Tottenham Hotspur Not Great But Bring Enough to Beat West Brom

Spurs Score Twice for the Win

The second half starting almost perfectly for Tottenham as West Brom had the kickoff but immediately gave away possession. Then Harry Kane picked up the ball just past midfield, turned and found his favorite target Heung-Min Son on the run. Son was in on goal and hit a decent shot, but Johnstone stretched out his nearly 2 meter frame and got his left boot to the ball to deny the South Korean.

After Serge Aurier missed a decent opportunity following a set piece, it was starting to feel like one of those days where the keeper or coincidence was going to deny Tottenham the much needed three points. However, thankfully for Spurs, Harry Kane was not to be denied and Tottenham came through with the goods.

It was the Dane making the perfect pass to set Harry Kane free as Pierre Højbjerg weighted the perfect pass to send Kane behind the Baggies defense. Simple enough, Ben Davies attacked toward the middle on the dribble bringing the defense, then laid off backwards to Højbjerg. The Dane made what was almost a reverse through-ball pass to Kane to set him free.

Harry Kane took a magnificent first touch and then calmly as can be slotted home to the far post with his left foot for the 1-0 lead. You could feel the weight come off the shoulders of the team and almost hear the fanbase collectively breath as Kane had done his thing. Less than five minutes later the fans could almost smile as Spurs were then up 2-0.

In one of the few forays into the Tottenham half, Spurs cleared the ball well from the back with a header. Harry Kane was able to use his chest to pass the forward to Lucas Moura who was then on the run. Moura played the situation perfectly attacking until the defense opened up.

As Moura got closer to the box Erik Lamela flashed across taking two defenders with him – an excellent run! That left a gap between four defenders – one on Moura, two running with Lamela and a fourth now a step behind Son. A simple slide pass into Son’s path left Spurs winger all set up. To Johnstone’s credit he got a glove on Son’s screamer into the corner but it was not enough to stop the shot and put Spurs two to the good.

Tottenham maybe relaxed too much but did enough.

After scoring the second goal, Spurs certainly took the foot off the gas a bit as the Baggies struck back immediately, almost. Just 3 minutes after Spurs scored their second, West Brom had the ball in the net, but a good line and nice step from Davinson Sanchez put Diagne offside and kept West Brom at zero.

There was even a second such instance later in the game as at 82, again Diagne managed to get just behind Sanchez but it was again intentional as Sanchez and the line held. This showed some real growth in the defense unit but in both instances the ball was too easily played in as the pressure up field had gone down. The simplicity of the three balls that almost upended Tottenham all come down to the ease with which they were played but Spurs got three points and the shutout in the end.

The only other excitement was the introduction of Dane Scarlett in extra time giving the 16-year-old making his Premier League debut. In 90 seconds he looked eager to run, just disappointing he did not get more minutes and Kane did not get some rest coming off injury. That said, a nice relatively professional win, just what Dr. Tottenham ordered.