without Harry Kane.
Leicester became the fourth team to face Spurs without Harry Kane and end up on the losing side, as again Tottenham weren’t at their best but ground out an excellent win.
They even managed this victory against the twelve men of Leicester as the officiating in English football showed again it is at the lowest level it’s ever been.
Spurs were given a lift by the team sheet exclusion of Vardy in the visitor’s starting lineup. The manager cutting off his nose. Thank god for spiteful managers or Leicester might have scored early on, though that wouldn’t have been much different from recent games.
The thing is all the good chances Leicester squandered in that first half, due to not having a striker on the pitch, came about via Leicester fouls. Every one you see in the highlights, oh look there’s a Spurs player fouled, oh look the ref has waved play on and Leicester have gone close.
Michael Oliver topped this performance off when he yellow carded Son for a dive. Son being pushed in the area – a foul – has Maguire stick his leg out and trip him – a foul. This of course is the same ref that didn’t give the penalty below, when Son was again fouled.
https://twitter.com/oyvindludt/status/1094689167366336513
As if he some problem with the player. Pochettino found it “unbelievable”…
https://twitter.com/HaytersTV/status/1094671701806379008
The dimwits in the studio claim a dive, threw his leg into our glorious England defender, yet look at Son’s foot, it’s planted, his toe end never leaves the ground when Maguire makes contact. Now Son gets a reputation.
Diving, the rules about cards are about trying to con the ref, well Maguire was trying to con the ref with his reaction. He should be done for that.
The only shame about the Spurs opener when it came was that it wasn’t a Maguire own goal. No but he did play his part. Spurs found a way to make a corner work. Don’t let Eriksen take it and hit the first defender but pass it off to him and let him curl a good cross in. Maguire wrong footed, wrong side of Davinson as the big Colombian heads in his first goal for the club. Maguire desperately trying to con the ref that Sanchez was offside.
You could see Oliver was desperate to chalk it off but couldn’t.
Every Spurs fan knew what Oliver was going to do, what he’d been itching to do since that yellow for Son. Give Leicester a penalty and it duly arrived. Vertonghen and Maddison make contact, one goes over and Oliver couldn’t wait. H saw how it was going to pan out…
Oliver will give a penalty to Leicester for sure. Vardy will score one. Spurs need two more
— Habibullah Khan (@Huk06) February 10, 2019
Sure enough the substitution was made and on came Vardy to be handed the ball by Maddison, who bottled it. H didn’t get it all right though but how was he to know that we would all witness Hugo save a penalty. Minutes later and Spurs got that second they needed. Skipp blocking a clearance, it fell to Eriksen, his first time ball to Llorente was returned and Eriksen fired it inside the near post. Cue the media trying to claim the goal shouldn’t stand because the ball his Skipp’s arm.
Leicester were still creating chances. For all the criticism for not picking Vardy, Puel at least came to Wembley to play and try and get something rather than sit there and hope for something. Better to die on your feet than live on your knees. They were creating chances but Hugo was having one of those games.
He did have to pick the ball out of the net after Vardy did get one back. For the next 15 minutes or so it was all out Leicester attack until a minute into injury time and a Leicester cross fell to the feet of Sissoko in the Spurs’ box. Now, I don’t know if he meant it or he just swung his leg and hoped to get the ball away from the area but he played the perfect ball to Son, who ran from the Spurs’ half to put it past Schmeichel and finish the game off.
You could tell a bit of Michael Oliver died in that moment.