Burnley 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs moved up to fifth in the Premier League after a late goal from Heung-Min Son earned his team a hard-fought win on a filthy night in Lancashire.
The last time Jose Mourinho brought his Spurs team up to the Northwest they slaughtered Manchester United 1-6, but this was very different as Burnley fought hard, defended resolutely and had more efforts on goal.
SBOTOP Premier League fans have been waiting for Gareth Bale to make his first start on his return to Spurs, but the wait goes on as Mourinho began with Lucas Moura and Son in support of lone striker Harry Kane. And eventually his decision paid off.
Burnley fans will have been watching the early evening Premier League 2020 updates from Brighton, where the Seagulls drew 1-1 with West Brom. The result meant that only a win would lift Burnley out of the bottom three. A win wouldn’t have flattered the Clarets but Son’s moment of quality won the day.
Highlights of the game
Tottenham Hotspur’s Toby Alderweireld receives medical attention after sustaining an injury during a match against Burnley
In a lively start to the game, Spurs’ keeper Hugo Lloris was called on to punch clear when Chris Wood prepared to head home, and at the other end Nick Pope saved a Lucas Moura shot that deflected into his hands.
Tottenham knew they’d be in for a battle tonight and Ashley Barnes was lucky to escape a card when he hit Toby Alderweireld in the face with a stray arm and drew blood.
Son began the game joint top of the Premier League scoring charts with seven goals, and he was almost gifted his eighth when Pope mishit a clearance into his path, but the Korean striker was upended by Matt Lowton before he could pull the trigger.
Tanguy Ndombele wriggled free to open up a chance for himself but shot straight into the Burnley rearguard. And on 38 minutes, Lloris made the first save of the game, diving to his right to hang on to a low drive from Ashley Westwood.
He then made the second save of the night just before the break when Johann Berg Gudmundsson shifted the ball onto his left foot and hit a low strike to Lloris’ left which the France keeper saved well again.
Burnley started the second half brightly, Josh Brownhill fizzing a shot just wide and then Alderweireld did well to block a fierce effort from Barnes. Mourinho had seen enough and he brought on Erik Lamela to replace Moura.
Spurs began to take a hold of the game, winning two corners but still they struggled to break down a resolute Burnley defence, while Alderweireld was alert at the other end to snuff out a threat from Wood.
And then the Clarets came so close to the opener when James Tarkowski rose to head a corner goalwards but Kane was on the line to make a brilliant clearance. Then as the game began to open up Son was clean through but Kevin Long made the tackle.
And finally, on 76 minutes, Spurs had an effort on target and got the goal that didn’t seem like it was coming. And it was that lethal combination of Kane and Son that got the goal as the skipper headed a corner into the danger area and Son guided his header into the top right corner.
It was harsh on Burnley and Dyche responded by bringing on Jay Rodriguez as a third striker and he quickly won two successive corners, but Lloris claimed both as Spurs snatched the points.
Key statistics
The pre-match Burnley vs Tottenham betting odds had Spurs at 1.49 to win but the best chances in the first half went the way of the Clarets as they won the shot count by five to three and had the only two shots on target. It was a similar pattern in the second half with Burnley eventually registering 13 shots to Spurs nine.
But the Tottenham skipper won the game at both ends of the pitch with a goal-line clearance and an assist.
The result means Mourinho has still never lost against Burnley or Sean Dyche, and Spurs’ unbeaten run is extended to 10 games, while the Clarets’ winless streak is five.
The last game Burnley played at home before lockdown was a 1-1 draw with Spurs in front of 20,000 fans.
What’s next?
The Clarets were looking for their first league win of the season tonight and with a little luck going their way they would have got it. But they must lick their wounds and fight again.
Next week they will welcome another London giant when Frank Lampard’s Chelsea come to town before Burnley have two games against teams in their own mini-league. First, they head to the south coast to take on Brighton, and then Crystal Palace are the third team in a row to make a trip from the capital to Burnley.
After beating LASK 3-0 last week, Spurs are back on to the Thursday/Sunday routine. They have Europa League trips to Antwerp and Ludogorets sandwiching a Premier League meeting with Brighton. And they are on a roll. Tonight they showed they can win ugly and that will have delighted their boss.
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The post Premier League: Son Shines in Rainy Burnley appeared first on SBOTOP.