Chadli and Kane Star as Improved Tottenham Hotspur Attack Sees Off Newcastle
Tottenham Hotspur's 3-1 win over Newcastle United on Sunday was much needed.
The three points help keep alive the north London club's hopes of European qualification and the not-insignificant ego boost of at least finishing ahead of Liverpool and Southampton. After insipid attacking showings in the draw with Burnley and last week's 1-0 home loss to Aston Villa, the victory might also just have revitalised the key players Tottenham will need to fire them there.
Nacer Chadli's confident long-range shot opened the scoring for Mauricio Pochettino's side. A fortunate but impeccably crafted Christian Eriksen free-kick put them back in front after Jack Colback's early second-half equaliser. Then, with time winding down, fellow attacking midfielder Erik Lamela set up Harry Kane to round off the win.
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Kane will understandably receive plenty of plaudits after his 30th club, and 20th Premier League, goal saw him join the names mentioned above. Two matches without scoring constituted a veritable streak for the prolific striker.
For 90 minutes Kane's performance bore a resemblance to January's Capital One Cup final second-leg win over Sheffield United. That match saw him back leading the Spurs attack after a few games deployed in a deeper role. While he did not score, his increased number of chances acted as a palate-cleanser which preceded arguably the most impressive scoring run of an outstanding season.
Only Kane can say if wearing the captain's armband was as restrictive for the two games prior to Newcastle as the mid-winter spell playing in support of Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor. But his more fertile positioning certainly led to better opportunities versus the Magpies than against Burnley and Aston Villa.
The 21-year-old will be happy not to—like in January—have to wait another game to find the net again. His finish to Spurs' match-sealing break was as typically assured as we have come to know from the PFA Player and Young Player of the Year nominee.
Assured would not be the word to describe many of Lamela's early contributions in his first start since February. Given the attacking midfielder's only recent minutes have been as a substitute, his rustiness was not too surprising.
Tentative and off-rhythm both in the final third (a wasted opportunity to pass to Kane early on), and in midfield work (several examples of poor control and/or failing to anticipate the nearby presence of opposition players), the Argentine did not look much like he was instigating a strong finish to his season. Based on his first-half performance and being presumptuous you might have thought he was regressing to the timid old ways of his first year in England after so long without a start.
Crucially, displaying the greater toughness he has shown throughout 2014-15, Lamela persisted and, in the period Pochettino mentions (above), provided encouraging examples of the different wrinkle he can bring to Spurs' play.
Coming in off his right flank, Lamela's short, precise passing—accentuated by move-enhancing movement—helped facilitate his team's control of the game midway through the second half (although it left Spurs without an option out right a couple of times). He even had a chance of his own following one such move, but his finish to Nabil Bentaleb's through ball was stopped by Tim Krul narrowing the angle.
Lamela's best moment was his assist for Kane. Advancing into Newcastle's half he wisely decided to trust his forward a good 45 yards out, rather than the better-positioned, but less likely to score, midfielder Ryan Mason.
While his dribbling is his most eye-catching attribute, Lamela's passing in the opposition half is actually his strongest asset. It does not always come off, but he moves the ball quicker and more perceptively than most of his team-mates. A central, more involved role might ultimately be best for his game, but so long as Eriksen is around he is going to have to earn his money as a de facto winger.
Chadli was also stationed out on the flank. But in arguably his best performance since January, the Belgium international did not allow a starting point on the periphery to stop him from shining.
At the same ground where he really launched himself into the Premier League consciousness last season, Chadli scored another excellent long-range goal. Where his previous strike capped off a 4-0 win, this effort kick-started Spurs' latest one.
From there Chadli proceeded to influence the game in a way he has arguably not done since his dominant display in the New Year's Day win over champions-elect Chelsea. In the second half, Newcastle right back Daryl Janmaat barely got close to him.
Chadli capitalised on the distracting threat of Kane and Lamela across the breadth of the pitch. Combining well with Danny Rose and Eriksen, he thrust repeatedly down the left wing in the swashbuckling style redolent of his best work. He might have had an assist from one such attack, too, had Bentaleb been able to convert his superb centre.
The hope will be this outing restores Chadli's confidence and allows Spurs to use a weapon which has been out of its holster but rarely harnessed.
Similar could be said about much of Pochettino's starting XI in the north-east.
Ayoze Perez caught him out with a marvellous ankle-breaker of a turn in the build-up to Colback's goal, but the returning Jan Vertonghen was otherwise excellent next to a more solid-looking Federico Fazio. In midfield Paulinho was as effective on both sides of the ball as he has ever been in a Spurs shirt.
In the wake of their previous worrying performances, however, it was the timely improvement of Tottenham's attack which will have been most heartening for all concerned.
Around an understated but virtuoso performance from the central figure of Eriksen, the trio of Chadli, Kane and Lamela reminded us and themselves what they are capable of. A sterner test of these abilities will come next week against Southampton.
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