Tottenham Hotspur had lost their last 4 games in all competitions; and they certainly looked the part in an abject first-half display at one of the toughest of venues; Burnley's Turf Moor. They had no clear identity; no direction; no vigor; no desire; and lost all the second balls as Sean Dyche's fighting-fit outfit continued their recent upsurge in form. Spurs' 3-4-3 formation was simply not working.
It was to no great surprise when Chris Wood put Burnley in front after 13 minutes; with their left wing looking particularly dangerous all through the half. It was left-winger Dwight McNeil who crossed the ball on the second attempt; with Eric Dier giving a weak header out; for Jay Rodriguez to power in a shot that Hugo Lloris could only parry into the path of Wood; who slotted home. Dier; who endured a rather tumultuous last game in the FA Cup against Norwich City; had looked distracted in that first half; and that was another poor clearance from him.
In the second half though; Jose Mourinho made two changes; subbing both his central midfielders Oliver Skipp and Tanguy Ndombele off for Giovani Lo Celso and Lucas Moura; and changed his formation to 4-2-3-1. Suddenly, everything changed. Spurs were now in the ascendancy; and Burnley were suddenly struggling to get their game going. Early in the half; Lo Celso went on a typical surging run and found Erik Lamela down the Spurs right. Ben Mee rather rashly slid in to tackle; and caught the Argentine just inside the box for a penalty. Up stepped Dele Alli to send Nick Pope the wrong way for Spurs' equaliser.
In a flash the match had changed; and it was now Burnley who were seemingly struggling to hang on for a point. With Moura installed up top; it allowed Dele Alli to come in from behind in the attacking midfield position; and everything was starting to flow for the visitors. In the end; after both sides had chances to win it; notably Matej Vydra for Burnley and Lo Celso for Spurs; both teams would be rather happy to settle for a point.
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