October:
This month had its ups and downs as we ploughed on with the challenge of making the top four, however, loses to Newcastle and Manchester City dented our hopes further as we made progress in cup competitions.
Tottenham 1-1 Besiktas
Spurs remained winless in the Europa League group stages as they played out a 1-1 draw with Besiktas to kick off proceedings in the month of October. Harry Kane was on the scoresheet again, but Demba Ba prevented us from stealing all three points.
We were set to see out a 1-0 win at White Hart Lane, but rather foolishly, Vlad Chiriches handballed in the box leaving the referee with no choice but to point to the spot. Demba Ba would then step up and covert the penalty to leave a sour taste in the mouths of many Spurs fans.
Tottenham 1-0 Southampton
Mauricio Pochettino faced his own side for the first time, and it was a lot more bearable than the return fixture partly because it ended in victory as Christian Eriksen showed a nice piece of individual skill to fire the ball into the bottom corner from just outside the box.
The game was a closely run affair at White Hart Lane, but looking back now at the end of the season, it was a very valuable three points in terms of finishing above Ronald Koeman’s side.
Manchester City 4-1 Tottenham
Personally, I feel that we were incredibly unlucky to lose this in the manner that we did. I was very impressed with the way we drew level at 1-1 so quickly after falling behind, and one kick of the ball decided the outcome of the game.
Roberto Soldado missed a penalty at 2-1 to draw level, and City then went down the other end and won a penalty, and then converted to make it 3-1, which also resulted in the sending off of Federico Fazio. This one kick of the ball effectively, the missed penalty, lost us the game at the Etihad Stadium.
Tottenham 5-1 Asteras Tripolis
However, we bounced back from the City defeat in emphatic style, with the first win of our Europa League group stage campaign. It was an eventful night at the Lane as Erik Lamela scored a phenomenal Rabona, and Harry Kane ended up in goal after scoring a hat-trick.
Although the emphatic scoreline may not suggest it, Asteras gave it a good old go as they in fact had one more shot than us. It was one of the most eventful European nights of the season as it ended in a victory.
Tottenham 1-2 Newcastle
All was looking good for the Lilywhites when they took a 1-0 lead into half-time courtesy of an Emmanuel Adebayor header after getting on the end of a Ryan Mason cross. However, it would turn out to be a game of two halves.
Sammy Ameobi struck for Newcastle less than a minute into the second half. Eric Dier was caught napping, as the visitors drew level straight from the kickoff in the second period. Ayoze Perez completed the turnaround as they ruined the anniversary weekend of Spurs legend Bill Nicholson’s death.
Tottenham 2-0 Brighton
Spurs saw off Championship opposition again in the Capital One Cup, but this time with a little more ease than the game against Nottingham Forest in the previous round of the competition.
Goals from Erik Lamela and Harry Kane ensured that we set up a quarter-final tie with Newcastle at White Hart Lane, who had beaten Manchester City previously in the Capital One Cup. Here is how the table stood at the end of October.
November:
A mixed month again for Mauricio Pochettino and his men as good wins at Aston Villa, Hull and Everton were very much overshadowed by the defeat against Stoke, which again dented hopes of making the top four.
Aston Villa 1-2 Tottenham
With just nine minutes left on the clock, it looked as if Spurs would be made to pay for the missed first half opportunities by Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor after Christian Benteke had given Villa the lead.
However, Nacer Chadli was lingering at the back post to pick up on a set piece that wasn’t dealt with by the hosts, and Harry Kane fired in a deflected free-kick in stoppage time to hand Spurs a very dramatic win at Villa Park.
Asteras Tripolis 1-2 Tottenham
This was for me, our first convincing away win of the season in the Europa League, and it was our first win away from home in the group stages. Goals from Andros Townsend and Harry Kane sealed the deal in Triplois.
The only negative of the evening was Federico Fazio receiving his second red card in just two and a half months at the club, giving away a penalty, just as he did at Manchester City. It was from this that Asteras scored their only goal of the night.
Tottenham 1-2 Stoke
It was yet another crushing home defeat, and it was one that allowed Stoke to complete the first part of the double that they have managed to complete over us this season, beating us 3-0 at the Britannia.
We fell behind early on in the seventh minute when Bojan’s shot from twenty yards found the back of the net, taking advantage of the poor showing in the defensive ranks. Jonathan Walters added a second before Nacer Chadli gave us hope eleven minutes from time. Kyle Naughton was sent off in what was another disappointing afternoon at the Lane.
Hull 1-2 Tottenham
It was the second late winner in as many away games, and this time it was Christian Eriksen’s turn to come up with a bit of magic for Spurs to take back all three points to White Hart Lane.
Former Spur Jake Livermore fired Hull ahead with a powerful yet accurate shot from thirty yards. Jan Vertonghen had Gaston Ramirez rather controversially sent off just before Harry Kane drew us level at the KC. Eriksen then slotted home the winner from just outside the box to give us another dramatic win.
Tottenham 1-0 Partizan Belgrade
The scoreline doesn’t really tell the full story of the game, and in truth, we could have run out winner by four or five goals if we had tucked away some of the chances that had come our way.
It just wasn’t Roberto Soldado’s night as he came so close to scoring on a number of occasions, and ended up bagging himself an assist when he hit the post before Benjamin Stambouli thumped home the rebound.
Tottenham 2-1 Everton
Thoughts of ‘oh here we go again’ popped into my head when Kevin Mirallas curled in an excellent effort from twenty yards to give Everton an early lead at White Hart Lane.
However, we managed to turn this into three points again from a losing position. Christian Eriksen pulled one back midway through the first half, and then Roberto Soldado scored a rare goal from open play in the Premier League to seal the three points.
