Bye!
That’s all from me. A brilliant performance from Tottenham against a disappointingly one-dimensional and underwhelming Stoke, and this title is still up in the air. By way of farewell gift, here’s Danny Taylor’s match report:
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Sky have thrust a microphone at a couple of willing Tottenham players. Harry Kane said:
What a performance by everyone. Stoke’s a tough place to come and to win in the manner that we did just shows what kind of team we are. We’re not going anywhere. We scored four but we could have scored six or seven, it’s probably one of our best performances all season. That’s what we can do. We’re ready. We want to be out there. We’re enjoying our football.
And Dele Alli said:
We’ve had the same mentality all season. It’s important that we keep fighting to the end, we’re not going to stop. Keep taking each game as it comes, trying to win every game. There’s no fear. I’m just enjoying playing. There’s nothing to be afraid of when I’m with these boys. Leicester know we’re going to keep fighting. It’s important we don’t focus on their results, and concentrate on what we’re doing.
So, Leicester lead by five points with four games to play. They play Swansea (h), Man Utd (a), Everton (h), Chelsea (a); Tottenham face West Brom (h), Chelsea (a), Southampton (h), Newcastle (a). The title’s (partly) in Chelsea’s hands.
As great as the Leicester story is, Tottenham have been the best team in the Premier League since November by quite a distance
— Greg Stobart (@gstobart) April 18, 2016
Er …
Since 1 November: Leicester P23 51pts, Spurs P23 48pts
Since 1 December: Leicester P20 44pts, Spurs P19 40pts
Since 1 January: Leicester P15 34pts, Spurs P14 30pts
Since 1 February: Leicester P11 26pts, Spurs P10 23pts
Since 1 March: Leicester P7 17pts, Spurs P7 14pts
Since 1 April: Leicester P3 7pts, Spurs P3 7pts
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Final score: Stoke City 0-4 Tottenham Hotspur
90+4 mins: It’s all over, and Spurs had the answer to everybody’s questions tonight.
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90+3 mins: Stoke pass the ball around a bit as the game enters its final seconds, before finally Adam thumps a 40-yard pass straight into touch. One of their better moves of the evening.
90+1 mins: Into the first of three added minutes, and Lloris makes a save! Arnautovic crosses, Joselu sends it towards the corner of goal. Very slowly. Lloris catches.
90 mins: Tottenham’s final substitution sees Son Heung-Min replace Eric Lamela.
89 mins: Chadli bumbles his way through three defenders, the ball rebounding here and there but always to his advantage, and then he lashes the ball over the bar.
Tonight's Stoke-Spurs ref Neil Swarbrick clearly thought: 'I saw what happened to Jon Moss. I'm not getting involved.'
— Paul Hayward (@_PaulHayward) April 18, 2016
87 mins: Stoke cross from the right, and Arnautovic throws a foot at it and only just misses, with a goal likely had he made contact. Which he didn’t.
86 mins: Now Dembélé goes off, and Ryan Mason comes on.
84 mins: Lovely spot from Eriksen, that, to find Alli in space. And that’s Alli’s work done – Chadli is going to replace him.
@Simon_Burnton Spurs playing like mid-season Arsenal, Leicester like Mourinho-era Chelsea? "Like champions" is open to interpretation.
— Chris (@fartingskittles) April 18, 2016
GOAL! Stoke 0-4 Tottenham (Alli, 82 mins)
Rose plays the ball infield to Eriksen and keeps running down the left, taking a couple of defenders with him and not really leaving enough behind. So Eriksen just keeps running, skips into the area, and chips a cross to Alli, who volleys perfectly into the bottom right corner from 15 yards.
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80 mins: The free kick is hoofed into the box, headed back out again, and Arnautovic headbutts Lamela’s carefully-positioned arm as it does so.
79 mins: Adam takes all of three minutes to get himself a booking, for fouling Lamela on the right flank.
77 mins: Alderweireld has a shot from 35 yards. That’s how confident Spurs are. It flies well wide.
@Simon_Burnton most goals scored, least conceded. Best center back and striker in the league. Yet they may not be champions
— IreOfTheIyer (@gashwiniyer) April 18, 2016
Vardy’s got a decent claim on the best striker gong, but otherwise, no quibbles.
