Match Review – Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Brighton
As soon as Serge Aurier’s 40th minute cross flew over the head of Maty Ryan and into the back of the Brighton net, it was pretty much game over at Wembley.
The Albion have had the least shots out of any team in the Premier League so far this season. We haven’t scored from open play for five games now. We haven’t scored against any of the top six. We haven’t scored away from home against any side above us in the table. Essentially, as soon as the opposition get a goal – especially if they are off Tottenham’s quality – we’re more buggered than a guest at a Michael Barrymore pool party.
Aurier’s was either a great bit of skill a huge slice of luck, depending on your view point. He over hit his cross nowhere near the baying mob of white shirts arriving in the box but that didn’t matter as it sailed straight over everyone and in at the back post.
Spurs were largely frustrated in that they were made to work hard for their other goal with most of their fans who had actually bothered to turn up seemingly expecting a cake walk similar to their weekend win over Stoke City. They eventually got that second through a Son Heung-min header from a free kick.
That makes it seven goals in our last seven games conceded from set pieces. Chris Hughton sets us out to be difficult to beat, well organised and defensively sound, but you can’t be any of those things when you are conceding so regularly from free kicks and corners.
The Albion’s only chance of the game came when Tomer Hemed shot straight at Hugo Lloris when well placed. Hemed was handed a start in place of Glenn Murray but it was a largely frustrating evening for him, Anthony Knockaert and Jose Izquierdo given that the ball rarely left the Albion half.
Knockaert in particular cut a particularly anguished figure. The step up in class between the Championship and the Premiership is no better indicated than by the fact that the Championship’s best player this season is having a real struggle making his mark at the higher level.
For a man who thrives on being the centre of attention and the vaunted star of the team, that makes things doubly difficult and his petulance and moany attitude was on display here. Are those the sort of attributes you need in a relegation battle? Some people are beginning to think not with calls for Knockaert to be dropped which a year ago would’ve been unthinkable.
Coming in the opposite direction and back into the team was Beram Kayal while Ezequiel Schelotto also got another opportunity, in his actual position of right back this time. He was better than on Saturday, not that that mattered to some Albion supporters who were slagging him off before a ball had been kicked – it looks like we finally have a new hate figure a year after Jake Forster-Caskey’s departure. We saw Prince Charles wandering around Borough Market on our pre game drinking session and given the fact that everything that went wrong seemed to somehow be Schelotto’s fault, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him held responsible for the death of Princess Diana as well.
The scoreline could’ve been worse. Erik Lamella and Harry Kane both hit the post and Ryan had to pull off some fine saves over the course of the evening to ensure it didn’t become another rout.
The whole experience was pretty dour, from the football to the venue. Wembley is meant to be special and a real achievement making it there, almost a once-in-a-generation thing for a club like ours. Playing league games there in the pouring rain in front of a half full stadium – only 45,000 people bothered to turn up – devalues that. The atmosphere was nearly as non-existent as our goal threat and it’s no exaggeration to say that a Tuesday night away game at Hereford in League One had more about it.
Spurs are only there for one season of course before moving back to the new White Hart Lane but Chelsea look set to take up residence for two to three seasons while Stamford Bridge is redeveloped. The thought of having to go the FA’s soulless corporate bowl again for more league games is not an inspiring one.
Not that we may have to worry about it. Unless we start scoring goals and sign a striker who can, there’s every chance we’ll be back in the Championship by then.
