Are we getting there?

Are we getting there?

By Don Scully

Well, according to some, we won’t even get into the top four. Others look at it more positively and look at our challengers (along with our chances) and say it is all to play for. Manchester United are all over the place and have currently the same points as us and only one goal difference in the bag. Chelsea have been hit and miss this season and could quickly drop away – we have six points less than them. As for Arsenal… well, what about them? Let us not concentrate on deadwood. Let us look at what matters.

Even though our victory in the League over strugglers Norwich was our first this year, there are positive signs (what positive signs? We won… oh, yeah!). The transfer window is still open and there is much talk about adding a striker and maybe another to what we’ve already purchased in this transfer window. Get it right and things could be looking up. We’ve got Mourinho and his team of experts putting the Spurs Jigsaw into a formation that is coherent and challenging.

Next up will be Manchester City, and to be fair (or not) they haven’t been firing on all cylinders this season (they’ve lost five to our eight). When we last met them, at the beginning of the season, we held them to a draw at their ground (2-2).

We started off the Norwich game with Lloris in goal, to everybody’s delight (apart from Gazzaniga). He had been out since dislocating his elbow against Brighton on 5 October and was a surprise inclusion in the starting XI for this game. However, Lloris was mostly untested and perhaps should have done better for Pukki's penalty having guessed the right way, but it was pleasing for Mourinho to see him come through the 90 minutes unscathed.

Victory - our first in the Premier League since beating Brighton on Boxing Day - means our side move up to sixth. As for Norwich… well, they remain bottom and six points adrift of safety.

Again, because of the absence of Kane, our attacks have been telling, as we have failed to score in the Premier League this year going into the Norwich game.

Our build-up play was laborious, and on the few occasions, we did manage to find gaps in the Norwich defence, but our chances were wasted, as Erik Lamela fired straight at Tim Krul and Son Heung-min drove into the side-netting. The clock was ticking down to the interval when Alli (38^th minute) struck gold. He provided a moment of quality to break the deadlock.  After 398 minutes and 48 shots, we had finally scored our first goal of 2020.

We have the joint-worst record for clean sheets in the Premier League - level on three with opponents Norwich - so a one-goal lead was always likely to leave us nervous. So many times our opponent has come back at us and spoiled the party.  And what happened? Up pops Norwich to equalised with 20 minutes remaining, Pukki's penalty - his 11th goal of the season - looking to have done enough to earn the battling Canaries a draw. But the Son was out. He – Son -  aided by a touch of fortune with a significant deflection from Alli's cross, got the winner with 11 minutes to go and ensured we took the spoils. Yes,  three points were in the bag. Which just about keep us in the hunt for the top four.

The fans, staff and management were ecstatic. We live to fight another day.

We can now smile and prepare for our next match. Every game has to be taken step by step. We are close to touching distance, but we need to improve. While the others continue getting their knickers in a twist.

Apart from Kane, there are other players on the horizon, who are getting nearer to recovery and with one or two players added in the transfer window, we could have a half-decent squad. Putting Liverpool to one side, there is nobody out there we should be frightened off (and both Liverpool games we could have won if the wind had been blowing in our direction). Of course, we could face Liverpool again in either the FA Cup or Champions League (or even their finals). Now, wouldn’t that be mouthwatering? Revenge at the highest level.

All to play for...