Sarr Bright
and a burning Son
Life has intruded this week and delayed my post on the Brighton match. Tonight’s write-up consists of a random collection of thoughts that managed to come out in a roughly chronological fashion…
Kept in by our keeper. Vicario made two fine saves in the first half to keep us in the match. He deflected Danny Welbeck’s curling attempt in the first minute. It nearly fell to Kaoru Mitoma, but the talented left winger who’d recently returned from the Asian Cup couldn’t quite get on it. Mitoma did have a chance later in the half—one created by an ill-advised pass from Vicario—but the keeper saved himself with a one-handed save. (Oh how I’d love for us to get Mitoma next season!)
Did we quietly have a word? After seeing Vicario get blocked out of position again and again on corners, it seemed significant that referee Samuel Barrott flagged Brighton for a foul right away in the second minute. Lewis Dunk was nabbed for taking down his man in the box, not for blocking Vicario, but the home supporters in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium gave a sarcastic cheer for this late-arriving sense of law and order.
Even more significantly, Ange seemed to have assigned James Maddison to the role of blocking men away from his keeper on corners. It had to happen after we’ve seen our Vicario blocked, backed away, and barged into again and again in recent matches. Corner coverage has emerged as perhaps Vicario’s lone weakness of significance, so this remains a point to watch for the rest of the season.
What’s that feel like? Pascal Gross converted a penalty in the 17th minute after Mickey van de Ven was whistled for stepping on Welbeck’s foot. Seemed like a soft penalty to me. We had a penalty shout of our own in the 38th minute when Richarlison fed Kulusevksi’s diagonal run into the box and Estupinian seemed to body block him to the ground…but of course we played on and VAR dare not intercede. What is it about Premier League referees that make them so eager to call penalties against us but reticent to award them to us?
Score and bore? Brighton had the balance of play up until the penalty but appeared to fall back into a shell after it. Mourinho & Hove Albion? We played our way back into the match but went to the half down 0-1.
Twinkle twinkle… How we’ve missed Pape Matar Sarr! I think some underestimate how important he is to our team. While he was away at AFCON, our midfield badly missed his dynamic, box-to-box movement. He seemed to hit his stride again in the second half. In the 61st minute, Deki found Sarr darting into the Brighton box. The 21-year-old Sengalese sensation tried to square it to Richarlison. Dunk deflected it off the post, but Sarr made like a striker to slot it in with his left foot from a tight angle. For his midfield presence and his stellar goal, Sarr is our USMOTM. There’s a Saaaarr…maaaan…magic on the ball…
Score and bore 2? Soon thereafter, our captain and talisman, recently returned from duty with South Korea, made his return to the pitch, coming on for Timo Werner, as Brennan Johnson came on for Rodrigo Bentancur and Deki switched to a central position. (Aside from his performance at Old Trafford, Lo Lo has been lackluster since his return from injury.) At that point, we were thinking, Right, let’s run at them! But once we equalized, the pitch seemed to tilt back toward the visitors, who had their chances to regain the lead. But things remained knotted at 1, and when Højbjerg skied his attempt from outside the box in the 4th minute of added time, we seemed destined for a single point from the whole affair.
Sonsational! But as we’ve become accustomed to with the likes of Bale and Eriksen and Dele and Kane and Son, a moment of stardust can turn the world around.
Who does not feel for Sonny after his heroics in the Asian Cup quarterfinals…only to end with a loss to a surprising Jordan team in the semis. Our captain looked devastated when he returned to training with the club. We must protect him, I said to myself.
With roughly half a minute remaining before the final whistle, Brighton was inexplicably caught on the counter. Richarlison fed Son’s run into the box, and Sonny reminded us of his class with a curling pass that evaded the retreating Estupinian and found its way to Johnson on the edge of the six yard box. The Welshman placed it into the back netting for the winner, braced himself against the post, and coolly waved his teammates over to the corner flag for a mass celebration. Johnson’s taken a lot of flak from folks for not looking like the next Bale or Dele, but this is the player he is: a direct and speedy winger who can arrive at the back post. He’ll still have his detractors, no doubt, but I firmly believe he has a spot in Ange’s team going forward.
With the win and Aston Villa’s loss at home to Manchester United, we’ve jumped back into the Top 4.
Up next: We host Wolves, and it sounds like we’ll do so without Udogie and Pedro Porro. Will Ange still do the inverted winger thing with Ben Davies and Emerson Royal? Will he give new signing Drăgușin a cameo at right fullback? Will Bissouma start? Will we show up for both halves?
UP THE SPURS!
—Upstate Spurs