Tottenham Hotspur 4 Watford 0
White Hart Lane, 8 April 2017
Goal Scorers D Alli (33), E Dier (39), H Son (44, 54)
Whenever Tottenham Hotspur take on Watford at home there are always going to be plenty of Spurs fans feeling confident of another win at White Hart Lane.
With the home team needing to beat Watford to maintain their title charge it would take some effort for Watford to get their first league win at the Lane since 11th May, 1985. Well, come kickoff at 12:30pm on Saturday, the home side and supporters were raring to go. In total there were 31,706 in attendance to watch this game.
And what a one-sided affair the match turned out to be. What with Spurs fully committed to keeping up the pressure on Chelsea, it was a game of two halves, both of which were well and truly dominated by the home team.
The first goal of the match was scored by Dele Alli on the 33rd minute, which was one of the best long range efforts he has so far achieved. It seemed to spark that brought the other Tottenham players to life with both Eric Dier and Heung-Min Son bagging a goal each before the half time whistle sounded.
Watford were likely given the proverbial ‘talking to’ at half time, however soon appeared to be mission impossible for them when the second half did kick off, and it was as though nothing much had changed. Spurs were in control when the second half was in full flow for they were simply outclassed their opponents every step of the way. Man of the Match Kieran Trippier was at his creative best, and was instrumental in many Tottenham attacks.
As the second half played out it was Son who managed to volley in another goal, and with Harry Kane trying desperately to bag another goal he did find an opportunity, but sadly only managed to hit the bar from a free-kick late on after being brought onto the pitch in the final 30 minutes.
However, with Kane now back and raring to go the remaining matches of the season are surely going to be ones worth watching if you are a Spurs fan. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris did manage to make the starting eleven on this match having missed the previous one through illness, which was probably something of a relief for his team mates and supporters alike what with him being the club captain.
Watford on the other hand were missing several key players through injury which saw Troy Deeney (a late substitute), Daryl Janmaat and Adrian Mariappa taking to the pitch. Whilst they did have a few chances during the match Watford were always going to be (and definitely were) the underdogs and could only lick their wounds as the final whistle blew.
As the match unfolded it was as if Watford had conceded the game from very early on and looked somewhat deflated. As it turned out, this game was a very one sided match and one which there was to be no looking back for Tottenham.
Regarding goal difference, it was always a bonus for the home side to bang into the back of the net as many goals as is possible. With the added bonus of a clean sheet, there could not be a single Tottenham fan that was anything but impressed by the scoreline. The aim of the longer-term goal of keeping the pressure on leaders Chelsea had been achieved. Watford fans were of course thinking otherwise as they left the ground, with their team completely outclassed on the day.