holiday.
Spurs played out their 35th league game against Watford in the spirit like it was the 38th and the season was pretty much done and dusted, with the sun loungers at the ready.
A lacklustre performance, in front of a subdued crowd, saw Spurs finally get a bit that bit of luck that has eluded them over recent games to pick up the victory.
A win is a win is a win. Three points is all that’s important now and thankfully after three games without one, they managed to get back on track. With the result that is, the performance was of the standard we’ve seen of late. A performance that quite easily could have seen Watford take all three points. Boy, it’s a good job they’re rubbish and just pack it in for the second half of the season.
If Watford could finish, while not make howlers at the other end then it would have been a different outcome. As it is when they got in the Spurs box with the ball they either shot straight at Hugo or did their best impersonation of Sissoko. That being said, Hugo did make some decent saves, after his recent troubles.
Speaking of Sissoko, there was plenty of moaning about Dier and Dembele in the middle of the park, I warned it could be worse, it could be Sissoko. More on that later.
So Spurs started slowly and didn’t get any faster, more of the fannying about nonsense that has blighted recent games. The opener came just after the quarter hour had passed, it came from a Trippier cross, the fullback was in acres of space on the right most of the night and in reality wasn’t used enough, though he could have been better on most of his crosses. This one found the keeper but the keeper found his inner Heurelho Gomes. The old Spurs keeper was on the Watford bench, his replacement at the club dropped Trippier’s cross at the feet of Eriksen, his pass found Dele and his calm finish, after taking a touch, found the net.
Against the run of play, yup.
What followed was much the same as what had come before. Slack Spurs play and spurned Watford chances, along with inept officiating. Son pushed over in the Watford area waved away by the ref, who seems adverse to giving penalties after his little bust up in Europe. We were told at half time by yet another third rate player turned pundit that it wasn’t a penalty because the Watford player put his hands up… yes, that “dindu nuffin, guv, honest” hands up routine players do when they’ve fouled someone.
It only took three minutes after the break to double the lead. A nice ball from Dele through to Son, into the box he crossed to where Harry was but the striker fell over, looking again out of sorts but he picked himself up and the ball came back in from the other side from Trippier and this time he couldn’t not finish it off.
A welcome relief.
The rest of the game match what had gone before along with the inept officiating. Wanyama being book for Richarlison catching him on the thigh. And then Sissoko appeared and well, it didn’t help. His first touch was kicking a Watford player like he was trying to control the ball and then he was through on goal and surprise, surprise he Sissoko’d the chance. He really is the Diane Ross of the Premier League – you Diana at the ’94 World Cup opening ceremony when she missed the penalty, that’s Sissoko every game.
So closer to Liverpool, further away from Chelsea but West Brom up next and well bottom of the league you’d expect a victory but their new manager is getting results and performances from his players and if Spurs go about it the way they have recently and figure it’s fun in the sun, who knows what happens…