1 month ago
Thirty minutes earlier kick-off Roberto De Zerbi wandered connected to nan transportation pinch his achromatic padded gilet zipped precocious to nan cervix successful nan look of a chill Wearside wind.
By nan last whistle that stiff breeze had dropped a small but so, too, had nan morale of Tottenham and their caller manager. In cementing nan visitors’ position successful nan bottommost 3 pinch six games to go, Nordi Mukiele’s 2nd half victor ensured Régis Le Bris’s Sunderland roseate to 10th. De Zerbi’s unusually subdued assemblage connection suggested he was shivering inside.
Those Tottenham officials who patronised their promoted Stadium of Light counterparts pinch talk of a 1 play apical tier enactment astatine pre-season Premier League meetings must wonderment really they sewage things truthful horribly wrong.
De Zerbi, Tottenham’s 3rd head of a season, wants his Tottenham players to move backmost clip and reprise nan precocious consequence attacking shot they played nether Ange Postecoglou. On this debased octane grounds that remains very overmuch an aspiration.
First though they request to retrieve from nan Tudor property but nan bully news for their caller head present was that Antonin Kinsky – recalled for nan first clip since his kamikaze 17-minute cameo astatine nan commencement of his team’s 5-2 Champions League conclusion astatine Atlético Madrid – appeared connected a imaginable redemption arc. Despite destiny decreeing that his day would extremity painfully – and early – aft a second-half caput wounded necessitated his replacement pinch nan inexperienced Brandon Austin, Kinsky could astatine slightest clasp that heavy bandaged caput precocious arsenic Spurs boarded their return formation to London.
With Guglielmo Vicario recovering from hernia surgery, Kinsky knew Sunderland would purpose to unnerve him astatine each opportunity. Sure capable Granit Xhaka swiftly unleashed a viciously inswinging area intelligibly intended to trial nan visiting goalkeeper’s reflexes but Kinsky responded by palming it calmly complete nan bar.
Tottenham concisely thought they had won a punishment aft Omar Alderete’s perceived foul connected Randal Kolo Muani but replays showed that Alderete had won nan shot pinch nan Tottenham guardant throwing a limb retired successful an effort to unit a spot kick.
If it was nary astonishment that nan referee, Rob Jones, reversed that determination aft a video adjunct referee review, Kolo Muani was near to bespeak that, had he only played it straight, nan subsequent, precocious sliding situation from Luke O’Nien that near him sandwiched betwixt nan 2 defenders mightiness person prefaced a morganatic penalty.
Although Richarlison sporadically glittered successful nan visiting onslaught he grounded to make nan astir of a mates of half chances arsenic Sunderland edged a tight first half. While Micky van de Ven and his co defenders struggled to header pinch Brian Brobbey’s formidable attacking physicality nan Dutch centre guardant champion described arsenic a quality bulldozer grounded to make nan astir of Enzo Le Fée’s clever passes and, barroom 1 good prevention from Brobbey, Kinsky remained comparatively untested.
Not that De Zerbi appeared precisely enamoured pinch his caller charges. When Dominic Solanke’s little than incisive finishing touch aft Alderete deflected a transverse into his way allowed Robin Roefs to prevention a aureate chance successful first-half stoppage time, nan Italian pulled nan hood of his achromatic gilet truthful precocious complete his caput that it covered his eyes. Perhaps deciding nan position was simply excessively achy to contemplate De Zerbi kept it location for a while.
It took a tremendous artifact connected O’Nien’s portion to contradict Richarlison a extremity aft Lucas Bergvall had bisected Le Bris’s defence but Tottenham were struggling to exert Roefs connected his return to Sunderland’s first XI from injury.
Mukiele was besides backmost astatine right-back aft a spell connected nan sidelines and, connected nan hour, nan erstwhile Paris Saint-Germain defender blemished Kinsky’s afternoon. It was not nan goalkeeper’s responsibility that Mukiele’s 20-yard shot, dispatched aft he trim successful from nan right, utterly changed guidance aft taking nan heftiest of deflections disconnected Van de Ven but he looked arsenic if he could person done without nan resultant despair.
As nan statement arsenic to whether that onslaught should beryllium recorded arsenic Mukiele’s aliases a Van de Ven ain extremity continued, nan situation facing De Zerbi grew erstwhile Brobbey’s push prefaced a wince inducing collision betwixt Kinsky and Cristian Romero. It, successful move led, to nan withdrawl of some players, nan second successful tears, nursing a limb wounded – not to mention fury connected De Zerbi’s portion that Brobbey, already booked, was not shown a 2nd yellowish card.
By now a raft of visiting substitutes were connected nan transportation but, still, Tottenham struggled to inquire Le Bris’s defence galore searching questions.
