TV
Sky Sports Premier League - live coverage

For coverage in all parts of the world, check here and here.

Radio :  
BBC LONDON 94.9FM (London area only), Digital Radio (London area only) &  Sky Channel 0152  (live coverage)
Commentary may be found on
>   BBC Radio Five Live (live coverage)  606/939 MW
>  TalkSport (DAB or 2nd89 MW)
>  Absolute Radio  (1215 AM/MW)

Internet :
The THFC Official website   Live webcast  - subscribers only
BBC London - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01tdhcm  Live commentaries listed down the page.
TalkSport (DAB or 1089 MW)

24  Serge AURIER
  4  Toby ALDERWEIRELD 
  6  Davinson SANCHEZ
33  Ben DAVIES     

17  Moussa SISSOKO
  8  Harry WINKS     
18  Giovani LO CELSO       (29  Oliver SKIPP  84)

  7  Heung-Min SON    (11  Erik LAMELA  90+4)
10  Harry KANE
27  Lucas MOURA  (23  Stephen BERGWIJN  82)

Unused subs: 
22  Paulo GAZZANIGA
  5  Jan VERTONGHEN
28  Tanguy NDOMBELE
30  Gedson FERNANDES
39  Japhet TANGANGA
19  Ryan SESSEGNON
 

20  Shkodran MUSTAFI
23  David LUIZ
31  Sead KOLASINAC  (24  Reiss NELSON  84)

  2  Hector BELLERIN  (17  Cedric SOARES  84)
34  Granit XHAKA
  8  Dani CEBALLOS
  3  Kieran TIERNEY  (28  Joseph WILLOCK  84)

19  Nicolas PEPE       (77  Bukayo SAKA  70     )
  9  Alexandre LACAZETTE      
14  Pierre-Emerick AUBAMEYANG  (c)

Unused subs: 
33  Matt MACEY
  5  Sokratis PAPASTATHOPOULOS
15  Ashley MAITLAND-NILES
16  Rob HOLDING
11  Lucas TORREIRA
 

A most unexpected win over Arsenal after poor performances since football returned from the Covid-19 season break helped lift some of the gloom some people were spreading after the Bournemouth goal-less draw.  The players looked more of a unit in Mourinho's 4-3-3 set-up and while the opposition did make some chances, they were restricted to half a dozen, which is not many considering they had 63percent of the possession.

Within 15 seconds of Spurs kicking off, Harry Kane pressed Luiz on the ball and it ran to Lucas Moura, who fired an effort in on goal from 20 yards that Martinez had to save. That was something that Tottenham didn’t manage in 112 minutes at Bournemouth ! Without any pressure Martinez passed the ball straight to Son, but he was driven wide right and could not find a white shirt with his cross pulled back to the edge of the area.

Arsenal’s passing was off target during the opening minutes, but Tottenham’s touches to team-mates weren’t reaching them either. Toby made a good headed challenge on Lacazette as Tierney put in a ball from the left flank, with a corner succeeded, but Mustafi put his header from it way into the Paxton Road end. In the tenth minute, Moura picked off a loose pass and put a ball over David Luiz to Harry Kane just inside the box. Harry tried to lift it over the keeper, but he was too close and managed to reach up and stop the ball.

Arsenal got Bellerin away on their right and he pulled it back to Aubameyang, who missed the ball and it ran through to Tierney at the far side of the box, but his left foot shot went a long way wide.  Spurs were playing longer balls finding space behind Luiz, while Arsenal were building through the lines and getting a little more control.  Aurier ran the ball out, but put it too far in front of him and then lost a tackle to Xhaka. It ran to Lacazette and from 20 yards out, he rifled a shot just inside Lloris’ right hand post to give Arsenal the lead.  The ball was struck so well that Lloris didn't have a hope of getting near it and it was the first shot Arsenal had on target in the match. 

It didn’t take long for Tottenham to get back on level terms, with Kolasinac passing the ball wide of Luiz for Son to take it on and go to the left of Luiz and Martinez before lifting the ball into the net less than two and a half minutes after the opener.  It was the perfect response and soon after, Aurier played a fast ball low into the box and it was blocked, but fell to Sissoko, but Moussa couldn’t control the ball when a first-time shot might have paid dividends. I’m not sure whether the goal knocked Arsenal’s confidence or boosted Tottenham’s but Spurs were pushing forward with more poise now. The Arsenal 3-4-3 saw the front three playing tight infield, allowing Bellerin and Tierney to get into wide positions, but they were not making telling crosses to damage the Spurs back-line.

While the game was being played in an empty stadium, there was only a little intensity in the way it was being played out. A Spurs corner on our right was cleared to Ben Davies on the left and from fully 30 yards (and from a similar spot that Danny Rose scored against the same side) he let fly and crashed the ball off the crossbar. Pepe put a curling shot from the right wide of Lloris’ right hand post as the Gunners looked to keep the ball at the other end.

