Tottenham were beaten 2-1 by Burnley at Turf Moor
Saturday 23 February 2019 17:20, UK
Harry Kane made a scoring return in Tottenham's 2-1 defeat to Burnley but Heung-Min Son's form seemed to suffer as a consequence...
Harry Kane marked his return from injury with a goal but it was not enough to prevent Tottenham's 2-1 defeat to Burnley at Turf Moor. The result all but ends the faint title hopes that had been reignited by a run of four consecutive wins. This was their first defeat in the Premier League since losing to Manchester United, the game in which Kane was injured.
Is that a coincidence? Nobody would dare suggest that Spurs are better without their star striker but perhaps there is a question mark over whether or not Heung-Min Son is better when Kane is around. The Korean came into this game in some of the best form of his career having scored in Spurs' last four matches but he barely troubled Burnley.
One blocked shot was the closest that Son came to continuing his scoring run and that is unusual for him. He had four shots against Leicester, five against Watford and five more against Newcastle in Tottenham's previous three Premier League games. Against Burnley, he was able to manage only four touches in the opposition penalty box let alone shots.
"Burnley were stronger than us and that disappointed me," said Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino afterwards. "It was never under control the game and then we conceded. We scored and then we conceded again. We created some chances, more than Burnley, but it was not enough, that didn't happen and we need to find more."
Son had to adjust his positioning in order to accommodate Kane as the team's striker once more and it seemed to affect his fluency. In recent weeks, Pochettino has switched between a back three and a back four, using Lucas Moura centrally against Newcastle and Fernando Llorente against Leicester. But this latest tweak to the formation did not work.
Kane's goal was a reminder of his quality and came after he had already tested Tom Heaton with a brilliant long-range effort, but Tottenham seemed too reliant on him. He had three shots on target in all, as many as his team-mates put together with Serge Aurier, Christian Eriksen and substitute Erik Lamela the only other players to force a save from Heaton.
It is to Pochettino's great credit that Tottenham were able to maintain their form without their most important player. After this surprising slip-up, the challenge now will be to ensure that this momentum is not lost altogether. Spurs travel to Chelsea on Wednesday night before the north London derby at Wembley on Saturday afternoon.
