TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – Tottenham continued their upwards trajectory under Antonio Conte by beating Norwich City 3-0 with Lucas Moura, Davinson Sanchez and Son Heung-min the goalscorers in north London.
Norwich, buoyed by a four-game unbeaten streak, started the stronger and should have gone in front inside the opening three minutes when Teemu Pukki fired a low shot straight at Hugo Lloris from inside the box after being teed up by Pierre Lees-Melou.
Spurs capitalised on that missed opportunity by taking the lead shortly after through a spectacular piece of individual skill from Moura. The Brazilian zipped away from three bewildered opponents as if propelled by a jet pack, played a purposeful one-two with Son and then unleashed a ferocious strike into the top corner for his first Premier League goal since February.
Tottenham fans are well accustomed to seeing their side take two steps forward only to take another back and within 10 minutes of Moura’s opener, Sergio Reguilon, an integral piece of the Conte puzzle, went to ground clutching his left hamstring. Ryan Sessegnon replaced him at left wing-back and may finally have a chance to play himself into some form, two-and-a-half years since his £25m move from Fulham.
Positive as Tottenham’s afternoon was, it was another Premier League game in which Harry Kane failed to get on the scoresheet. That’s one goal in 13 games and 1,098 minutes, for the England captain this season. It has been 608 long minutes since his lobbed finish at St James’ Park.
Having made the art of goalscoring look so easy throughout his career, Kane’s struggles are bewildering. A speculative chip from long range had the required elevation but not the direction to beat Tim Krul and the Dutchman was on hand to make a fine stop low down to deny a skidding Kane effort later on. From the resulting corner, Sanchez lashed an effort into the top corner to double Spurs’ advantage.
The Colombian’s goal came at a crucial time in the game given Norwich had begun the second half on the front foot and should have equalised through Adam Idah after Pukki’s mishit shot had bobbled into his path. Son wrapped up the win, tiptoeing his way into space before arrowing a low shot into the bottom corner after being picked out by the increasingly influential Ben Davies.
The win moved Spurs up to fifth in the league table, two points behind West Ham with a game in hand.
Spurs vs Norwich player ratings
Tottenham (3-4-3):
Hugo Lloris: 7
Davinson Sanchez: 8
Eric Dier: 7
Ben Davies: 8
Japhet Tanganga: 5
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: 7
Oliver Skipp: 8
Sergio Reguilon: 6
Lucas Moura: 7
Son Heung-min: 7
Harry Kane: 6
Subs:
Ryan Sessegnon: 6
Matt Doherty: 6
Steven Bergwijn: 6
Norwich (3-5-2):
Tim Krul: 6
Andrew Omobamidele: 5
Grant Hanley: 5
Ben Gibson: 5
Max Aarons: 7
Billy Gilmour: 6
Pierre Lees-Melou: 6
Kenny McLean: 5
Brandon Williams: 7
Adam Idah: 5
Teemu Pukki: 6
Subs:
Josh Sargent: 5
Kieran Dowell: 6
Jacob Sorensen: 6
Antonio Conte: Ben Davies playing very well; Lucas Moura has to score more
On Ben Davies: “Ben is playing very well and I think that role specifically I can get out the best of him it happened the same with Azpilicueta [at Chelsea]. The three centre backs, it’s important to be good defensively but at the same time, it’s important to play football, personality to play the ball.
“I need players with personality, to play the ball offensively and Ben is this type of player. He’s playing very well and I’m very happy for him. We’re talking about a very good person, a very good guy. Always very focussed and concentrated.”
On Lucas Moura: “I think he scored an amazing goal but he has the quality to score more goals and he has to for the rest of the season. We need this type of situation.
“He’s very good. In front we have great quality with important strikers and Lucas has great quality. My expectation is to see much more goals like this. [It was a] good performance with the ball and without the ball.”
Dean Smith: We deserved more
“I’m disappointed and frustrated because our performance deserved more. Lazy punditry might say it was expected but anyone here would have seen we were in the game.
“They were more clinical but I felt at 1-0 we were the better team and created a big chance. A good player [Lucas Moura] scored a really good goal but we were always in the game.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3GeikxV
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