Moura shines as Tottenham batter Huddersfield

 

Magnificent. Cutting edge. A marvel. All those, and more, to describe Tottenham’s new stadium, but this writer feels the best way to sum it up in one word is striking. As you walk down Seven Sisters road, it’s visible from a mile away. White Hart Lane only stood out within a few hundred yards, yet the cockerel atop the stadium, beaming in the Saturday morning sun, stood as a beacon of which 58,308 fans were drawn in the Premier League’s early kick off. 

 

In their first Saturday came since their return home, already-relegated Huddersfield were the first visitors for a weekend game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Spurs sought their third successive win at their new home having secured victories over Crystal Palace and Manchester City. 

 

Tottenham were dominant early on, as you’d come to expect from the north London side at home to the Premier League’s bottom team, with Lucas Moura winning a free kick with just three minutes on the clock, though Christian Eriksen’s free-kick struck the wall and was cleared. Nevertheless, a heavily rotated Spurs side looked to make their early lion share of possession count as they zipped the ball around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium turf. 

 

It wasn’t until the 11th minute, however, that Spurs forged their first real chance of note as Victor Wanyama duly obliged the crowd’s chant to shoot, pulling his low effort just wide of Ben Hamer’s post from 25 yards. Minutes later, Fernando Llorente was unable to get enough on Kyle Walker-Peters’ header across goal after Ben Davies had picked out the latter from the left flank. 

 

Midway through the first half and Spurs had their lead as a remarkably composed finish from Wanyama saw the hosts’ dominance rewarded. Llorente's knock found its way through to the Kenyan, who calmly rounded Hamer before slotting into an empty net. And three minutes later, the home side doubled their advantage as Moura rifled his low drive into the far corner. 

 

Huddersfield looked to quickly respond on the half hour mark yet Jon Gorenc Stankovic could only volley wide from a Juninho Bacuna corner. With a little over five minutes to play before the end of the half, Spurs came close to bagging their third through Llorente after Christian Eriksen had picked out the Spaniard, who flashed a headed just wide after the Dane picked him out from a free kick on the right. 

 

 

90 seconds after a break and Llorente came close again with his run found excellently by Juan Foyth. The Spurs striker controlled the Argentine’s pass brilliantly only to strike the crossbar on the volley. Midway through the second half, Moura sought his second and Spurs’ third as he weaved infield onto his right, only to fire straight into the hands of Hamer to claim easily. 

 

Moments later, Llorente again must've thought he'd scored, this time heading Davies’ cross just wide as Spurs strived to wrap up the three points. It was the Spaniard again who failed to cap a lightning Spurs counter with a goal, though he did well to work the chance, before Davies wasted a good opportunity following a Walker-Peters cross to notch his first goal of the season. 

 

Huddersfield refused to roll over and concede defeat as Steve Mounie and Karlan Grant both put efforts just wide as the away side looked to halve the deficit to set up a nervy finish in the capital. Bacuna then forced Hugo Lloris in action as the Frenchman pushed the Huddersfield midfielder’s free-kick onto the bar. 

 

Spurs quickly countered from the resulting corner with the ball finding its way to Eriksen. The midfielder must have thought he’d scored to confirm the victory, yet Chris Lowe recovered well to block his shot onto the post with Hamer beaten. 

 

But having huffed and puffed to set up to tense finish, Huddersfield came undone with three minutes to go as Moura scored his second and Tottenham’s third. He completed the hat-trick in injury time as he finished past Hamer with aplomb to hand Mauricio Pochettino a timely boast ahead of Spurs’ Champions League second leg meeting with City on Wednesday. 

 

 

With Harry Kane ruled out for the rest of the season and a daunting trip to the Etihad Stadium looming, Pochettino elected to start Moura up front alongside Llorente and his faith in the Brazilian was rewarded as the forward earned a perfect WhoScored 10 rating. Spurs may hold a slender one-goal advantage, yet they’re expected to be up against it in Manchester next week and their best chance of knocking City out at the quarter-final stage is to hit them not he counter attack. 

 

Spurs may have been wasteful against Huddersfield, and it almost cost them a clean sheet in the second half, but with Moura impressive, Pochettino can rest easy knowing one of his forwards is firing on all cylinders coming into the Champions League tie. Son was considered a guaranteed starter next week, and that may still be the case at the Etihad Stadium, but with Llorente coming off with a knock late on, Moura couldn’t have picked a better time to bag a hat-trick.

Moura shines as Tottenham batter Huddersfield