Burnley’s late equaliser adds to Tottenham’s Wembley woes

Students of hoodoo will enjoy the next fortnight. Tottenham have now dropped more points in two matches at Wembley than they did at White Hart Lane in the entirety of last season. The players may not be intimidated by their new surroundings but Mauricio Pochettino admitted his team still need to adjust to them and perhaps the international break comes at just the right time. For a club that want to challenge for the title this season, Spurs cannot let too many more results slip through their fingers.

Picking through the entrails of this match will not be simple. Dele Alli’s second goal of the season was cancelled out in added time by a debut strike from Chris Wood, the £15m signing tucking home a superlative pass from Robbie Brady. Spurs first struggled to break down a superbly organised opponent then, once they had, wasted a hatful of chances. Burnley, for their part, stuck to their plan regardless. A conservative opening half was followed by a more expansive second, and Sean Dyche will feel that the game panned out as he had hoped.

Pochettino was visibly frustrated at what he believed to be his side’s loss of concentration in the final moments. “The performance was good, we had a lot of chances, and we had the chance to kill the game,” he said. “I was very disappointed in the way we conceded the goal. It wasn’t a long ball, it was a pass between our lines and we gave them the chance too easily. When you are 1-0 up and you have the opportunity to kill the game, OK you can miss. But if you don’t kill the game you can’t concede. You certainly can’t concede a goal with five or six players behind the ball.”

The finish from Wood was calm and low under Hugo Lloris, his run off the former Burnley full-back Kieran Trippier catching the defender napping. But the goal was made by Brady’s pass; the Irishman having switched from his natural left flank to the right bisected the entire Spurs back line with just seconds of the match remaining.

“I thought the way we grew into the second half, the belief and endeavour of the side was absolutely outstanding today,” Dyche said. “I’m really pleased for Chris Wood, he’s come into a good group, he’s enjoying it but I must say what a fantastic pass from Brady. I felt as the game wore on we were deserving of it, they dominated the first half but I think overall we just about deserved something today.”

The first half was indeed dominated by the home side, clearly prepared to be patient in prising their opponents open. This, in and of itself, is a necessary reaction to the surroundings of the national stadium where a crowd of 68,000 can make its concerns quite palpable.

Spurs were methodically varied in their approach. They tried shots from range, Christian Eriksen earning the hosts’ first corner with a drive off James Tarkowski in the 10th minute. They sought to draw fouls in and around the area; when Alli went down under Matt Lowton’s challenge in the 17th minute, Harry Kane came close to opening the scoring, only for Ben Mee to do just enough to put him off his header. They went direct, a long ball to Son Heung-min then knocked down to Alli in the 36th minute, his fierce shot from the edge of the box deflected wide. They sought to overlap with the full-backs too, Ben Davies teeing up Kane again, this time in the six-yard box, but the ball got tangled in the England forward’s feet and his shot was blocked.

All that huffing and puffing apparently came to an end within four minutes of the restart after the redoubtable Mee scuffed his clearance from another Eriksen corner and Alli smashed home at the second time of asking. The England star barely celebrated, almost as if to suggest that breaching the Burnley wall was the bare minimum.

Dyche immediately brought on Wood for Sam Vokes and switched Brady wide right, but Spurs had their best spell of the game. Kane had at least three chances to score his first Premier League goal in August but Tom Heaton was equal to them all. The keeper also stopped an Eriksen piledriver from 12 yards and another Alli effort from six. This is the period of the match that will have frustrated Pochettino as much as the goal conceded; Spurs were not clinical enough, looking like they wanted to put on a show for the crowd as much as get the crucial second.

Pochettino denies there is a problem with Wembley but admits the players have to adapt. He also says the league title is still very much a possibility even though he knows that only a high points total is likely to be enough to win the thing.

“Of course, we need to make Wembley our home but, if you remember, my first season at White Hart Lane was difficult,” Pochettino said. “Last season you would not say Chelsea would be the champions after their opening matches. It’s clear we need to improve our mental level, to try to be strong. We have to try to keep the balance and add players who will help us in the future. I am optimistic, but of course I feel bad.”