KING POWER STADIUM — Tottenham supporters who missed out on that trip to Amsterdam in 2019, we hope you took the train to Leicester. The circumstances and reward may be slightly less grand than a Champions League final, but you ask anyone in that away end at the King Power stadium if it didn’t matter as much or make the heart beat just as fast.
They chanted Antonio Conte’s forename as if they were heralding the coronation of a new king. Ten minutes after the final whistle, still they sang and danced, as if leaving the ground would be to wake up from the bizarre fever dream. Nights like these are not supposed to come around more than once every decade and they have had two in three years. You must enjoy it as if it is the last you will see.
This was a farcical finish, by any measure. When Conte’s team equalised with stoppage time effectively over, Harry Kane dashed to get the ball from the net and restart the section. It seemed a superfluous move, for there was no time left. If Leicester simply kept the ball for 10 seconds, they would get a point that would feel like defeat but be the most they deserved from the pattern of play.
Instead, Youri Tielemans tried to attack on his own. Losing possession, the ball found the feet of Kane, who sent Steven Bergwijn through on goal, 30 seconds after he had scored. Kasper Schmeichel thought about coming; maybe he should have come further. But then when adrenalin is pumping and thoughts are wild and the mind is blurred, you make your call. Schmeichel was left in no man’s land, rounded by Bergwijn who somehow had the presence of mind to roll the ball to the far post where no defender could slide.
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It is almost a moot point in the aftermath of such a chaotic finish, but Tottenham justified their victory. Leicester operated with a high defensive line in the first half despite picking two central defenders who are hardly at their best when sprinting towards their own goal and paid the price.
Kane’s goal was sumptuous – perfectly timed run, body shaped as if he was shooting with his right foot to sell the defender before cutting onto his left, the composed finish off the post. But Caglar Soyuncu played a farcical offside trap and looked flat-footed for two of the three goals.
Kane had 10 shots, a faintly ludicrous number for one individual. After his goal he seemed to be trying just a little too much to force the issue, like the out-of-form amateur golfer who believes the best way to solve his slice is to hit the ball as hard as he can on the range. Most of his shots went over Schmeichel’s goal.
But then Kane’s brilliance lies in his confidence, an unwavering belief that his way is the best way and it will come good. And when the ball came to his feet, with several seconds and little hope left, it was he who played the perfect ball to Bergwijn and he who raced first to the away end at full-time. You suspect that those supporters have forgiven him for his summer fling.
Leicester and Tottenham were playing their first league games in 22 and 18 days respectively. There’s nothing like absence to make the heart grow fonder and there’s nothing like watching your team in the Premier League to remind you why they can be both fabulous and frustrating in equal measure. Leicester will be bereft and must move on from this; it will take time. Tottenham will not have bothered the bus driver – they will have floated back down to London.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3nHenv0
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