Dele Alli spares Spurs blushes in Baggies draw

Dele Alli rescued a point for Tottenham Hotspur in a 1-1 draw away to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday after it looked as if the Premier League high-flyers might suffer an agonising defeat.

The visitors dominated possession only for Nacer Chadli, a player Spurs sold to West Brom in pre-season, to put the hosts in front eight minutes from time against the run of play.

But Alli poked a low shot home in the 89th minute after a shot by Christian Eriksen had been blocked, with the draw seeing Spurs drop to third in the table after arch north London rivals Arsenal beat Swansea 3-2.

Ben Foster, the West Brom and former England goalkeeper, repeatedly defied Spurs, who had 77 percent of first-half possession, with a series of saves.

The result meant an end to a run of five successive victories in all competitions for Tottenham, but means that they remain the Premier League’s only unbeaten team.

Tottenham began the match pressing high up the pitch as usual yet the home side still tried to play the ball out. But before long they were reduced to long passes that were easily defended by the visitors.

Spurs had no such problems keeping possession and might have created a presentable opening in the seventh minute if Vincent Janssen had passed left to Erik Lamela instead of right to Moussa Sissoko, who was outpaced by Allan Nyom.

Lamela did get a chance minutes later but dragged his shot wide of the far post.

Spurs, though, were hitting their stride. Ben Davies hit a shot that was deflected just over the crossbar with Foster wrong-footed, and a similar effort from Eriksen was deflected wide.

Janssen, without looking like a replacement for Harry Kane in goal-scoring terms, held the ball up well and made life tough for Gareth McAuley and Jonny Evans.

West Brom conceded possession easily, even when Spurs did not press them.

That meant that they were regularly backpedalling towards their own goal.

As a result, Eriksen and Alli had a surprising amount of space and Tottenham looked increasingly dangerous as they saw more and more of the ball.

– Defiant Foster –

Alli had a shot blocked by Foster blocked and then sent an acrobatic overhead effort wide of goal.

Foster then produced a hat-trick of superb saves within seven minutes. First Davies hit the ball low through a crowd of players but Foster sprawled to his left.

Then Janssen’s touch sent Alli clear but again Foster blocked his shot. Finally Eriksen collected the ball 20 yards out and shot low to the goalkeeper’s right only to see the ball palmed around the post at the last second.

Tottenham almost fell to a sucker punch late in the first half when Hugo Lloris failed to handle James McClean’s angled shot, but none of the home side were able to convert the rebound.

Early in the second half Tottenham were forced to replace Belgium defender Toby Alderweireld, who stayed down after a challenge and left on a stretcher, but they continued to make chances and Sissoko, Eriksen and Alli all went close before Albion shocked the whole of The Hawthorns by taking the lead.

This time it was Lloris who produced a superb save, touching McClean’s low shot onto the foot of a post, but he could not stop Chadli thumping the rebound into the roof of the net.

Now Spurs’ character was tested. But they responded. Substitute Son Heung-Min crossed from the left, yet another shot by Eriksen was charged down, and Alli swept the loose ball in from close range.

‘Getting the winning feeling back’

Mauricio Pochettino believes Tottenham Hotspur can now start looking forward after a first victory of the campaign helped draw a line under the disappointment of missing out on the Premier League title last season.

The north London club's challenge fell away last term with Pochettino's side eventually finishing third after pushing champions Leicester City until the closing weeks.

After an opening-day draw at Everton, they secured their first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at White Hart Lane on Saturday.

"I think it's very important to recover this feeling because the end of the season was hard and was tough," said the 44-year-old Argentinian.

"But today was good to forget last season now, to look forward. This is a different season, I am very happy with this squad."

A first goal for Victor Wanyama since his summer move from Southampton secured the win.

Pochettino praised the Kenyan midfield enforcer's home debut, as well as that of Dutch striker Vincent Janssen who was also making his first appearance at White Hart Lane.

"I am very happy with victory because I was a player, and I know it is very important to score and feel the love from your supporters, like Vincent as well today," said Pochettino, the former Argentine international centre-back who numbered Espanyol and Paris Saint-Germain among his clubs.

"He can feel the love from our supporters. This is fantastic to help them, to be in a good place. I am very happy for them. They showed it's very good for the future of the team."

'GOOD COMBINATION'

Janssen's inclusion up front meant Harry Kane did not have to shoulder the responsibility of being the lone striker and Pochettino believes the pairing will add a new dimension to Tottenham's play this season.

