For the second straight week, Tottenham drew a penalty near the hour mark. And for the second straight week, Roberto Soldado’s conversion was all Spurs needed to secure three points, their 1-0 victory over Swansea City leaving them 2-0-0 after today’s result at White Hart Lane.
Spurs won by the same score last week at Selhurt Park, getting another Soldado conversion to open the season with a 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace. Although André Villas-Boas’s team looked more convincing today, particularly in a first half where they were able to generate numerous chances through Kyle Walker, Spurs still failed to score from open play, their perfect record through two rounds belying their dependence on the referee’s whistle.
Today that whistle broke both ways. Andros Townsend appeared to exaggerate contact between himself and Swansea’s Jonjo Shelvey ahead of Neil Swarbrick’s 56th minute whistle, while late in the first half, Spurs seemed to be denied a penalty when Swarbrick kindly spotted a Shelvey foul on Townsend outside the penalty area, though the contact appeared to take place in the box.
That controversy followed a first half where Spurs were the decidedly better side, with Walker creating chances for Paulinho and Moussa Dembele that could have resulted in goals. Each time, however, Michel Vorm (left) was in the right place, enveloping the Brazilian’s blast from the right of goal and tipping Dembele’s shot over from the left.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Roberto Soldado (R) shoots and scores his penalty past Swansea City goalkeeper Michel Vorm during their English Premier League soccer match at White Hart Lane in London August 25, 2013. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh (BRITAIN - Tags: SPORT SOCCER) NO USE WITH UNAUTHORIZED AUDIO, VIDEO, DATA, FIXTURE LISTS, CLUB/LEAGUE LOGOS OR “LIVE” SERVICES. ONLINE IN-MATCH USE LIMITED TO 45 IMAGES, NO VIDEO EMULATION. NO USE IN BETTING, GAMES OR SINGLE CLUB/LEAGUE/PLAYER PUBLICATIONS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS
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In that way, today’s performance represented progress for Spurs, even if the result looks similar. For Swans, however, the team is without a point through two games, an while they played Spurs close on the road, it’d be a stretch to say they were hard done by the result.
Lineups
Tottenham: Hugo Lloris; Kyle Walker, Michael Dawson, Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose; Etienne Capoue, Moussa Dembele (Gylfi Sigurdsson 64'), Paulinho; Andros Townsend (Sandro 88'), Roberto Soldado (Jermain Defoe 81'), Nacir Chadli. Unused substitutes: Brad Friedel, Kyle Naughton, Thomas Carrol, Younes Kaboul
Swansea: Michael Vorm; Angel Rangel, Chico Flores, Ashley Williams, Ben Davies; José Cañas; Jonathan de Guzman; Wayne Routledge (Álex Pozuelo 59'), Jonjo Shelvey (Wilfried Bony 69'); Pablo Hernandez; Michu. Unused substitutes: Ashley RIchards, Gerhard Tremmel, Jordi Amat, Leon Britton, Roland Lamah