Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Simon Bird

Tottenham's flaky nature on display in Burnley defeat just days after Man City win

Blow away Manchester City at the weekend, flop to bottom-three Burnley four days later.

The flaky nature of Antonio Conte’s side was on display as they were out-muscled by Sean Dyche’s men who are fighting for their Premier League lives.

At the Etihad on Sunday Spurs were inspired by Harry Kane, and brilliant.

But 44 miles further north at Turf Moor, it was gritty defender Ben Mee who was star of the show.

Mee forced home a 71st minute headed winner from Josh Brownhill’s free-kick and snatched a valuable lifeline out of the bottom three for Burnley.

They are now just two points behind fourth-bottom Newcastle United with a game in hand, so tight is the battel down at the bottom.

Tottenham were beaten 1-0 by Burnley (Action Images via Reuters)

It is tight at the top for Spurs too, but not tight enough, with this wretched, toothless performance damaging their hopes of a top-four Champions League finish or even European football.

It was a sparky second-half display from Burnley, whose crowd erupted at the final whistle, anticipating another great escape.

It looked like Spurs just didn’t fancy the wintery battle.

Just one shot on target in the first half made for a tame spectacle played out in increasingly atrocious weather.

Josh Brownhill fired a volley on goal which was a comfortable save for Hugo Lloris.

Apart from that, defences were on top, as Turf Moor was battered by wind and heavy rain.

The absence of Maxwel Cornet was a major blow for Burnley but Dyche’s relegation-threatened side battled well to frustrate Harry Kane.

They had good territory and set pieces without opening Spurs up with new signing Wout Wieghorst a handful.

Spurs, unchanged from their win at City, were a shadow of that side until livening up immediately after the break. Conte’s side couldn’t get going for 45 minutes and were more hampered by the storm - with the ball starting to stick in the water - than Burnley.

Harry Winks was brought on at half time, and Harry Kane hit the bar from Heung-Min Son’s free-kick, and tested Nick Pope with a long-range drive.

Ben Mee powered a header on target from Dwight McNeil’s free-kick, but the rain continued to swirl in from the Lancashire hills, as Spurs improved.

Summing up the sort of game it was, Mee then blocked a blockbuster shot from Dejan Kulusevski with a diving header.

Jack Cork, Josh Brownhill and Ashley Barnes of Burnley celebrate (Getty Images)

Kulusevski then curled a great chance around the post.

Jay Rodriguez headed straight at Lloris when either side would have resulted in a goal, just before Mee forced home.

Burnley should have had a second with seven minutes to go. Mee twice slashed across goal and Rodriguez touched over the bar from six yards out.

Sub Lucas Moura blazed over when unchallenged from the edge of the box.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.