Tottenham Hotspur vs Norwich City. Premier League.
Tottenham Hotspur StadiumAttendance57,088.
Match report and highlights as Lucas Moura scores a stunner, and Davinson Sanchez and Heung-Min Son add goals in the second half for Tottenham to seal 3-0 win over Premier League bottom club Norwich and move up to fifth in table
Sunday 5 December 2021 23:06, UK
A stunning goal from Lucas Moura set Tottenham on course for a confidence-boosting 3-0 win over Norwich, which moves them above Arsenal into fifth place in the Premier League.
The Brazilian fired a rocket into the top corner of the Norwich net (10) to open the scoring and - while the visitors should have levelled on the hour mark through Adam Idah - two goals in 10 minutes from Davinson Sanchez (67) and Heung-Min Son (77) wrapped up a third Premier League win in four games for Antonio Conte.
While the Italian's undefeated start in the league goes on - and signs of progress under his management were clear to see - Dean Smith suffered his first loss as Norwich boss on a weekend when the Canaries slipped to bottom place in the table, with Manchester United next up.
Spurs, who turned patches of good play in the first half into an impressive second 45 minutes, are two points off fourth-placed West Ham with a game in hand, although Arsenal could move back above them when they play Everton on Monday Night Football.
In search of some consistency, Conte made just one change from Thursday's win over Brentford, with Japhet Tanganga in for the ill Emerson Royal, but it was Norwich, in a new back-three shape, who got off to the better start, with Teemu Pukki forcing a sharp, low stop from Hugo Lloris inside three minutes.
Oliver Skipp drove through midfield and hit a tame effort from distance as the hosts tried to get to grips with the contest - and then on 10 minutes a moment of pure class gave them the lead.
After some neat build-up play, Moura knocked the ball past Billy Gilmour, played a one-two with Heung-Min Son and, holding off Andrew Omobamidele, rifled a shot into the top corner.
It was just his second goal from outside the box in the Premier League but Moura looked for a second from a similar distance 10 minutes later, although this time a combination of Grant Hanley and Brandon Williams blocked his way.
Spurs were far from fluid but continued to create chances, with Son seeing a shot blocked after a swift move through the middle of the pitch, Ben Davies miscuing after Tim Krul missed a cross, and Kane drifting a lob just beyond the far post with the 'keeper stranded.
Norwich had dominated possession and enjoyed plenty of territory in the first half without carving out a chance as good as Pukki's early sight at goal - but really should have levelled on the hour mark.
Brandon Williams did well to get in down the right but when Pukki diverted his cross at Idah, the forward, making his first Premier League start of the season, couldn't sort his feet out quickly enough to steer the ball on target from six yards out.
Just seven minutes later Spurs were two clear. Krul was at full stretch to tip a Kane shot around his post for a corner, and when the set-piece came in, Son's flick came off Ben Gibson kindly for Sanchez to blast in from close range.
Spurs were flying now and when Skipp, who caught the eye in midfield, played a wall pass for Davies to get into the box, the Welshman picked out Son, who bided his time before firing in low for the third.
Sub Josh Sargent miscued from a Pukki cut-back late on as the visitors tried to come up with a response but Norwich's promising first-half display in the end counted for little, with Spurs suddenly looking like they're on the rise under Conte.
Tottenham boss, Antonio Conte: "I want to say thanks to all the fans that sang my name. On one hand I'm very happy for this, on the other hand I feel a lot of responsibility to our fans. They trust a lot in my work and to listen to my name was good because I have just arrived, only one month I've been here. Maybe it's too early! But I want to show in the future I deserve this.
"I think the good result helps you but I want to deserve the fans, if they decide to sing my name, for my work, for my total involvement in this club, in this situation.
"Lucas scored an amazing goal but he has the quality to score more goals and he has to score more goals. We need this type of situation. In front, we have great quality with the strikers. And Lucas has great quality. Surely, my expectation is to see much more goal after this. But good performance with the ball, without the ball."
Norwich boss, Dean Smith: "I'm disappointed and frustrated because I thought our performance deserved more. There will be lazy punditry that believes it was expected but we were in the game all the time. I'm annoyed at the second goal - we have to defend set pieces better. They were more clinical than we were.
"I felt we were the better team in the first half but sometimes you have to nod your head to the quality. We stuck to our game plan and adapted to a different system for us.
"We didn't want to go gung-ho, but I wanted to play with two up top and create them some problems, which I felt we did as well. Idah will be disappointed with the big chance that came his way, it came at him really quick.
"The performance is a step in the right direction. The scoreline isn't. We have to learn to defend better because the longer you stay in the game the more chances you get to get something out of it."
Sky Sports' Peter Smith:
"Lucas Moura's screamer rightly grabbed the headlines after Tottenham's win over Norwich. It was a thunderbolt to cap a brilliant passage of play from the hosts. But perhaps the most satisfying thing for Conte, as he reflects on the 3-0 win, will be the way his side are beginning to play the way he wants.
"It was a strange first half performance from the hosts, which saw bottom-of-the-table Norwich dominate possession, but in patches Spurs were slick, whether that was instigated by the impressive Oliver Skipp driving through the midfield, or quick link-up play between Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son, reminiscent of their connections at the start of last season.
"In the second half, though, it was a more consistent display, with Spurs taking greater control of the contest. By full-time, with the Spurs fans singing Conte's name, there was an optimistic feeling around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium the team are back on the right path.
"Perhaps Conte has found a way to put the pieces of this Spurs squad into the right places. "In that role specifically, I can get the best out of Ben Davies," Conte said afterwards about the left-sided centre back, as an example, while the balance of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Skipp in midfield looked good, and the front three are beginning to click together.
"It would be wrong to get carried away about a victory over a side which sit 20th in the Premier League, but rather than the result, it was the manner of Tottenham's performance and the feeling around the ground which offers encouragement the Conte era is beginning to take shape."
Spurs host Rennes in their final Europa Conference League group-stage clash on Thursday (8pm), before travelling to Brighton on Sunday December 12 (2pm).
Meanwhile, Norwich entertain Man Utd (5.30pm) on Saturday December 11 in a game you can see live on Sky Sports Premier League.
