May 15, (THEWILL) –Â Tottenham Hotspur climbed into the top four on the English Premier League table with a tense 1-0 win over Burnley at home on Sunday.
Antonio Conte’s side were unable to repeat their brilliant performance against Arsenal on Thursday, but they kept on with their Premier League progress ahead of the Gunners’ trip to Newcastle on Monday.
With Leeds and Everton in action later on Sunday, Mike Jackson’s Clarets will be warily looking over their shoulders, with relegation still a possibility after this result against Spurs.
Although Tottenham dominated the first half, Burnley stood firm and held their own. A one-two with Ryan Sessegnon from a corner, gave Son Heung-min a scoring chance from close to the byline, but Nick Pope dived back over his line to block the attempt.
After that, Lucas Moura outpaced Charlie Taylor and floated a cross towards Harry Kane, whose header was superbly stopped by his England goalkeeper teammate in the Burnley post. Nathan Collins then turned Kane’s stunning header away, before Pope pushed over Emerson Royal’s 35-yard effort.
Midway through the first half, Burnley had more consistent periods of possession, with Maxwel Cornet pushing Hugo Lloris into a low save.
In stoppage time at the end of the first 45 minutes, Kane somehow failed to give Spurs the lead, dragging Lucas’ cut-back wide. But, Spurs were granted a penalty for handball against Ashley Barnes following a lengthy VAR review, and Kane made no mistake from the spot to give the hosts a late first-half lead.
Spurs began the second half with little composure, as Kevin Long and Collins both had free-kick headers just missing the target.
At the other end, Kane mistimed his shot from a well-executed counterattack after Ryan Sessegnon drove down the left flank and slipped it to Son, who teed up the England captain.
Barnes then jolted the home crowd awake with a booming shot that appeared out of nowhere but failed to find the back of your net. There was a huge sigh of relief from the tensed Tottenham fans and disappointment for the Burnley crowd.
Long turned a cross from the South Korean over the top from barely inside his own six-yard box, after Pope made his best stop of the day to deny Son at the near post. It was looking like it was not Son’s day to get on the scoresheet.
This was made clearer when, with a flick of his left arm, the Burnley goalkeeper kept Son out once more, but Spurs were able to avoid conceding in the second half exactly as they had done in the first to secure the three points.
Spurs are now in fourth position in the Champions League qualifying race, three points ahead of Arsenal. Although they have played one more game, their north London rivals are now under pressure to catch up.
Meanwhile, Burnley are currently in 17th place, one point ahead of Leeds on goal difference. Yet, despite having chances to earn a point from this match or won it outright, missed out on a chance to climb out of the relegation zone.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