76 mins: Stoke make a second substitution. Charlie Adam comes on for Glenn Whelan, an underrated player whose limitations as a makeshift centre-back have been exposed for the last two goals.
74 mins: That’s perhaps a bit harsh on Leicester, whose run of 1-0 wins was pretty impressive. All those clean sheets weren’t won by accident. But not this impressive.
73 mins: Spurs may not overhaul Leicester, but they’re the only team in the land that’s been playing like champions these last few weeks. This has been a near-impeccable performance.
GOAL! Stoke 0-3 Tottenham (Kane, 71 mins)
Spurs counter again. Eriksen to Alli, Alli to Lamela – perfectly timing his run beyond Whelan – and he draws the keeper before squaring to Kane, who has a tap-in and doesn’t miss it!
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Hilarious miss from Alli!
70 mins: How did he not score? The ball’s passed low to Alli. One defender dives at it and fails to cut it out. One defender dives at him and fails to cut him out. Alli turns and runs into the area and across Given, who flops to the ground, leaving the midfielder with an open quarter-of-goal to aim at. He hits the post!
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GOAL! Stoke 0-2 Tottenham (Alli, 67 mins)
The goal kick is flicked from Walker to Lamela and back to Eriksen on the halfway line. He hits a lovely first-time pass down the middle to Alli, who has escaped from Shawcross, controls and chips just over the onrushing Given!
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67 mins: Half a chance there for Spurs, as Rose slides in to tackle Bojan and the ball runs to Joselu on the edge of the area, who hammers high.
65 mins: Stoke get a free kick, deep and on the right, which Arnautovic scoops into the box. It’s headed clear to Whelan, and the fans scream for a shot. He dallies, and then tries a pass that doesn’t come off. Didn’t he once score a screamer at White Hart Lane?
63 mins: Stoke force Lloris into action for the first time in a while, though it’s only to catch a mis-hit right-wing cross which was looping benignly goalwards.
61 mins: Imbula gets the first booking of the day, and I think it’s for kicking the ball away after the referee blew his whistle. You don’t get a lot of kicking the ball aways these days.
58 mins: And another Spurs shot. This time it’s Kane and it’s not very good. Meanwhile we see replays of the corner Spurs took after Lamela’s shot was saved, when Shawcross was emphatically bear-hugging Alderweireld.
57 mins: Another chance for Spurs, and Given saves! Walker flies down the right and crosses towards Eriksen in the middle. The ball’s headed out of his path but it runs instead to Lamela, who takes a touch and then shoots low and hard, and Given deflects it wide!
54 mins: Chance for Spurs! Walker crosses from the right and it’s kind-of-cleared to the edge of the area. Eriksen gets there first and nudges the ball to Alli, who scoops over the bar from just inside the area!
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51 mins: Howls of abuse greet Rose’s next run forward. He crosses high over the area and Walker tries and fails to keep the ball.
49 mins: Danny Rose is played in, surging down the left and into the area, and doesn’t do his popularity in these parts any good at all by falling over for no real reason once he gets into the area. “Cheat! Cheat! Cheat!” scream the fans.
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48 mins: Afellay’s second shot of the half comes when a ball into the box is half-cleared and falls into his path. He takes a touch, runs into the box, and then drags the ball across goal and wide.
46 mins: The first shot of the second half comes from Afellay, and is extraordinarily optimistic, a random swinger with his right foot from 30-odd yards and an unpromising angle. It does not go in.
Peeeeeeep!
46 mins: Stoke get half two under way, and swiftly hoist the ball into the air, and Spurs win the header.
Joselu comes on for Shaqiri, who sustained a minor injury in the first half, we’re told.
The players are back out – and they’re not the same ones that went in.
@Simon_Burnton On R5L they say that - for the first time in living memory - defenders aren't pulling and grabbing in the box. Is this so?
— Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb) April 18, 2016
Most of the grabbing comes when attacking players line up on the edge of the area before a corner, before making a late run to meet the ball. Stoke have been pretty static, I think, and there’s no need to block, pull or grab a run that isn’t happening. And Spurs haven’t had many corners at all.
