Well into four minutes of added time, the advertising hoardings that illuminate the middle tier of Wembley lit up the names of the countless global Tottenham Hotspur official supporters clubs one last time. From Pittsburgh to Poland and Singapore to Sligo, the frustration was felt far and wide as Wilfried Bony cleared a flat Christian Eriksen free-kick. A smattering of boos from Spurs supporters followed while those in the away end celebrated a precious point.
Swansea City, led by captain Federico Fernández, earned a draw after a character-building performance in which they kept a third straight Premier League clean sheet on the road. In shutting out Tottenham on Saturday they became the first team since Leicester City, in January 2016, to stifle Spurs in front of their home supporters in the top flight. Lukasz Fabianski was magnificent in goal but a return to basics after a desperately poor home defeat by Newcastle United helped shape and organise Swansea, starting with their stubborn five-man defence. A glance at the 5-0 demolition by Spurs at White Hart Lane last December is a measure of Swansea’s progress, as voiced by the manager, Paul Clement.
“That’s a big turnaround in a season,” he said of the contrast between the two results. “It wasn’t three points but one was positive.” Indeed, the body language of the players, encapsulated by a warm embrace between Martin Olsson and Tammy Abraham at full-time said it all, of what felt at least, like a team intent on putting down a marker, determined not to roll over or capsize.
If Swansea are to kick on after this solid but hardly pulsating performance, then Clement knows they must find a way to hurt teams. The fact Swansea are yet to record a shot on target in three of their five league matches this season, including at Wembley, is alarming. Abraham, who does not turn 20 until next month, took on the thankless task of leading the Swansea line admirably but that is where their attacking threat ended. Tom Carroll and Sam Clucas were dogged in midfield but Swansea badly lacked initiative going forward. Life after Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente, a new era of sorts, is well under way and while they have got on with it, Swansea are yet to rediscover their spark going forward.
Jordan Ayew was often second best while the summer loan signing Renato Sanches was withdrawn after an underwhelming 58 minutes. As Sanches left the field Clement patted him on the back but it was his replacement, Leroy Fer, who made much the bigger impact, thrusting some energy into Swansea’s attack.
“A couple of them need some time to get up to speed – one is Renato, another is Roque Mesa but they’re working hard at it and it would be right to judge them over a full season, not one or two games,” Clement said. “When you lose key players like Gylfi and Jack Cork and Fernando, who came on today, you’ve got to replace them with good players and I think we’ve done that.”
Abraham was a nuisance, buying fouls from Toby Alderweireld and an eager Davinson Sánchez inside his own half throughout, to help his team up the pitch. And he is slowly mastering the art of playing as the lone striker in this team but he needs help if Swansea are to do any damage.
“What he has shown is that at every level he has scored goals but this is a new level,” Clement said of the teenager. “It’s a big jump. He’s gone from youth [football] to [under-] 23s to Championship and done very well along the way. But this is the big step, isn’t it? You’re talking about playing against some of the best players in the world. He has confidence and desire to improve, he’s in a good place and he will contribute for us this season.”
Clement admitted he could draw some parallels between Abraham, who excelled on loan at Bristol City last season, and the rise of the Tottenham striker Harry Kane. “I like his story, about how he’s had to graft hard to get to where he is,” he said. “That he has had to go out on loan and graft for the opportunity where he is now. He’s reaping the rewards from all the effort he has put in now and from my understanding he continues to do that every day in training.”
With three winnable matches on the horizon, plus a trip to Reading on Tuesday in the Carabao Cup, Clement must hope his side can build upon the foundations laid inside the structure of the national stadium. Their six-match unbeaten run on the road, dating back to last season, is encouraging, but their top-flight status will surely hinge on how they fare in south Wales. Clement is adamant he will take the cup seriously but he knows the weight home fixtures against Watford and Huddersfield Town, either side of a trip to West Ham United, can carry. “We won’t make massive changes, it will be a competitive team,” he said. “And then we have a run of games that will be very important for us.”