Match Report: Burnley 2 Spurs 5 – a work in progress!!

Match Report: Burnley 2 Spurs 5 – a work in progress!!

For the game against Bournemouth, I predicted a 4-0 win, but we only managed 2-0. So, I thought… be a bit less enthusiastic… therefore I went for 2-0, and the sods decided to score five past the Clarets… "It is all done in the best possible taste," as Kenny Everett would say as Cupid Stunt!

There is no games for two weeks – because of international football. So, until our next game in two weeks, we shall stay 2nd in the League – undefeated. This means we are on the same points (10) as the Scousers, Spammers and the Arsenic. City have 12 points, as they haven't dropped any and stand at the top of the League as proud flamingos wabbling on their one leg, while the rest wait and hope that they can eventually kick their standing leg out from under them.

The journey…

The journey up to Burnley took us over three hours. We stopped for something to drink and eat at a North's version of a restaurant. A North's restaurant is similar to a Witherspoon (the difference is that a restaurant is where you pay after you have had your meal, as they expect a better clientele, while a down market food hall/ pub expects you to make a run for it, so want the money upfront, before you put mouth to trough, so to speak).

Once we fed ourselves from the trough, we made our way to Burnley Cricket Ground (next to the football club), parked up (£10)… walked around to the ground and waited to be let in. Once in, we met old and familiar friends (Janet, Steve, to name but two) and settled down to our seats. Janet then came over to take a picture of the three of us.

Mel swapped seats with me so I could be on the end (because of my knee, I just had a knee operation, well, I say, "just," it was three months ago).

The game…

Once the game started, it only took 4 minutes for Foster to score for Burnley. Did we feel deflated? No, unlike last season, there was a feeling of optimism and confidence in the air. And we didn't have to wait long for us to equalise—twelve minutes, exactly. Son got our first goal on his way to a hat trick. And when that went in, we were out of our seats (metaphorically speaking, as we were already standing), back thumbing, hands clasping, hugging and even plastic kangaroos throwing (true!!!) – G'day Bruce! Anybody would have thought we just had won the League. And Son's goal was the start of an avalanche of goals for us.

Yes, Son scored a hat-trick as we recovered from a goal down to thrash Burnley at Turf Moor and continue our unbeaten start to the Premier League season. That is one draw (Brentford) and three wins (United, Bournemouth & Burnley). Only City took all 12 points to sit proudly over their challengers.

Dominated…

Lyle Foster scored a goal to give the Clarets an early lead, but Son's finish restored parity 12 minutes later, and we never looked back.

We controlled the rest of the first half, and Cristian Romero's curling effort from the edge of the box completed the turnaround on the stroke of half-time. As the whistle went, we sat in our seats, chatted, laughed and speculated on what the next 45 minutes would give us. Whatever we thought, it ended up being a lot better.

James Maddison continued his fine start to the campaign with a peach of a goal nine minutes into the second half, the former Leicester man curling beyond James Trafford after Burnley had gifted the visitor's possession inside their own half.

Second half…

Son side-footed past Trafford for his second – again, we rose to the occasion and fisted the air – but Son wasn't finished yet, as he completed his treble with a low strike after latching on to Pedro Porro's delightful through ball.

We took our foot off the throttle near the end, only for Josh Brownhill's goal to pull one back for Burnley in stoppage time, but it was no more than a consolation.

Thoughts…

Fulham knocked us out of the EFL Cup on Tuesday because we made nine changes; if we had the players that played in this game, we would be talking League Cup finals. But there is always the FA Cup!

When the final Son goal went in, everybody charged forward, forcing me downwards and almost forcing my bad leg down and into an awkward position… luckily for me, kind folks grabbed me and saved me from any serious damage.

As for Burnley, they remain without a point this season.

We were punished for our slow start at Turf Moor, but Son sparked us into life with his first of the game before putting the finishing touches to yet another excellent showing. 

Ange Postecoglou has worked miracles since coming to Tottenham. The players love him and want to work for him, buying into his attacking style of play. Even the fans love him. When he was at Celtic, he lost his first three games… we expected something like that here… but instead, he got the supporters singing, "We've got our club back". He is taking us back to the days when we played entertaining football and even won trophies. Hopefully, he will do something – eventually – that only two people in our history managed to do, and that is win us the League… Arthur Rowe was the first (1951), and Bill Nicholson (in 1961 – he won us the double that year).

After Son equalised, he seemed to have had a soothing effect on the rest of his teammates, steadying their nerves.

We took full advantage of the spaces afforded to us by our opponents and could have won by a more handsome margin.

As for Maddison…

He delivered another influential display in midfield, going close to getting on the scoresheet in the first half before curling home magnificently in the early stages of the second. He has been brilliant for us since arriving from Leicester. I recently read that Chelski could have gone in for him but decided not to because of his age (age!!!? He is only 26). It seems they didn't want anybody older than 25. They made the right decision… We sit 2^nd in the League before the international break, while Pochettino's rude boys sit in 12^th place, only winning one game, drawing one and losing two. Yes, Pochettino definitely made the right decision. Maybe at heart, he is still a Spurs person… thinking, "While I am in this shit hole, I'll do anything possible to keep these Russian bears below the Kings of White Hart Lane…" Arrrhhhhh… isn't that lovely!! Once Tottenham at heart… always Tottenham at Heart… unless you are Sol Campbell.

Son…

Saturday belonged to Son, who scored his first hat-trick since a 6-2 victory over Leicester in September last year, and his fourth in the Premier League, to lift us to second in the early developing Premier League table.

Postecoglou's comments on Son: "Sonny was outstanding, he's been an outstanding leader, with how he presents himself every day in training. He led our press today - and then he has the quality to take his chances. I'm really pleased for him."

This victory means our new manager, along with Harry Redknapp, Tim Sherwood and Antonio Conte, have all picked up ten points in our opening four matches in charge.

Burnley have lost their opening three top-flight games for a fourth time after the 1920-21, 1927-28, and 2020-21 seasons. The good news for their fans is that none of those campaigns ended in relegation. But that doesn't mean it will be so this time around. We used to have a saying, "When the year ends in one, we will win a trophy," until Daniel Levy and Joe Lewis came to our club and turned everything on its head. Now the fans sing, "When the year ends in any number, we will win fuck all while Levy and ENIC are in charge." But are things about to change?

After the final whistle, the players made their way over to our end. We then gave them a magnificent cheer and applauded their heroic endeavours, and it didn't stop until they walked off the pitch and out of sight. We sat back in our seats, waited for the others to go, then returned to Mel's car.

After Mel dropped me off in Cheltenham, Janette and I stayed up to watch MOTD. After that, or after the Spurs game, I fell asleep. It had been a long and emotional day. I got up at 7.30, was picked up at 8.15 and finally arrived home at about 9.30 pm. What we fans endure while following our team all over the country… and when we were in Europe, we travelled all over the continent.

Up the Spurs!

COYS!

Glenn

 

Janet, Mel and myself at the 5-2 victory at Turf Moor.