Burnley 1-1 Tottenham: Spurs end their run of defeats but can only manage a draw at Turf Moor as Dele Alli’s penalty cancels out Chris Wood’s first-half goal
- Tottenham Hotspur put a stop to their run of defeats, coming from behind to draw 1-1 with Burnley
- Chris Wood opened the scoring for the hosts, bundling the ball into the net after it rebounded off the keeper
- Dele Alli leveled the scores shortly after half time from the spot after Erik Lamela was fouled in the box
- Tottenham were much improved after Jose Mourinho’s half-time team talk, but couldn’t find a winner
Jose Mourinho abandoned his tactical experiment at half-time as Spurs came back strongly to earn a draw at Turf Moor.
With Eric Dier in the thick of the action after his difficult week, Burnley deserved the half-time lead provided by Chris Wood’s early strike.
Mourinho made two changes and scrapped his unexpected 3-4-3 formation at the interval and his two substitutes Giovanni Lo Celso and Lucas Moura were both involved in the move that led to Ben Mee tripping Erik Lamela in the box.
Chris Wood scores Burnley’s goal in the first half after the ball came back off Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris’ save
Wood celebrates in front of the Turf Moor fans after putting his side 1-0 up in their Premier League clash against Tottenham
Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates after scoring a penalty against Burnley which drew the scores level at 1-1
Burnley (4-4-2): Pope 6: Bardsley 6.5, Tarkowski 6, Mee 5.5, Taylor 6; Hendrick 6 (Lennon 90), Cork 7, Westwood 6, McNeil 8: Wood 6.5, Rodriguez 7 (Vydra 68 6)
Subs unused: Hart (Gk), Pieters, Long, Brownhill, Brady
Goal: Wood 13
Booked: Tarkowski, Cork, Taylor, Hendrick, Westwood
Tottenham (3-4-3): Lloris 6; Sanchez 6, Dier 7, Alderweireld 5.5; Tanganga 5.5, Skipp 5 (Lo Celso 45 7), Ndombele 5 (Moura 45 7), Vertonghen 6; Lamela 7 (Aurier 78 6), Alli 6.5, Bergwijn 6
Subs unused: Gazzaniga (Gk), Fernandes, Winks, Sessegnon
Goal: Alli 50 (pen)
Booked: Lamela, Bergwijn, Lo Celso, Sanchez
Referee: Jon Moss 6
Season at a glance
Dele Alli converted from the spot in front of watching England manager Gareth Southgate for his 50th Premier League goal and both sides then had chances to win it, with Lo Celso and Alli curling wide for Spurs and Matej Vydra foiled late on by Hugo Lloris at the other end.
The result leaves Spurs winless in five and Burnley unbeaten in five. Nevertheless, Mourinho’s men can travel to Leipzig for Tuesday’s Champions League second leg with a degree of confidence and still only five points off fourth-place Chelsea despite their poor run.
Mourinho selected Dier as promised following his midweek confrontation with supporters but in an unexpected role.
The England player was deployed in the centre of a three-man defence rather than midfield with Japhet Tanganga and Jan Vertonghen unlikely wing-backs.
Harry Kane and Son Heung-Ming remained sidelined leaving Alli forced to continue as Tottenham’s main striker but there was good news for the visitors in goal with skipper Hugo Lloris back after a groin injury.
Jack Cork of Burnley is tackled by Tottenham Hotspur’s Davinson Sanchez during the Premier League clash on Saturday
Wood embraces with Ashley Westwood as the two of them celebrate the former’s goal for Burnley during the first half
Mourinho’s side hadn’t won in four games and Burnley hadn’t lost in four. The confidence surging through Claret veins prompted a fast start from Sean Dyche’s men.
Wood hit a sizzling right foot shot narrowly over the crossbar and Jay Rodriguez went even closer with header from Ashley Westwood’s deep corner that hit the bar. Toby Alderweireld’s hurried headed clearance then fell to Jack Cork’s whose shot was saved by Lloris.
The pressure told after 13 minutes. Dwight McNeil beat Sanchez at the second attempt and his cross was headed away by Dier. Rodriguez fired in and when Lloris parried, Wood was on hand to tap in the opening goal for his 11th of the season.
There was a VAR check that did show the ball struck McNeil on the arm in the build-up. Similar situations this season have seen goals chalked off but on this occasion Stockley Park decided it was a separate phase of play and it stood.
Dier’s march into the White Hart Lane stands on Wednesday night has been football’s big talking point all week outside the coronavirus threat.
Erik Lamela is tripped by the Burnley defender in the box which led to the penalty kick which Alli scored to pull level
A lot of eyes were on Tottenham Hotspur’s Eric Dier after he climbed into the crowd following their FA Cup defeat to Norwich
It’s been claimed he did it to protect his brother. Burnley fans were unsympathetic, particularly after he was involved in Spurs conceding the opening goal.
‘Eric Dier, your brother’s a t**t’ they sung. Spurs fans, who had earlier briefly chanted the player’s name stayed muted this time.
The frustration of being second best got to Erik Lamela who was fortunate to get a yellow for a scissors challenge on McNeil. It was an orange, somewhere between red and yellow, but Jonathan Moss opted for leniency.
McNeil’s performance in front of the watching England manager Gareth Southgate was scintillating. With Callum Hudson-Odoi and Marcus Rashford injured, he might have an outside chance to join team-mate Nick Pope for the next set of internationals later this month.
Spurs registered their first shot on target after half-an-hour, Pope catching Lamela’s snapshot.
Tottenham forward Alli scores from the spot to level the scores against Burnley in their Premier League clash on Saturday
Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen is willed back to his feet by his boss as Sean Dyche complains to the official
As a morale-boosting exercise for Tuesday’s big Champions League tie against RB Leipzig, it wasn’t good.
Spurs were glad to reach the interval only one goal behind as Mourinho glared from his dug-out seat. Phil Bardsley fired over with an acrobatic volley after Wood’s knockdown had fallen to him via a block by Dier.
Mourinho abandoned his experiment with 3-4-3 at the interval. Giovanni Lo Celso and Lucas Moura replaced Oliver Skipp and Tanguy Ndombele, Dier moved back to a more familiar midfield role, and Spurs immediately looked better for it.
Within three minutes of the restart, a flowing move involving the two substitutes saw Burnley skipper Ben Mee forced to slide in and catch Lamela.
Referee Jonathan Moss was kept busy during the match, as he was forced to show a number of yellow cards for fouls
Burnley manager Dyche was hoping to get the win over Tottenham in order to overtake them in the Premier League
The infringement was just inside the penalty area and Dele Alli confidently stood up to send Pope the wrong way from the spot.
It was his 50th Premier League goal but his first strike for Spurs in nine matches, a run dating back to January 21.
Burnley appeals for their own penalty soon afterwards when Sanchez barged into the back of Wood in an aerial challenge were waved away though a clash between the pair a couple of minutes later led to a dangerous free-kick on the edge of the Spurs box.
Sanchez made amends by solidly blocking Jeff Hendrick’s curled set-piece. Mourinho was then indebted to Dier for sprinting back and producing a perfectly-timed tackle inside the area when substitute Matej Vydra cut inside Alderweireld and was about to pull the trigger.
Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur have been going through an awful run of form, losing their last four matches
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