Sunday afternoon saw Tottenham Hotspur host Burnley at Wembley in the third week of the Premier League. Spurs’ only signing of the summer Davinson Sanchez started on the bench for the Lilywhites. Son Heung Min replaced Wanyama in the starting XI as the Kenyan anchorman sustained a minor knee injury after the Chelsea fixture.
The first 10 minutes of the game saw a solid display by the visitors as Burnley maintained an unbreakable backline with some serious attempts on the counter attack with Welsh forward Sam Vokes and winger Robbie Brady. It wasn’t until the 20th minute that Spurs managed to penetrate the Burnley defence from a Jan Vertonghen ball to Son. Though flagged offside, replays showed that Son was on.
As Spurs continued to press in the first half, Burnley did well to maintain their tight defensive tactics. James Tarkowski shone in the Clarets’ backline whilst Tom Heaton stood tall between the sticks. Tottenham had a major chance in the 39th minute from a ball created by Dele Alli and Ben Davies, yet Harry Kane;’s shot was blocked by an in-form Tarkowski.
Tensions were rising between the home fans as Burnley seemed to be in control of the match with its solid defence and counter attack tactics.
Only four minutes into the second half and Spurs made an immediate push to get make the breakthrough. As Ben Mee struggled to clear the ball from a corner, Eric Dier guided the ball to Dele Alli, who on his second attempt, slipped the ball into the net on the rebound.
Spurs immediately tried to get a second in the 53rd minute from a ball delivered to Kane in the Burnley box, only for it to go wide. Tottenham started to look more in control at Wembley as the home fans roared with chants.
Despite Vokes’ great first half performance on the counter for Burnley, Sean Dyche decided to substitute the Welshman in the 56th minute for the club’s record signing Chris Wood. Spurs made their first change of the afternoon at the 70th minute by replacing Son with Moussa Sissoko.
Kane was denied his 100th goal for Tottenham a couple of minutes later as Tom Heaton saved the Spurs forward’s shot from a low cross picked out by Davies. He was yet again denied by Heaton in the 75th minute after managing to get passed Tarkowski.
In the last 10 minutes Burnley really started to press with new man Wood attempting a chance on goal only for the ball to be cleared by an alert Hugo Lloris. He was supplied with another two chances from Ward but was still denied by the Frenchman between the sticks.
Finally, in stoppage time, Woods scored his debut goal for Burnley to shock the Tottenham fans. Sanchez was subbed on in the 93rd minute but that short debut wasn’t enough for Spurs to take the lead. The match finished equal at 1-1 with Wembley surrounded by boos as the referee blew the whistle.
