Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Huddersfield Town: Complete performance by Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur extended their unbeaten match streak to 17 by putting on a complete performance against visiting Huddersfield Town, taking all three points by the final score of 2-0.

First Half

Spurs looked from the start to be in the mood, even though Huddersfield early on tried to match them press for press. It didn’t work, and Huddersfield looked outclassed within the first couple of minutes. Spurs had a few good chances early on, but Huddersfield keeper Jonas Lössl was doing his best Tim Krul impersonation for the day by making several good stops early on.

Honestly, the biggest highlight in the first 25 minutes besides Spurs basically pounding shot after shot at Lössl was official Mike Jones getting hurt and forced to sit on a chair as fourth official while the action carried on.

The breakthrough for Spurs came in the 27th minute. After a poor throw-in by the visitors, Dier flipped a ball to Kane, which led to a one-time touch to Dele Alli. Dele took just a touch to gather himself, looked up, and saw Heung-Min Son streaking on the left flank. Catching the defenders off guard, Son took his time, rounded Lössl, and fired a left-footed shot into the side netting making it 1-0.

Spurs dominated the remainder of the half, hitting as high as 80% possession at one point and showing zero signs of allowing Huddersfield into the match. If it weren’t for Lössl, this match could have easily been 4-0 by halftime.

Second Half

After being run off the pitch for most of the first half, Huddersfield came out with life in the first ten minutes of the second stanza. The best chance for the visitors to draw the match level came in the 53rd minute when Tom Ince, who was linked to Tottenham for about 15 straight transfer windows, broke free and fired a rocket at Hugo Lloris from about 22 yards out. The French International made it look easy as he parried it away and went back to playing Angry Birds in net on his phone.

Just a minute later came the second and, ultimately, backbreaking goal. Harry Kane intercepted an awful back pass and pushed down the right flank. Firing a towering curler, he not only found Son again, but found him in stride on a one hop. The Korean International didn’t have to slow down one bit as he headed it past Lössl to make it 2-0.

Spurs spent the rest of the match holding possession, keeping Huddersfield in check and preventing any real counter attacks. Hugo ended up with three saves on the day but was not truly tested other than Ince’s blast. Kane had a couple of opportunities but somehow stayed off the scoresheet. That assist more than makes up for it, though, as he again proves that he’s not just a striker, but truly a complete player.

Thoughts on the match

• What happens when all of Carty Free has scheduling and technical issues? You end up with a late recap. My laptop BSOD’d, Alex couldn’t get access to his, and Dustin was MIA. I’m writing this from home on about two hours of sleep and a nap sounds amazing now.
• Sonny keeps showing his class in every match. That’s 10 on the season for him.
• There was a scary moment at about the 65th minute where it looked like Moose was signaling to the bench, but he played another ten and did not look like he was limping or favoring anything.
• Poor Jan had another goal disallowed. He just can’t win, can he? At least he’s still amazing at defending.
• Aurier and Davies I thought both played well. Davies had some key tackles and Aurier had a good balance in attack and defense all day.
• There were so many chances for more goals in this match. Eriksen’s free kick. Kane having a couple point blank chances. Amazing that it only ended 2-0.
• Bring on Juventus.
• I’m going to sleep.