Despite playing with 10 men for the whole of the game against Luton Town, Tottenham Hotspur was able to eke out a victory.
Here are the five things we discovered from the game:
Top of the League!
Tottenham Hotspur are currently in first place of the league, albeit that may only last for a short while. There isn’t much to celebrate in October, but it is at least a testament to how far Ange has come in such a short period of time.
Spurs Have Heart
The Spurs players displayed genuine heart despite being let down by Yves Bissouma today. Getting a goal against the flow of play is one thing; maintaining a strong defensive effort to keep the scoreless is quite another. Recently, we’ve spoken a lot about Ange-ball, but today Spurs also got to display their tougher side. The players who came off the bench gave their all for the squad, while players like Romero and Micky displayed outstanding defending.
10 Minute Game
Tottenham should have won the game tonight in just ten minutes, disregarding the additional 90 minutes.First, Richarlison at the back post received a gorgeous cross from Dejan Kulusevski, but the Brazilian turned it wide. Richarlison then failed to score in a one-on-one situation two minutes later. Finally, Pedro Porro joined in on the fun after being played through, but his one-on-one shot utterly missed the mark. In the traditional Premier League, when you blow your opportunities, you frequently pay a price.
Anti-Ange-Ball
Spurs were in top form during the first ten minutes of the contest. By letting talented players turn on the ball and choose passes, Luton Town made things simple for the Lilywhites. But as they tightened their shutters even further, Tottenham lost their composure in the middle of the field. Breaking lines and flicking balls around corners to convert defense into attack are key components of ange-ball. Today, it was incredibly difficult for Porro, Udogie, Bissouma, and Sarr to get themselves facing goal and explode through the middle of the pitch. Players lacked ball bravery, and there was an excessive amount of sideways passing.Strangely, when they were down to eleven players in the second 45, the Lilywhites found their mojo again. At halftime, perhaps Ange really got them.
Yves Bissouma banned
Now, Bissouma will miss Fulham’s game at home the following week. He was already one caution away from a match suspension, so that was always likely to be the case. The issue here, though, is with the ban’s nature. It is absurd to dive when you have a yellow card against Luton Town. Yves really let the team and the supporters down today, which cannot be excused in any way.In fact, according to Alasdair Gold, the first yellow card replaces the red card as well, therefore Bissouma will probably still receive another suspension in a few weeks.
