Lamela brightened the darkness
Not that any Spurs fan wants to dwell upon the events of this week, when we lost a third consecutive away Premier League game for the first time in Pochettino's reign at Tottenham, but it also has to be mentioned that we fell to seventh place after Liverpool's 3-0 win at Stoke and Burnley's 2-1 win at Bournemouth.
It's all very well complaining, but the table does not lie after 14 games, and Sean Dyche's Burnley deserve credit for what they have achieved so far. We just have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down, and get on with recovering our top four status. That's going to take time though, as we have fallen four points behind Arsenal who have won their last three league games while we have lost two and drawn one. That includes our defeat at The Emirates, which was obviously a sad turning point.
Erik Lamela, a 77th minute substitute, making his first appearance since October last year, was not the only spark of light in our team, as Harry Kane did score a cracking goal. However, Erik got the assist and did look lively in his time on the pitch. I hope to see him start on Saturday at Watford. Lamela did win the Spurs Odyssey man of the match vote for his cameo. It was Harry Kane's 10th Premier League goal of the season; his 88th Premier League goal in total, and his 115th club goal. This was a good goal too, matching the quality of the Vardy and Mahrez goals that gave the spoils to Leicester.
In other news, Wayne Rooney scored his first senior hat-trick for Everton, including a sensational low-trajectory shot from beyond the half-way line against his former England colleague Joe Hart, who had rushed out of his area to clear, only to see the ball go straight to Rooney's feet. Rooney's lightning quick reaction and excellent shot from such distance is already being mooted as goal of the season. West Ham lost 4-0 and David Moyes is still looking for his first win after three games in charge.
The manager merry-go-round has led to Alan Pardew taking over at West Brom, and Sam Allardyce likely to be formally announced today (30th November) as the new Everton manager. Allardyce was at Goodison Park last night.
Manchester City keep rolling on but had to wait till the dying seconds of added time for Raheem Sterling's winner against Southampton. It is City's 12th consecutive league win in a season where their only dropped points were at home to Everton. The form of Pep Guardiola's side has been simply phenomenal. Apart from that draw and an EFL game against Wolves (which they won on penalties), City have won every game they've played. That's a total of 19 wins and form that makes the whole of Europe, if not the world sit up.
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Results 28-29.11.17
Brighton 0-0 C. Palace
Leicester 2-1 Spurs
Watford 2-4 Man Utd
West Brom 2-2 Newcastle
Arsenal 5-0 Hds'field
B'mouth 1-2 Burnley
Chelsea 1-0 Swansea
Everton 4-0 West Ham
Man City 2-1 S'hampton
Stoke 0-3 Liverpool
Premier League Table - 2017-18
P W D L F-A GD Pts
1. Man City 14 13 1 0 44-9 35 40
2. Man Utd 14 10 2 2 32-8 24 32
3. Chelsea 14 9 2 3 25-11 14 29
4. Arsenal 14 9 1 4 28-16 12 28
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5. Liverpool 14 7 5 2 28-18 10 26
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6. Burnley 14 7 4 3 14-11 3 25
7. Spurs 14 7 3 4 22-12 10 24
8. Watford 14 6 3 5 24-25 -1 21
9. Leicester 14 4 5 5 19-20 -1 17
10. Brighton 14 4 5 5 13-14 -1 17
11. S'hampton 14 4 4 6 14-17 -3 16
12. Newcastle 14 4 3 7 13-19 -6 15
13. Everton 14 4 3 7 17-28 -11 15
14. H'dsfield 14 4 3 7 9-24 -15 15
15. B'mouth 14 4 2 8 12-16 -4 14
16. Stoke 14 3 4 7 16-29 -13 13
17. West Brom 14 2 6 6 12-21 -9 12
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18. West Ham 14 2 4 8 12-30 -18 10
19. Swansea 14 2 3 9 7-16 -9 9
20. C. Palace 14 2 3 9 8-25 -17 9
