another case of needing to be more clinical. You have to give a lot of credit to Ben Foster as well, he played really well but on another day, it could have been four [goals scored].”
Ben Foster indeed kept Tottenham from running away in a rout. Out of Spurs’ eight shots that were on target, Foster saved seven and none was more important than Christian Eriksen’s free kick that was blocked at the top right corner.
There were other shots that the 33-year-old Englishman saved throughout the game but if he wasn’t able to get a hand on Eriksen’s free kick, that would have sealed a late winner for Spurs.
Next: Tottenham Player Ratings: Away at West Brom
As has been stated numerous times on Hotspur HQ, draws don’t exactly help as much in a title challenge because wins are more important.
But when looking back at how yesterday’s game went, it would have been cruel to do everything right and still lose the match.
Therefore, just like against Everton and Liverpool, a draw is better than losing. Especially on the road against a team that has proven hard to beat recently.