In-form Spurs hosted Sheffield United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, with Ange Postecoglou having won the Manager of the Month Award for August in recognition of his side’s superb start to the season.
Expectant Spurs fans would have hoped the well-known Manager of the Month curse wouldn’t hit on Saturday afternoon, as the visitors were looking to get their first win of the season against an unbeaten Tottenham side.
TOT: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Sarr, Bissouma, Kulusevski, Maddison, Solomon, Son,
SHU: Foderingham, Basham, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, Bogle, Hamer, Vinicius Souza, McAtee, Thomas, McBurnie, Archer
The favourites tag would have sat comfortably with a confident Spurs team, but despite a number of chances in the first half, they couldn’t find a way past the inspired Wes Foderingham in the Blades‘ goal. Son Heung-min, who has rediscovered his goalscoring form of late, was the first to be denied by the United shotstopper before Yves Bissouma also missed a golden opportunity.
They may have been dominating possession, but Postecoglou’s men couldn’t find a way through a stubborn Sheffield United defence as the half-time whistle approached. The visitors had a sole chance courtesy of James McAtee, but both teams went into the interval goalless despite Tottenham dominance.
It was the same story into the second half as Spurs continued their assault on the opposition area and spent a lot of the second half camped in Sheffield territory, but their final pass consistently let them down as the Tottenham faithful were beginning to get restless.
Openings came and went for the hosts as Foderingham continued to deny Spurs, and they were made to pay after 72 minutes. Tottenham let a speculative long throw from Robinson bounce in the penalty area, and the ball found its way on to the left boot of Gustavo Hamer who hammered home off the far post to give Sheffield United an unexpected lead.
The pattern of the game resumed, as Spurs went looking for an equaliser but were only met with a wall of Blades defenders as Paul Heckingbottom’s side clung on bravely.
Twelve minutes of injury time injected new hope into the Spurs fans and eight minutes into added time, Tottenham equalised in dramatic fashion thanks to a Richarlison header from a corner.
But there was still time for more, as from the kick off, Spurs worked the ball down the left hand side, and Richarlison turned provider for Dejan Kulusevski to smash home to send the home fans into delirium with 100 minutes on the clock.
Scenes went from bad to worse for United, as Oli McBurnie was sent off for his second yellow card offence as Spurs celebrated wildly. The late 2-1 victory maintained Tottenham’s unbeaten record as they sit fourth in the Premier League ahead of next weekend’s North London Derby. Sheffield United remain in 14th ahead of hosting Newcastle United next weekend.