“I’ve spent most of the first half perusing the Europa League Regulations (after you posted article 3.06 earlier),” writes Andrew. Lucky you! “My highlights from the 90 pages include Article 26 (a club will be fined 500,000 euros if they don’t turn up for the final, but only 10,000 euros if they can’t be bothered playing a qualifying round match) and Annex E (a club must provide a position for a “beauty-shot camera*”). I’m also reassured to read in Annex D that coefficients are calculated to the thousandth and not rounded up.”
* A beauty-shot camera is defined thus: “This fixed camera is mounted high in the stadium to give a panoramic static shot of the stadium.”
Half time: Stoke 0-1 Tottenham
45+2 mins: The referee blows his whistle, and Spurs have done half of the job, while also looking significantly superior to Stoke.
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45+1 mins: Is there ever, except in the case of significant injury, any more or less than one additional minute at the end of Premier League first halves? We should just make it 46 minutes long and be done with it.
45 mins: Alli tries to dance around three defenders on the right touchline. Eventually, after quite a bit of nimble-toed movement, he gives the ball away and … Imbula thumps a 50-yard high-ball towards a diminutive forward, and Spurs have possession again.
42 mins: Eriksen was found by Alli with another lovely backheel flick, and he’s suddenly clean through, inside the area, with only the goalkeeper to beat. He should have passed the ball into the bottom corner, but instead he blasts high and down the middle, and thwacks woodwork.
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42 mins: Eriksen thunders the ball into the bar! He nearly snapped it in two!
40 mins: Shaqiri hits early to Arnautovic, who slides the ball low across the area. He may have been trying to shoot. No other Stoke player is within 30 yards of the ball, though.
38 mins: Stoke have sent in plenty of decent crosses, from open play and set pieces, mainly from the left, but are yet to win a header of note.
37 mins: Spurs break again, Alli playing the ball in front of Walker, who has half a pitch in front of him. The full-back roars towards the penalty area, Lamela and Kane get into position to his left … and then Walker crosses low and hard, straight to Given.
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34 mins: Now Dembélé’s in action again, blasting a 25-yarder a couple of feet high with his left boot.
33 mins: Dembélé cynically stops Bojan from leading a Stoke attack, and isn’t booked for it.
31 mins: Stoke have another corner – they’ve had a few now – and Spurs clear to the half-way line. Muniesa tries to send the ball back upfield but Eriksen charges the clearance down, and for a moment it looks like he, or another Spurs player, will run clear on goal. Then a defender runs into view and pokes the ball back to Given.
@Simon_Burnton why does the Guardian premier league table have Tottenham on 68 points after 34 games when only 20 minutes into game 34?
— Kirsten Minshall (@KirstenMinshall) April 18, 2016
Because it’s a very special as-things-stand, up-to-the-minute, no-flies-on-us table, obvs.
29 mins: Another Stoke shot! A left-wing cross is deflected to Bojan, 16 yards out, and he swings his left foot at it unconvincingly, sending the ball screaming way over the bar.
27 mins: Stoke have a shot! And Lloris makes a save! It’s Arnautovic, who jinks into space 20 yards out and lashes a left-foot shot down the middle of goal. It would have been embarrassing had it gone in, but that’s definitely a save.
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26 mins: Now they do attack! Kind of! Cameron clips the ball into the penalty area and Alderweireld back-heads to safety at the far post, with Bojan lurking behind him.
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24 mins: I saw Stoke a couple of weeks back at Vicarage Road, and they were excellent. Of course, Watford aren’t Tottenham, but still. They’ve started poorly today, and with a quarter of the game played are yet to attack in any convincing sense.
22 mins: Stoke have a throw-in on the right. And then another throw-in on the right. And then Spurs break, and there’s an absolutely lovely Lamela backheel flick on the way. Kyle Walker makes a mess of things, but still, excellent flickery.
18 mins: Stoke get a free kick in the centre circle, and their fans celebrate it deliriously. Their team, however, manage to turn it into a defensive muddle, a charged-down clearance, and an eventual miskick into touch.
15 mins: Stoke win a corner, from which Spurs break. Imbula and Kane compete for a bouncing ball, and the Stoke player waves a foot at it, catching Kane on the thigh as the way down. No free kick is awarded.
13 mins: Lloris mishits a goal kick straight to Afellay, 40 yards from goal, but Stoke parlay possession into no more than a throw-in.
