Leicester City 2 Tottenham 1
November has turned into a nightmare for Tottenham, with a horrific run of results that looks to have ended for another season their dream of winning the title.
A month that began with the demolition of Real Madrid in the Champions League closed last night with a 2-1 defeat at Leicester City.
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Following Saturday’s home draw to West Bromwich Albion, and the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal the previous week, Tottenham have taken just one point from a possible nine.
At the end of October, Spurs were joint second, level on points with Manchester United and separated only by an inferior goal difference. Today they are fifth - and could be seventh by tomorrow morning if Liverpool and Burnley win their matches tonight.
And should Arsenal beat Huddersfield this evening, the Gunners will end the month four points clear of their north London rivals, having started it four points behind.
“We feel very disappointed in our performance,” said Mauricio Pochettino after losing to Leicester yesterday. “We started the game not in the right way and we conceded the opportunity to them to score. At 2-0 down, it is difficult. We need to improve the way we start.”
Goals from Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez gave the Foxes the lead at half-time, and although Harry Kane pulled one back for Spurs 12 minutes from time, it wasn’t enough.
Spurs had their chances - Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Fernando Llorente all missed good opportunities to score - but in failing to take them, they now trail leaders Manchester City by 13 points, which will stretch to 16 if the Sky Blues beat Southampton tonight.
Berating his side’s performance as “sloppy”, Pochettino added: “We need to learn from this that we need to start every game with the first idea to fight and compete. Leicester showed more than us. Even though we had chances to score and stay in the game, we were poor.”
The win lifts Leicester into the top half of the table, and the Foxes are now ninth, one spot behind Watford, who were beaten 4-2 at home by Manchester United.
The visitors cruised into a 3-0 lead thanks to a brace from Ashley Young and an Anthony Martial strike, but then eased up in the final quarter, allowed Watford to score two quick goals. It required a stunning effort from Jesse Lingard four minutes from time to put the result to bed, but Jose Mourinho was annoyed at the way his team took their foot off the pedal.
“We should be smoking cigars but then we were in trouble,” said the United manager. “Out of nothing, they got a penalty for 3-1, then it was a different game.
“It was an easy match to win comfortably. At 3-2, the game is in the balance then Lingard had the initiative to kill the game.”
The result leaves United five points behind City - who have a game in hand - and six clear of third-placed Chelsea, who host Swansea this evening.
Premier League results and fixtures
Last night’s Premier League results
- Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Crystal Palace 0
- Leicester City 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
- Watford 2 Manchester United 4
- West Bromwich Albion 2 Newcastle United 2
Tonight’s Premier League fixtures (7.45pm unless stated)
