Tottenham overcomes ‘bed soccer’ to pull off a dramatic second-half comeback in stoppage time.
Tottenham came from behind to win 2-1 against Sheffield United in the fifth round of the 2023-2024 English Premier League (EPL) on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England. It was a one-sided affair. Tottenham fired off 12 shots, including seven on target in the first half alone.
But the goal was elusive. The first goal belonged to Sheffield Wednesday. Gustavo Hamer rattled the Tottenham net in the 28th minute of the second half.
Enze Postecoglou brought on Heung-Min Son, Manor Solomon, and Pape Sarr in the 35th minute to try and make it a contest, but the Sheffield goal was impenetrable.
Forty-five minutes of regular time had passed in the second half, but the scoreline read ‘0’ for Tottenham. The color of defeat was deep. An equalizer and a point would have been enough to avoid the worst.
The good news was that there were 12 minutes of second-half injury time. There was a reason. Tottenham had been punished by Sheffield’s “bed football” all game. ‘Captain’ Son Heung-min and vice-captain James Maddison protested several times.
In the final moments, the Goddess of Victory favored Tottenham. The long-awaited goal came in the 53rd minute.
His header from a corner set-piece tied the game at 1-1. Two minutes later, Dejan Kulupcevski set up Hischalyshyn, who finished with his right foot instead of his left.
Fields received six cautions on the day. Auburn McBurnie was sent off for two bookings just before the end of the game.
Sheffield boss Paul Heckingbottom exploded in a controversial verbal attack on referee Peter Banks after the defeat.
Heckingbottom said: “Something has to be done now. It’s not me moaning. At halftime and when we were 1-0 up, the referee’s reaction was the same. The only focus was on ‘wasting time’. The referees dictated how we played,” he fumed.
Sheffield keeper Wes Fotheringham was cautioned for a handball foul just before half-time. He crossed the ‘line of fire’ with a time delay. There were several close calls that could have resulted in a second yellow card. 안전놀이터
“We set out to set up at the back and then when Tottenham pushed forward, we would develop the play,” Heckingbottom said. “We worked all week on what we wanted to do, but the referee dictated our tactics. He was obsessed with time delays and warning cards,” he said in frustration.
“A yellow card for a handball outside the box meant Fotheringham were under constant threat of being sent off,” he added, “The referee was terrible. The referees don’t know what they’re doing, they don’t know football. The referees ruined the game.”
Tottenham remained in second place (13 points) with four wins and one draw in the EPL on a four-game winning streak.