12 mins: Now Alli has a pop from 20 yards, but it’s deflected wide, and the corner comes to nothing.
"Leicester City, we're coming for you" bellow the #THFC fans
— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) April 18, 2016
11 mins: “Stoke fans seem to be booing Danny Rose,” notes Shaun Wilkinson. “Did he also break his leg against them, or not sign for them because he failed a medical? They don’t forget crimes like that up there.” Apparently he dived a couple of times in a match four years ago.
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GOAL! Stoke 0-1 Tottenham (Kane, 9 mins)
There’s no stopping that one! Kane, on the left wing, plays the ball inside to Dembélé, gets the ball back right on the corner of the area, cuts inside and curls in at the far post!
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7 mins: Save! Lamela passes to Kane, who peels away from Shawcross, but the striker’s first touch is poor, his shot is delayed, and Given is close enough to him when it comes to get in the way of it.
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4 mins: Stoke hit the ball long towards Bojan, but Alderweireld stretches to volley the ball off the pitch for a throw-in. “Just going over the pre-match stats about Leicester winning the title,” writes Austin Baird. “Can you confirm that Sunderland can now no longer qualify for the Champions League please?” I hate to break it to you Austin …
3 mins: Now Lamela is tripped, just as he fluffs a pass. He had two team-mates in disconcerting amounts of space, though.
2 mins: So far a couple of people have fallen over for no obvious reason, and Tottenham have been given a free kick on the halfway line, also for no obvious reason.
Peeeeeep!
1min: Tottenham, in light blue top-halves and dark blue bottom-halves, get us under way.
“As a Liverpool fan, what happens if we win the Europa League to qualify for Champions league next year and also finish sixth in the premier league to qualify for the Europa League?” asks Tommy Scott.
I refer you to article 3.06 of the Europa League regulations, Tommy:
The Uefa Europa League titleholder is admitted to the Uefa Champions League, at the entry stage determined by Article 3 of the Regulations of the Uefa Champions League. If the Uefa Europa League titleholder qualifies for the Uefa Europa League through one of its domestic competitions, the number of places to which its association is entitled in the Uefa Europa League is decreased by one. The created vacancy is rebalanced accordingly and priority for the Uefa Europa League is given to the domestic cup winners (in accordance with the entry stage as per the access list).
The players emerge from the tunnel. Lots of ball boys line the pitch holding flags, which are flapping about merrily.
It’s been a disappointing MFN on Sky. The problem with having a current footballer as guest pundit is that they may feel uncomfortable discussing other current footballers but very comfortable talking about themselves, so you lose all the analysis of the weekend games, and have a long chat about nothing very important right now.
Malcolm Lochhead is right: Leicester need eight points to be sure of winning the league, so two wins and two draws would also do the trick.
@Simon_Burnton Two wins and two draws will do it for Leicester Simon. They do not need to win 3/4.
— Malcolm Lochhead (@MalcolmLochhead) April 18, 2016
Mark Hughes says he has brought Shay Given in to protect Jakob Haugaard, and to benefit from his experience and communication skills in what may be a testing fixture:
We’ve done really well against the top five this year. Other teams have come here and caused us problems, but on our day we’ve always said we can be a match for anybody. We’ll have to play well tonight, because Tottenham are in a great run of form and are going to go full pelt at it, so we’ve got to be ready.
“How many points do Leicester need to mathematically win the league?” asks Tommy Scott. Assuming Tottenham win every remaining game, they must win three of their last four games and can do whatever they like with the other.
“While it’s self-evident that the ref was right about the Vardy dive, Carragher is miles wrong about the first booking,” writes David Flynn (Carragher basically defended many of Moss’s decisions, arguing that the West Ham penalty was a dive, but that the referee couldn’t see that, and as he had just given Leicester’s most pully-grabby defenders a warning they should have been a little more careful). “The ref set the standard by letting tackles go at the start and then seemed to randomly decide that the Vardy tackle was the time to change tack completely and punish a challenge that didn’t really warrant a yellow. He might as well have said ‘I’m booking you because other people committed fouls earlier on.’ It’s bad refereeing, which demands the players have a degree of clairvoyance.” Vardy’s first booking was ludicrous, though I only had half an eye on the game and don’t know if it might have been given for persistent foul play.