"Since I arrived here I have wanted Harry Kane to play with another striker," said Pochettino, who dropped Dele Alli to the bench to accommodate the move.

"You can see Harry was more fit, he had a lot of chances to score and shoot, more than at Everton.

"And I think it was a good combination and it's an important option to play for the future. It's good to have these options.

"If we want to play with two strikers, it’s impossible to play with Dele with the players we have.

"He was ill during the week and didn't train on Tuesday and Wednesday. But this is normal, he came from the Euros so we have to look after him. And this was a good opportunity to see the two strikers."

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew completed the signing of striker Christian Benteke from Liverpool before the game and believes this was precisely the kind of game when the Belgium international would make his presence felt.

"We had a bit more verve, a bit more industry. After halftime we had a great spell," said Pardew.

"And when you come to places like Tottenham you have to score in that spell.

"And that's the issue this team have. The signing of Christian of course is to try and address that and maybe one more in.

"There is one thing that always impressed me about him was he gets the goals as you expect and now and again the rabbit out of the hat with a goal. And that's just something we need and needed today.

"Just one moment will have changed the course of this game and maybe in that 20-minute period he could have done something for us today.

"I thought Connor Wickham was excellent for us today and his reaction to Christian's arrival spoke volumes about his character and there will be an opportunity maybe to play the both of them which will be a different look for us."

Harry Kane set to sign new five-year contract with Tottenham

Harry Kane is set to sign a lucrative new five-year contract with Tottenham in the coming weeks after agreeing a deal to make him the club’s best-paid player.

Kane, who finished last season as the Premier League’s Golden Boot winner with 25 goals, failed to find the net at Euro 2016 as England were knocked out in the last-16 by Iceland.

Tottenham are determined to resist any potential approaches for the 22-year-old in this summer’s transfer market and have been in negotiations with his representatives since March. A deal in principle has now been agreed, with Kane poised to earn almost £100,000 a week after committing himself to the club until 2021.

Having increased his wages to around £50,000 a week when he signed a five-and-half-year deal in February 2016, the new contract will be the third signed by the product of Tottenham’s youth academy since August 2014. That reflects his rapid emergence from the fringes of the first-team squad, having been sent out on loan to Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester between 2011 and 2013.

Kane has scored 49 goals in 83 matches for Spurs, narrowly edging out his England team-mate Jamie Vardy for the Golden Boot in May.

He could soon be competing with a new rival, however, with Tottenham reportedly ready to raise their bid for Holland striker Vincent Janssen to €20m. AZ Alkmaar rejected an €18m bid for the 22-year-old last week, leading Janssen to openly criticise the club’s management for not allowing him to leave.

Harry Kane's Euro 2016 Spotify playlist is certainly... varied

You didn't realise you cared this much about Harry Kane's pre-match motivational music, but here we are.

The Spurs and England striker has gone from uncapped prospect to likely starter since the start of the qualifying campaign, so we want to know whether there's any special trick to it all.

Now, we're not saying if you listen to this music in this specific order then you'll become one of the best strikers in Europe, but we're also not not saying that.

Kane was asked by Beats by Dre to select his Euros playlist, along with Germany's Mario Gotze and French forward Antoine Griezmann, and here's the Englishman's effort.

And before you ask, of course he's got Bieber on there.

Harry Kane can handle the burden of being England’s main striker at Euro 2016, says Kyle Walker

Kyle Walker insists Harry Kane will handle the burden of being England’s main striker at Euro 2016.

While coach Roy Hodgson has a number of decisions to make over some members of the first team and the formation, Kane is certain to face Russia in England's opening game on Saturday.

It is a meteoric rise for the 22-year-old, who has only been a first team regular for Spurs in the last two seasons and made his international debut just 15 months ago.

But Kane has scored 64 goals for club and country since the last World Cup and Walker, his Tottenham and England team-mate, is confident he can star over the next month in France.

Walker told Standard Sport: "Harry isn't fazed about leading the line for England at all at the Euros and isn't feeling the pressure.

"He has been scoring goals for fun at Tottenham for the past two years and is used to having the responsibility of having to find the net for us.

"I am convinced he can do the same for England during the Euros and make the difference in games.

"I have known Harry for a long time having seen him come through the ranks at Tottenham and nothing seems to get to him.

"He has been looking good in training and is just excited to play in the first game like we all are."

While Kane's presence in attack has led to optimism that Roy Hodgson's side can be a threat, the team's ability to defend against Europe's finest has come under scrutiny in several quarters.

