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5 talking points from Tottenham's 2-0 victory at Swansea

Tottenham weathered the storm to beat Swansea
Tottenham weathered the storm to beat Swansea

Fernando Llorente scored against his former club while Dele Alli put Tottenham out of sight as the north Londoners won 2-0 at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium. Here are five talking points:

  1. Harry Kane is denied another chance to create history but Fernando Llorente scores the opener

Kane achieved two notable achievements against Southampton on Boxing Day, setting a new record for Premier League goals in a calendar year and also becoming the high-scoring player across Europe in 2017.

Notching three goals apiece against Burnley and the Saints at the end of December, the Spurs striker had also gave himself a chance of being the first man to score three Premier League hat-tricks in a row.

However, the 24-year-old fell ill at the end of last week and found himself on the bench in South Wales today.

Swansea v Tottenham Hotspur – how the match unfolded

READ MORE: Llorente scores on return as Spurs weather the storm

That messed up his chance of creating further history as he was only given a 20-minute run-out at the end of the match.

However, his replacement Fernando Llorente stepped up to the plate against his former club.

The summer signing has struggled to get game time recently, only making two brief substitute appearances since December 6. But, like the best deputies, he made a rapid impact when called upon this evening, heading home from Christian Eriksen’s free kick in the 10th minute.

Encouragingly, this was his second goal in consecutive starts, after his strike against Apoel Nicosia, and he had a confident air about him here, producing some neat touches around the edge of the box.

The familiarity of his surroundings may have helped – this was Llorente’s 11th goal in 12 Premier League matches at the Liberty Stadium (10 of them coming for Swansea). But, whatever the reason was, the 32-year-old looked at home in the Spurs side this evening.

2. Danny Rose misses out with a knee problem

While Kane’s absence from the starting line-up was the first issue to jump off the teamsheet, the fact that Rose was missing from the squad was also curious.

There have been times since his return to action when the left-back has been, well, left back at the training ground to build up his fitness – but this time it was a different story.

Worryingly, Rose has an issue in the same knee that he injured last January – an injury that ruled him out for eight and a half months. He will now be assessed and it is unclear when he will next play, although he is almost certain to miss the games against West Ham and AFC Wimbledon this week.

In the immediate term, Mauricio Pochettino can turn to auxiliary full-back Kyle Walker-Peters. The 20-year-old has endured a somewhat frustrating season so far, only making four first-team appearances, but he is now likely to start Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Wimbledon.

It then remains to be seen what the prognosis is for Rose, when he can return and whether this development might even affect his summer plans – and possibly beyond.

3. Weather ruins the first half

Tottenham found themselves battling the conditions as much as Swansea, with the opening 45 minutes being played out in the middle of what was, effectively, a storm.

It was possible to see circular patterns being formed in the rain as the wind swirled above Hugo Lloris’ head, and any hopes of producing quality football were quickly forgotten.

Players struggled to even control the ball, let alone measure accurate passes. In one comical minute, Kieran Trippier undersold Davinson Sanchez with a pass, forcing the Colombian to slide to reach it. Moments later Trippier overcompensated, thumping a worryingly heavy backpass towards Hugo Lloris’ net – and when Lloris passed to Ben Davies, the left-back gave the ball away.

It resulted in a Swansea free kick just outside Spurs’ box as Mauricio Pochettino waved his arms in frantic dismay on the touchline.

In such conditions, which made intricate build-up play so difficult for both sides, Tottenham’s early opener only became more valuable.

4. Victor Wanyama makes his comeback as Sanchez is saved from a second booking

The Kenyan midfielder returned to the squad after spending over four months in the treatment room, and he was summoned from the bench just before the hour-mark.

That may always have been the plan, but the 26-year-old was also needed at that point.

Sanchez, who was booked in the first half, was fortunate to escape a second yellow card in the opening 15 minutes of the second period when he felled Martin Olsson.

Pochettino reacted quickly, taking the Colombian off before he was forced to make another challenge on the tricky, wet surface.

Eric Dier dropped to centre-back, with Wanyama taking up a position in front of the rearguard – but Swansea went on to have a purple patch, nearly scoring an equaliser on three occasions.

Substitute Luciano Narsingh left Davies for dead and drew a smart save from Lloris at his near post. Jordan Ayew then rounded the Spurs goalkeeper, only to be denied an open goal by a last-ditch Davies tackle and a Wanyama clearance – and the hosts then hit the underside of the crossbar from the ensuing corner.

It was hardly the gentlest of introductions for Wanyama and he will already feel battle-hardened as he eyes a return to the starting line-up, probably in one of the next two matches.

5. Dele Alli is on target again as Lilywhites climb the table

This was not an easy night for Spurs’ attacking players, and Heung-Min Son and Erik Lamela both had quiet nights – even if the former could have been given a late penalty.

But Alli made another important contribution in the final third, putting Spurs out of sight by netting the second goal in the 88th minute. This was his second goal in successive matches, maintaining his strong run of form.

Spurs are in good form themselves after three consecutive victories, and they have climbed to fifth place in the table, lying four points behind fourth-placed Liverpool with a game in hand.

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