6 Things We Learned from Spurs' 1-0 Win over Swansea

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

On Sunday, Tottenham defeated Swansea City, 1-0, at home to move into the top four in the EPL table.

Jan Vertonghen's 75th-minute strike put Spurs ahead in a match where the North London club struggled to find the final touch in front of goal.

Andre Villas-Boas' club faced a threat from Swansea in the final 10 minutes, but they did not concede in that time period—something Spurs have had trouble with this season. 

Here are six things that we learned from the 1-0 victory by Tottenham on Sunday. 

Starting Adebayor and Defoe Up Front Together Is Not Working

Michael Steele/Getty Images

For the second straight EPL match, manager Andre Villas-Boas decided to start both of his forwards, Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermain Defoe. 

Once again, the combination of the two forwards did not result in any goals. 

One reason AVB is using the two players in the starting 11 is to try to compensate for the absence of the injured Gareth Bale. 

The results have been disappointing to say the least with Defoe, the club's leading scorer, failing to score in the three EPL matches where he has started with Adebayor up front. 

Gareth Bale Is Missed Greatly

Jan Kruger/Getty Images

When Gareth Bale exited the match against Fulham on Dec. 1 with a hamstring injury, everyone associated with Tottenham knew that it was going to be a challenge finding someone to replace the Welshman. 

No one thought that the Spurs' attack would be crippled by the Bale injury, but it has been in the last two matches.

Villas-Boas has sent out a 4-4-2 formation instead of a 4-2-3-1 with Bale out of the lineup, and it has hurt the performance of the attacking players. 

Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon have been neutralized in attack by the formation and they only succeeded on Sunday after Adebayor left the match with an injury and Spurs reverted back to the 4-2-3-1 formation. 

The Exit of Adebayor Changed the Match

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Emmanuel Adebayor hobbled off the pitch in the 72nd minute with what looked like a hamstring injury. 

Andros Townsend came on to replace Adebayor and he changed the way Spurs attacked the Swansea goal. 

Townsend was able to spread out the compact Swansea defense with his runs on the right wing. 

One of his first runs down the right wing resulted in the free kick that produced the goal by Jan Vertonghen.

If Adebayor is unable to play against Stoke on Saturday, and Bale is still not 100 percent, Villas-Boas should give Townsend a spot in the starting 11 based on his contributions to Sunday's match. 

Jan Vertonghen Is Tottenham's Most Valuable Defender

Julian Finney/Getty Images

Early in the season, Jan Vertonghen was asked to fill in at left-back for the injured Benoit Assou-Ekotto,  but on Sunday he was back at his preferred center-back position.

Vertonghen did not go forward attack as much as he did when he was playing at left-back, but the one time he did make his way into the penalty area, he made it worth the wait.

The Belgian scored the only goal in Sunday's match off of a Kyle Walker free kick. 

The ball fell to the feet of Vertonghen, who shot the ball like a world-class goal scorer, and he put the ball past Swansea keeper Gerhard Tremmel.

It was Vertonghen's first goal in the EPL for the club since joining from Ajax in the summer. 

Swansea Possess a Stingy Defense

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

For most of the match, Swansea defended with perfection.

For some parts of the match, all 11 of the Swansea players were behind the ball, even Michu was back in defense blocking shots in the first half.

The best Swansea defender on Sunday was Ashley Williams, who blocked four shots in the first half. The undoing of the Swans' strong effort was the 75th-minute free kick that Vertonghen scored on. 

From that point on in the match, Spurs were able to break through the back four as Swansea looked for an equalizer. 

If Swansea continue to defend like they did on Sunday, they will have no trouble finishing in the top 10 this season. 

Set Pieces Have the Power to Determine Match Results

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

It is said all too often that set pieces are the greatest neutralizer of a strong defense. 

That was the case on Sunday as Tottenham's 75th-minute free kick determined the result of the match. 

For most of the match, Swansea played strong in front of their goal; but on the free kick, Jan Vertonghen was left open to shoot on goal. Vertonghen converted on his shot and Swansea fell victim to a set piece goal. 

If Swansea had not conceded the goal from the free kick, they'd have been able to come out of White Hart Lane with a draw. 

 

What did you think of Tottenham's win? 

Commment below or leave me a comment on Twitter, @JTansey90