England failed to impress in any of their three warm-up friendlies and kept just one clean sheet, however that was against a Portugal side who played with 10 men for nearly an hour due to Bruno Alves being sent off.

Walker, who like Kane is appearing in his first major Championships for England, feels the criticism of England's defenders is unjustified.

The 26-year-old right back said: "I think we are fine at the back. The defensive unit is not just the back four and the keeper. You can start your defending from up top - it's a team game. We attack and defend as a team.

"There are obviously a few improvements we want to make offensively and defensively, but we are putting that into motion now. Hopefully it will all go to plan during the Russia game."

With Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Danny Rose all consistently picked by Hodgson lately, there is a strong prospect that five Spurs players will start against Russia.

Walker said: "Of course it could help - it's good to look around and see people you're familiar with - the fact that you know their weaknesses and strengths and they know yours.

"This is my first senior tournament after missing the last two with injury. I am excited and just soaking up the atmosphere. I just hope it's a good one.

"I definitely don't feel like the established right back, that is up to the manager. Whether it's me or Nathaniel Clyne that starts, we are both ready for it and relish the opportunity to make the right back berth our own."

Spurs lose their nerve to leave Leicester on the brink

Craig Dawson’s header grabs West Brom a point and leaves Foxes one win from title.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 West Bromwich Albion 1

At the final whistle, it was a sudden, damp silence. Tottenham Hotspur chose a bad night for their nerve to start unravelling and the ramifications could be serious bearing in mind the spin-off benefits for Leicester City, squatting defiantly at the top of the Premier League with a seven-point lead.

At this stage of the season Spurs knew they had to win all their remaining fixtures and their inability to see off this obdurate West Bromwich Albion side means it could all be over this weekend.

By that stage the Premier League’s second-placed team might also be taking in a three-match ban for Dele Alli that would effectively end his season, having swung what appeared to be a punch into the midriff of Claudio Yacon during the first half. Alli is relying on the leniency of the Football Association’s disciplinary unit for an offence that was seen by the match officials and in all likelihood he could conceivably be charged with violent conduct.

Yet the most grievous damage for Spurs came in the 73rd minute when Craig Dawson headed in the corner for the goal that ultimately means Leicester can announce themselves as the new champions by beating Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday. Spurs have given everything in their bid to catch the leaders but it was a ragged second half from Mauricio Pochettino’s players, squandering the gift of Dawson’s own-goal 33 minutes into a first half that had left the impression they were heading for a relatively straightforward win.

For the first time, there were obvious signs of tension and those were moments when West Brom showed an attacking intent that simply had not been there earlier in the match.

The pressure was near-unremitting at the start but Spurs were facing a team that unashamedly bases its entire ethos on defensive structure, strong tackling and rigid organisation, with a manager on the touchline whose frequent exhortations of “get into them” offered another insight into their tactics. There are only one team, Aston Villa, who have managed fewer goals than West Brom this season but, equally, there was never any danger that a side managed by Tony Pulis would crumple as obligingly as Swansea City had done the previous day in Leicester.

For Spurs, that meant it was a night when they needed to show a degree of patience as well as the refined, soft-touch football that saw Dele Alli gliding away from opponents or, best of all, the brilliant piece of improvisational skill with which Mousa Dembélé eluded Darren Fletcher in the first half. Pochettino’s team hit the woodwork twice in the opening 12 minutes and a lesser side might have started showing signs of apprehension when their early onslaught failed to produce a breakthrough goal.

Not this team, though. Spurs simply kept advancing and nobody could possibly say the opening goal was unwarranted even if there was a great deal of fortune attached to it. Christian Eriksen’s swinging free-kick from the right was arched with great expertise into the penalty area. Dawson was trying to prevent Jan Vertonghen applying a decisive touch but as the two players went sprawling on the six-yard line the ball landed beneath West Brom’s right-back, rolled out and squirted past the goalkeeper Boaz Myhill.

The goal came at a good time for Spurs, interrupting their only lull of the first half. Pochettino’s men did not reach the same exhilarating heights that saw them win 4-0 against Stoke City in their previous assignment. Even so, their ability to move the ball through midfield, playing with width and penetration, with Kyle Walker and Danny Rose such fine overlapping fullbacks, created plenty of problems for their opponents.

Harry Kane has been scoring so freely it came almost as a jolt that he could not produce a more clinical finish with the team’s first opportunity. Kane’s slick exchange of passes with Alli had opened up the visitors’ defence but he did not get enough power on his shot and Myhill turned the ball against the post. Not long afterwards, Eriksen’s free-kick skimmed the top of the crossbar and Albion were spared again.

