After struggling all day for some decent service, a late set-piece for Tottenham Hotspur is the difference in a huge 0-1 win at Watford, moving Spurs up the table.
In a match that felt a lot more like Tottenham Hotspur before Antonio Conte arrived, Spurs showed the confidence and belief to pull out an unlikely, late win at Vicarage Road versus Watford.
Despite dominating possession and taking over 20 shots, Saturday looked like one of those days where things were just not meant to be for Spurs. Clumsy, ponderous, lumbering, slow, pick whatever negative adjective you want to describe the play of Tottenham Hotspur, they are all accurate as teams are discovering that the low-block is kryptonite to Conte’s counter-attacking Spurs.
Trying in possession Tottenham test Bachmann
Tottenham had forced a couple of good saves from Daniel Bachmann, who had nine but Spurs never looked fluid and were out of sorts for most of the match as they struggled to create clear chances. Both wing-backs struggled mightly providing little good service, for a front three that lacked movement and ingenuity against another packed in defence.
Both Harry Kane and Sergio Reguilon forced Bachmann to stretch in the first half. Then Heung-min Son thought he beat him in the second half on a little flick off a little Lucas Moura chip but Bachmann made a big reaction save.
On the other end, Tottenham may have had a bit of fortune, as Hugo Lloris just beat – maybe – Joao Pedro to a ball, saving Spurs big-time. Watford fans and some pundits may rightfully be calling for VAR to intervene on a bang-bang play, however, Spurs had a couple of shouts of their own for possible penalties in the first half.
And while Bachmann’s performance, as well as the referee’s, were two storylines of the match, it really was the poor service and lack of movement from Spurs that would have dominated headlines, if not for one late moment of magic.
Son, Sanchez combine to save Spurs
On a day when Tottenham had only six accurate crosses out of a ridiculous 39 attempts – that is 15% accuracy for those scoring at home – it was one of the last crosses that made the difference.
Things started with what Watford probably considered a stupid foul. Son was seemingly contained on the left outside the penalty box but drew a foul from Juraj Kucka, which set up the key moment of the match.
Up to that point in the game, Son had been as guilty as Reguilon and Royal of providing poor service but on this free-kick, things went just right. Son zipped the ball in just high enough to beat the first man allowing Davinson Sanchez to rise up and redirect the ball home for the winner.
Spurs frantically worked to see out the remaining moments of the match – which had been delayed for several minutes due to a medical emergency in the crowd prior to the injury-time winner – to hang on for the three points.
The late win shows that maybe, just maybe this Tottenham team is becoming something different despite a tough time.
The win moves Spurs up to fifth in the table two points back of Arsenal with two games in hand. Tottenham is also two points up on West Ham and Manchester United – who sit in sixth and seventh – and hold a game in hand on the Hammers.
Tottenham now has two weeks off from the Premier League with three cup matches between now and when Spurs host Arsenal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 16 January.