Danny Rose scored the winner as Spurs came from behind to stun Burnley 2-1. Man of the match Rose delivered the decisive blow in the second half.
Danny Rose continued the Spurs resurgence with the winner to see off battling Burnley.
The England left-back smashed in an angled drive with 19 minutes left to make it four wins out of five for the north Londoners after just one in their previous ten.
Burnley had taken a shock lead in the 21st minute when Ashley Barnes poked the ball home from a Kris Boyd cross.
Dele Alli equalised five minutes later when he turned home a ball in from Kyle Walker’s assist.
Tottenham had most of the game, certainly in terms of shots on goal and the territorial advantage, but Burnley were stubborn opponents who had their moments. Andre Gray, for example, was denied at close range in the early running by Hugo Lloris after Ward had robbed Kyle Walker and crossed. Lloris’s save with his feet was an excellent one.
The Burnley manager, Sean Dyche, was devastated afterwards and not only because he felt that a gritty and aggressive performance from his team had deserved reward.
To him, Sissoko should not have been on the field after he had been guilty of an ugly high kick on Stephen Ward one minute before the goal.
Sissoko lunged in on Ward with his studs up as he chased a bouncing ball, and he raked them down the front of the full‑back’s leg. He was only booked. “It was a head-scratcher,” Dyche said. “It was not a close one, it’s a sending-off. You cannot go in blind, with your hands over your face and do a high foot like that, and stay on the pitch.”
Dyche said the decision of the referee, Kevin Friend, had been the “sixth game‑changer of the season” against Burnley and he wondered aloud whether the lack of a reaction from Ward had saved Sissoko. Had he writhed about on the floor, Dyche suggested, and his players then moved to surround Friend, perhaps the colour of the card would have been darker. Then again, Dyche said he and the club’s supporters did not want to see their players engaged in what he diplomatically called “simulation”.
Spurs made harder work of this than they should have done. The north Londoners appear to have approached this game believing they only had to turn up to win.
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