Fact: when Shay Given made his professional first-team debut, while on loan at Swindon in 1995, Dele Alli was a foetus.
'If we want to win the league, and be in the race for the title to the end of the season, we must win today'
Mauricio Pochettino has been a-chatting to Sky:
It was a good result, Leicester dropped two points, but we need to do our job, if not it’s nothing that Leicester dropped two points. Now it’s in our hands. I think yes, it’s a big opportunity, a big chance for us, to get the three points I think is important. I think the gap is big, and it’s a great opportunity for us to reduce the gap. If we want to win the league, and be in the race for the title to the end of the season, we must win today.
The squad is very conscious about the game. We need to respect Stoke City, because it’s a very good team, they play very well. We expect a very tough game. But the motivation is massive for us, and then we need to deliver our job, and play the way we normally play. But it’s football, and we need to accept [everything] can happen.
They will make our job difficult, because Stoke is a team that shows big quality with the big teams. We need to take the game with all confidence and focus on our job. I repeat it’s in our hands, to do our job and get the three points. We need to fight in every action and try to deserve the three points.
Tim Howard is doing American punditry at the Britannia Stadium, wearing someone else’s coat. The coat of someone significantly smaller than Tim Howard.
Jamie Carragher thinks Jon Moss was “absolutely fantastic”, at least when it came to Jamie Vardy’s second booking, for an absolutely ridiculous and shameless dive, and is generally speaking up for the much-criticised whistleman.
A few changes for Stoke: Marc Muniesa replaces Erik Pieters, who’s suspended. Cameron and Arnautovic are back, and Shay Given, who turns 40 on Wednesday, gets a league debut.
Sky’s coverage has begun, topically, with a little chat about José Mourinho’s departure from Chelsea. About which, Cesc Fábregas says: “José’s biggest problem is he trusted us too much, and we let him down. That was the main reason he had to go, and we feel bad for that.” So there you are.
The teams are in!
#SCFC XI vs Tottenham: Given, Cameron, Shawcross, Wollscheid, Pieters, Whelan, Imbula, Shaqiri, Afellay, Arnautovic, Bojan #MNF
— Sky Sports MNF (@SkySportsMNF) April 18, 2016
#THFC team: Lloris (c), Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Dembele; Lamela, Eriksen, Alli; Kane. #COYShttps://t.co/jIHeadYpc7
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 18, 2016
Things I learned today – a short list of (so far) one thing: referees all have to wear the same tie on a matchday. Although I suppose there’s a chance that nothing was arranged, and they all just happened to all turn up in the same tie, so I haven’t even learned that.
Hilarious Jamie Carragher teaser dept:
MNF is back tonight! A man who had a spell in Spain & came back earlier than expected will join us tonight!!
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) April 18, 2016
Turns out it’s not Gary Neville, but Cesc Fábregas.
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Hello world!
So, here we are then. The game that Kevin Friend couldn’t take charge of, because the powers that be didn’t want everyone talking about a referee instead of actual football if this weekend proved decisive – yep, that worked well – is upon us. Leicester dropped two points yesterday, leaving the door if not exactly open, then at least slightly ajar for Tottenham as they head to the Britannia Stadium this evening. How will the title aspirants handle a cold, wet night at Stoke? Will they cope with the fact that it is expected to be pretty clear, emphatically dry and no worse than mildly chilly? These are just two of tonight’s big questions.
Stoke came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at White Hart Lane back in August. A few weeks later they let Leicester come back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at the Britannia Stadium – this was during Leicester’s early-season comeback-kid stage – and they surrendered pretty meekly when they visited the King Power back in January, losing 3-0, a game in which they conceded more goals than they themselves had shots. They’ve done their bit for the Foxes, in other words, but have they got one more favour in them?
Defeat here would be unthinkable for Spurs. Victory cannot be assumed. There is no result possible that would not be interesting. What more could we ask for?
Kick-off: 8pm BST
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Simon will be here shortly …
However, you can read David Hytner’s story on Mauricio Pochettino saying his Tottenham Hotspur players ought to have statues made of them if they overhaul Leicester City and win the Premier League title.
Oh, and here is our match preview