Much as happened with the first Arsenal goal, Aurier got the ball tangled between his feet allowing Lacazette to take it off him and Serge hauled him down to earn the second yellow card for Spurs, with Giovani Lo Celso being booked for a push on Ceballos earlier.   Pepe ran across the pitch 20 yards out from right to left and sucked Ben Davies, who was tracking his run, into a foul handing the visitors a free-kick that Aubameyang took and curled wide of the left side of Lloris’s goal. Pepe got a shot on goal, but it was straight at Hugo. It was a little worrying that Arsenal were picking up space in wide positions, while Spurs were not stopping the crosses coming into the box.

Arsenal started the second half with a lot of possession, but a neat ball by Gio sent Lucas away to  in a corner. That was punched out and when Winks pulled  back Ceballo, a free-kick was played in to drop in the area for Kolasinac to volley well wide. The pace seemed to have dropped considerably (even though it wasn’t the usual 100 miles an hour anyway), but Arsenal passed the ball around trying to find some space and Bellerin got the ball in the box, but Moura made a good block tackle to see the danger averted. Tottenham were being forced back and weren’t able to get the ball under control to move upfield. We were trying to get the ball out wide on the right with Aurier pushing on, but the final ball into the box was not of good enough quality to create anything.

Aubameyang hit a shot against the bar from ten yards out and then Tottenham gave away a free-kick around the edge of the box on the right of centre when Lucas committed a foul. Pepe hit the wall with it and then lost out to Moura, who he brought down and got booked for it. The game was getting peppered with free-kicks as players were only too willing to go down as they tired in the warm sunshine.

Aurier was giving the ball away too much, either by mis-controlling it or be misplacing passes, but out of nothing Kane chested the ball past Mustafi and got into the box, but from a tight angle, he unselfishly played in inside to Son, but the keeper was on top of him to block his shot. Lucas broke past three players but had few options in the box as he looked to play it in from the left side. 

When Bellerin broke forward and his a shot that was blocked, it ran to the left, where Aubameyang swept a half-volley that was sneaking inside Lloris’ left hand post until he dived to get a hand to it and push it wide. It turned out to be an important moment in the game. From the corner, Davies could have left it, as it was hit too long, but it came off his head for another. This time Spurs cleared it and Lo Celso held the ball up, won a tackle and then got fouled. Tottenham worked the ball across to Moura on the left wing and his cute ball behind Mustafi found Kane. Harry was on the left side of the goal and shot, but Martinez came out to block it at his feet to give Spurs a corner. Son took it, playing the ball with pace to the six yard line and Toby rose above three static Arsenal defenders to guide his header across the keeper and into the net for a surprise goal scored from a corner.

Straight from the kick off Son robbed Mustafi and sent Kane away on the left and he looked to bend a low shot past Martinez, but he blocked the shot. The ball bounced up in the penalty area and wouldn’t come down for Bergwijn who was positioned around the penalty spot. It was cleared, but only to Lo Celso, who fired a shot in a couple of feet wide to the left of the keeper’s goal. Spurs maintained the pressure and forced a corner and then when Kane won the ball from Ceballos in his own half, it was Son who picked it up. He ran at the retreating Arsenal defence and with Harry looking for a return pass in the box, Son went alone and had a shot that was blocked for another corner.

Tottenham found a second wind, with Sissoko making a forty yard run and drawing a foul from Xhaka (not hard to do), then Kane got away when Davies dinked a free kick down the left and Harry cur inside to try another curler, but only hit Martinez again. Lamela came on to try and run down time and run with the ball, but Arsenal were stuck in their half when added time ran out and the empty stadium erupted to the victory over the Woolwich Wanderers.

It is so, so funny when the Arsenal social media manipulations poked fun at Spurs losing to Sheffield United, but who is the joke on now ? It wasn’t the most exhilarating win over the Goons, it was hard-earned with the visiting team having the best of the possession at the start of the second half, but the team stuck at it, hitting back immediately after going a goal down and then scoring the vital goal just after Hugo made a fine stop to deny Aubameyang.

The new system seemed to fit the team more comfortably and despite being given two days less to  ecover from our previous one, the team kept going. Not that it was a faultless performance, as giving the ball away is still an issue and while there was some better cohesion between the players, sometimes, the best option was not always taken. It showed that a determined performance can overcome a team coming into the match in better form. I don’t think it was really a Mourinho master-plan, but he set up the side in a formation that he believed would be robust enough to deny Arsenal, but it did allow them plenty of the ball. The fact that they didn’t create too much with it is their problem.

Three more wins like that ... and who knows ?

Stanford Rivers