Tottenham Hotspur 1 - West Bromwich Albion 1

Date:	Monday 25th April 2016
Competition:	Barclays Premier League
Spurs: 6.1
WBA: 7.3	Myhill 7.6, Dawson 7.5, McAuley 7.3, Olsson 7.7, Evans 6.8, Yacob 7.3, Fletcher 6.8, Sessegnon 7.3 (Sandro, 90 5.9), Gardner 7.0, McClean 6.5, Rondón 7.1 Unused subs: Palmer, Chester, Anichebe, Lambert, Roberts, Leko Manager: Tony Pulis 6.8
Scorers:	Dawson (33 og); Dawson (73)
Referee:	Mike Jones (Chester) 5.5
Attendance:	35,923 Home Fans 5.5 Away Fans 7.6

Summary:

Albion never fail to spring the odd surprise, and tonight they came away from White Hart Lane with a point that put a severe dent in Spurs' hopes of catching Leicester City at the top.

The hosts were well on top in the first half with 72% possession but despite hitting the woodwork twice it took until just after the half hour mark for their pressure to bear fruit, Christian Eriksen's free kick squirming under Craig Dawson's body and through Boaz Myhill's legs. As has often been the case, Albion had failed to register a shot on target by half time.

But they clearly had a rocket from Tony Pulis during the break, because they turned the tables on their hosts with a much improved display, drawing level after 73 minutes when Dawson made amends and headed home from Craig Gardner's corner kick after Salomon Rondon had forced a fingertip save from Hugo Lloris.

The point lifted Albion into their favourite thirteenth place and stretched Leiceter's lead at the top to seven points with just three games left to play.

Brendan Clegg:

Earlier today I was quite optimistic. Our direct approach has tended to match up quite well against high pressing sides - often because as they commit players forward to press us high we don’t have to adjust our style and just hit the long angled balls. See Spurs, Liverpool etc earlier this season.

On seeing the starting lineup I was worried because I couldn’t see how we would get out. With no Saido in the team due to injury and no Mozza or McManaman in the squad I couldn’t see how we could get up the pitch.

The opening 20 minutes represented the wort of my fears. We sat very deep, conceded possession, left Rondon totally isolated and looked like we could be in for a real hiding.

In fairness to Pulis after 20 minutes of riding our luck we pushed up a bit and began to try and press Spurs. Pulis switched Sess and McClean to disrupt Rose and Walker and it seemed to help. We began to get into the game without looking a threat – at least getting further up the pitch.

A few very poor decisions – really obvious fouls on Fletcher – went against us and it didn’t seem like we’d ever get a free kick in their half. Spurs scored from a very soft free kick – a bit flukey and the quality of the delivery undid us.

From then both before and after half time on I have to say we showed real courage. The goal probably did us a favour in that we went out to have a go – pressed high and got into their faces. This wasn’t without risk and there were some moments where we might have gone two down but for fortune or great defensive play.

All over the pitch it was if we abandoned any real plan and just rolled up sleeves, went man-to-man all over the pitch and every player fought for every 50-50 with real intensity. It wasn’t high on quality but through heart and effort we earned opportunities and nicked a standard Pulis set-piece goal.

Rondon ran and fought their whole back four, Gardner and McClean charged around the pitch covering ground high up and offered support at every opportunity. Yacob regularly gambled into no-man’s land, often getting that vital foot in but frequently being left treading water as Spurs ran in behind him. Behind our midfield Dawson, McAuley, Olsson and Evans went to war – every challenge was like a cup final and what they lacked in quality they made up for in commitment.

In truth we might have nicked it.

I’m as big a critic of Pulis as anyone but you’ve only got to look at that teamsheet to see a list of players who will fight for everything and give you everything. It’s fair to say that even Sess, probably the only artist in the team, put a real shift in.

A bit of pride restored. West Ham will be a very different game.

Myhill – 6 Some great saves, not always as commanding and the goal was soft.
Dawson – 7 Goal neutral, he battled hard, headed everything and supported forward play well as the game wore on.
McAuley – 8 Some great recovery challenges against the league’s best forward and so much fight.
Olsson – 8 When you’re in a rut and can’t get results, leaders like him drive everyone on. The odd bit of poor play on the ball but totally committed in everything.
Evans – 7 Driven out of auto-pilot of the last few games, his quality on the ball even out of position improved us and got McClean on the ball more.
Fletcher – 6 Really tried but after missing out on a few obvious fouls he struggled with their athleticism although pushed us up well.
Yacob – 6 Walked a fine line all game but always just did enough.
Sess – 6 Once we got the supply going he had the beating of Rose at will and looked a threat.
Gardner – 7 Ran through walls for us. Was often terrible on the ball but never stopped plugging away.
Howling Mad McClean – 7 Did a huge job on Walker and Rose at different periods. Ran himself into the ground. Sometimes the decision making was awful but like Gardner is an ideal underdog.
Rondon – 7 He won most first balls, battled away all game and really covered the yards without always showing the best quality. Has done well in both games against Spurs.
Sandro – Wasn’t on long enough but covered a good area of the pitch without having to move, always a bonus.

Steve Fereday:

A big thanks to the Spuds. I am in the money as I bunged on Leicester in November. Great second half performance, and disappointed not to have won it, especially as I put a bung on daft bookies offering 16/1 for a Baggies win tonight, and we could have nicked it as they were brickin it at the end.

My Arsenal mate was sending me texts every minute telling me how good we were. The lying bastard.