Eriksen was also prominently involved in the move, 12 minutes after the restart, when Spurs hit the woodwork for the third time. The home team had lost some of their momentum in the early stages of the second half but Eriksen’s urging run on the left created the chance and Erik Lamela was unfortunate to see his shot come back off the far post.

That was not the only time Eriksen’s ability to run with the ball and pick out team-mates stood out. Dembele had another fine game but Alli and Kane could not keep up their early menace and Spurs must fear retrospective disciplinary action for the Professional Footballers’ Association’s new young-player-of-the-year award.

As punches go, it was a short, low swing, rather than an old-fashioned haymaker, but the television cameras pick up everything these days and in the worst-case scenario it would be a deeply unsatisfactory way for him to close his season.

Nothing, however, will have hurt Spurs more than the effect of Dawson heading in the equaliser from a corner that also resulted in Eric Dier being injured. Salomon Rondon had already come close to scoring with two chances of his own and the body language of the Spurs players at the end showed they know the significance of that goal.

Fantasy Football picks: Harry Kane, Riyad Mahrez and Gylfi Sigurdsson should be in your XI

With a depleted league fixture list this weekend, help is at hand for all those fantasy managers in need of inspiration on the players that can revive their campaigns.  

The Independent have teamed up with daily fantasy football game www.oulala.com and together we have analysed the key stats to identify four players that simply must be in your fantasy football team this weekend.

Oulala's extensive database of statistics, which comprises of 70 different criteria sourced straight from Opta, is the perfect tool to identify which players are trending up.    

Sergio Aguero is the form striker at the moment, and if he isn’t already in your team then you better make room for him. In his last nine leagues games, the Argentine has netted nine times – the best record in the league during that period. Not only that, but as well as laying on one assist, Agüero has also managed 41 shots in those fixtures. That includes a shot accuracy of 57 per cent, whilst converting over a fifth of those opportunities. Despite missing a penalty against Villa in the 4-0 win last weekend, Agüero’s next goal scoring opportunity is never far away – therefore, an absolute must have in your fantasy team. Manchester City face a Norwich side who have struggled to contain the bigger sides at home in recent game weeks, conceding seven goals in their last three at Carrow Road. 

Gylfi Sigurdsson is almost single-handedly keeping Swansea City at a safe distance from the relegation zone, scoring six goals in his last ten league appearances. Given that his tally for the whole season stands at eight, the Icelandic midfielder is enjoying somewhat of a purple patch as of late. He has managed 29 shots, bettering Agüero’s shot accuracy at 60 per cent, which is impressive from midfield. Sigurðsson has also laid on 16 goal scoring opportunities for his teammates, whilst completing 27 successful passes per game. The no. 23 is actually closing in on a club record. Sigurðsson needs just four more goals to overtake Wilfried Bony’s goalscoring tally (25) for the Swans since they achieved promotion to the modern day top-flight. Whilst some star players, like Harry Kane, have been criticised for scoring predominantly in comfortable wins, the same cannot be said of Sigurðsson -  illustrated by his winner in a 1-0 win against fellow survival strugglers Norwich last weekend. Another no brainer pick. Swansea City travel to Bournemouth this weekend, and the South Wales side will be counting on the Icelandic playmaker for more goals; and you should, too. 

Riyad Mahrez’s future has dominated headlines this week, with many speculating the Algerian will find it tough to turn down the chance to sign for the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid. On the pitch, however, his focus has remained on seeing Leicester City through to an unlikely league title. Whilst the goals have dried up, scoring just twice in the last ten, Mahrez has made four assists – which is the best in the league over that spell. He has also created 10 chances and had 27 successful take-ons. The Foxes are at home to a Newcastle side with one win in their last six league games. Having conceded nine goals in their last three fixtures you fancy Mahrez to make the most of this matchup. 

Harry Kane is our final pick this week. The Tottenham striker answered Pochettino’s worries about the effect a protective face mask was having on his goal scoring form with a wonder strike in the North London derby. That goal was one of six Kane has netted in the last ten games. He has fired off 46 shots in that spell, which is best in the league. Not only that, but an impressive 61 per cent of those have tested the goalkeeper. Kane has also created 13 chances for his Spurs teammates, and despite not being one of the tallest strikers in the league, has won 21 aerial duels. Tottenham travel to an Aston Villa side who cannot stop conceding, letting in 15 goals in their last four Premier League games. It’d take a brave man to bet against the England striker not to add to his tally this weekend.