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A two-goal burst in the opening five minutes of the second half from Leicester City saw them beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at home on Sunday afternoon.
Spurs took a first-half lead through Richarlison but were punished for a deliberate restart by a quick-fire double from Jamie Vardy and Bilal El Khanos.
Leicester’s win allowed them to move out of the relegation zone, while Tottenham are close to the dotted line, deep in 15th place. The top half of the table.
How the game unfolded
of Tottenham Premier League Matches with Leicester have produced more goals than any other regularly played match in the competition’s history.
It was not immediately apparent that the latest iteration of this duel would follow suit. A pair of porous rearguards provided ample room for each flank to move forward, yet the ineptitude emanating from both extremely out-of-form outfits infected the front lines as well. Son Hang-min Leicester struck the base of the post inside the opening 20 minutes, but the Foxes were not without a failed forward of their own.
Richarlison broke the deadlock just after the half-hour mark. Pedro Poro was given the freedom to whip in a superb cross from the north Londoner, who intercepted the ball before going back and swinging the delivery over the Brazilian’s peroxide head at the back post.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was half empty by the time Vardy pulled Leicester level 58 seconds after the restart. Many of the Spurs lineup could be among the longest bar queues in Europe. Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies made it up the pitch but both failed miserably at Bobby de Cordova-Reid’s low cross, which Vardy bundled over the line.
Barely three minutes had passed before Al Khanos compounded Tottenham’s woes. Passing through the yawning chasm that seems to exist perennially on the edge of the Spurs box, LesterThe attacking midfielder brilliantly curled a low effort into the bottom corner by the base of the post.
Spurs, the division’s third-highest scorers, were uncharacteristically unhinged in their pursuit of the game. Postecoglou could not be accused of passivity, falling back soon after shuffling his midfield and forward lines, but Son’s attacks in the middle rarely forced Jakub Stolarczyk into meaningful saves.
Tottenham’s 13th league defeat, more than Postecoglou suffered in his entire debut campaign, was greeted with a chorus of angry boos from fans who endured until the final whistle.
Check out the player ratings from Tottenham 1-2 Leicester here.
Tottenham are almost a joke at this point. After giving Everton And Arsenal In some much-needed relief, Spurs handed Leicester their first top-flight win of the year after seven successive defeats.
While the same ‘Dr Tottenham’ jokes would be made again, this was a new nadir for Postecoglou’s increasingly haphazard attire. The backline was as unremarkable as ever, the reckless overeagerness of Pedro Poro and the steady fear of the leading-footed centre-back duo almost exasperating to watch. However, the frontline’s poor second-half display was a new, entirely unwelcome development.
Moving the son into the middle didn’t leave him floundering on the wing, but somehow brought him closer to the goal to ensure he was more alone. After taking 42 touches in the first 55 minutes he spent out wide, Tottenham’s talismanic captain was limited to just 11 (meaningless) interactions with the ball over half an hour. None of which was an attempt on goal.
The creativity often provided by the injured James Maddison was conspicuously absent as Spurs were only able to muster two shots on target in the second half – neither a cause for concern for Stolarczyk, who was able to celebrate without conceding on multiple occasions for the first time. in his Premier League career.
Jubilant roars from the far end in celebration of Al Khanos’ winner were drowned out by aggressive boos from the rest of the field. The crowd roared “We want Levi out!” Spontaneously chanted no. On several occasions throughout the second half.
Postecoglou’s tactical decisions were also forcefully questioned, Leicester’s time-wasting goalkeeper Stolarczyk became a pantomime villain, and even Spurs’ players were not spared an angry outburst by the increasingly toxic environment. Poro’s insistence on shooting from the narrowest angles soon wore thin.
The manager of Tottenham has expressed his disappointment With the club’s hierarchy this week claiming the lack of new arrivals in January would be “playing with fire”. Levy, as he has made abundantly clear during his two decades at the helm of Spurs, will not fire himself. That luxury could not be extended to Postecoglou for long.
“You take a bit of stick during the game,” laughed Vardy the last time he came up against Tottenham. “As long as they can take it when I give it back it’s all good.” Spurs ultimately had bigger problems to worry about than the Premier League’s tormentors-in-chief, who nevertheless enjoyed themselves.
After finally pushing Leicester level, Vardy followed up Tottenham’s failed clearances before late on, the evergreen veteran copying his Tottenham. The opening game of the seasonEveryone in north London points to the Premier League badge on his sleeve to remind him of his personal achievements and his own failures.
Verdi’s signature barbs may distract from his remarkable longevity. The reigning top-flight champion is only the fifth player aged 37 or over to have directly contributed to ten or more goals in a single Premier League season.
The last time Richarlison started a Premier League game for Tottenham, he was lining out for a side sitting in the top five of the division. Topping the line for a team that started Sunday in 15th place, the Brazilian marked his long-awaited return with a goal – his first in the top flight since May.
Richarlison’s return to fitness comes as Postecoglou loses Dominic Solanke to a knee injury for almost six weeks. The Tottenham coach was keen to play down expectations around his former number nine, warning: “He hasn’t played for a long time so he won’t be at his intensity, but the reality is that something won’t change as long as he has to play.”
the former Everton The forward was sharp enough to find space in Leicester’s aerial backline, wandering between the dim pair of Janik Westergaard and Vout Face to nod in from close range.
The decision to take Richarlison off within ten minutes of the restart was met with roars of derision from the crowd who were none too pleased.
