Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte was once again animation personified as he almost kicked every ball on the touchline as he constantly directed his troops. A third successive home Premier League win sees Tottenham close on the top four following a 3-0 win over Norwich City but Conte knows his team must still improve in many areas.
Tottenham Close On Top Four As Ben Davies and Lucas Moura Shine
No Goal for Harry Kane as Lucas Moura, Davinson Sanchez and Son Heung-Min Score
Harry Kane remains with only one goal in the Premier League in the 2021/22 season but it wasn’t for the want of trying. A couple of long-range strikes ended up straight at Tim Krul and a chip in the first half drifted well wide when for England it may have drifted inside the post instead such is his differing fortunes for club and country. Fortunately for Kane, his struggles in front of goal mattered not as Lucas Moura, Davinson Sanchez and Son Heung-Min all grabbed the goals that put a spirited Norwich side rock bottom of the Premier League.
Norwich’s Wasted Chances
It was Norwich who should have taken the lead when Adam Idah robbed Sanchez of the ball only for Teemu Pukki to be denied by Hugo Lloris and it was to be the story of the game as Norwich had chances but wasted them whereas Tottenham, who themselves have been shot-shy recently, were clinical in front of goal.
Lucas Moura opened the scoring in the ninth minute with an outrageous drive that left Krul with no chance as it flew high into his top left corner. It was just Lucas’ 18th Premier League goal for Spurs since moving to North London in 2018 but when he does get on the scoresheet he tends to do it in style. His hat trick against Ajax in the 2019 Champions League semi-final has ensured he will always be a Spurs legend but if he can start finding the net on a regular basis he could be a huge asset in the new Conte era at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Conte was pleased with his goal and all-round contribution but did state in his post-match press conference he wants to see Lucas on the scoresheet more often: “Lucas has great quality and surely my expectation is to see much more goals like this, but good performance with and without the ball.”
The Resurgence of Ben Davies
Since becoming Tottenham manager Conte has favoured playing Ben Davies as a left centre-back, a position he has played regularly for the Welsh National team and he has quickly become a player to rely on for the Italian. Against Norwich, it was another solid performance and Conte was quick to praise his attitude and performances: “Ben is one of these players, he shows great solidity and plays well defensively. I’m happy for him. We are talking about a really good person, a good guy. He’s always really focused and concentrated. He played well.”
Tottenham Close On Top Four
Spurs next face Brighton and Hove Albion at the AMEX Stadium just two points from fourth place and with a game in hand on West Ham United who currently hold that position. Conte will have been happy to not concede for a second successive game but Norwich did get round the back on occasions and against better opposition may have found the scoreline less flattering than it was in the end.
The top four is back in sight for Spurs but for Norwich, their lack of quality in the final third coupled with a poor goal difference of -23 needs to be addressed by Dean Smith otherwise for all of their endeavours they will be heading back to the Championship once more.
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