This was a deeply frustrating opening night for Tottenham Hotspur.
Ange Postecoglou’s side were utterly dominant against Leicester City, winning 1-0 thanks to Pedro Porro’s goal and looking set for a comfortable night. But they lost their grip after half-time, were pegged back by Jamie Vardy and ultimately had to settle for a point.
So what happened? We analyse the major talking points.
What happened to Spurs after half-time?
The most frustrating thing for Spurs taking one point from this game is how utterly dominant they were right up until Vardy’s equaliser.
Tottenham were all over Leicester from the start, instantly imposing themselves on the game, creating so many chances from set pieces and open play. They controlled the first half and then had an excellent spell after the re-start.
When Vardy scored, Rodrigo Bentancur had just missed another excellent chance to make it 2-0. Of course it is better to create chances than not, but in a game where Spurs had 13 corners, fans will ask questions about the ruthlessness of a team that did so much of the hard work but still only came away with one point.
There were some promising moves from Spurs’ attacking set pieces but the second goal never came. And by the end they were hanging on to a draw. Given that they could have been 5-0 up when Vardy scored, it will not feel like a point gained.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
How worrying was Bentancur’s injury?
Spurs were searching for the winner when James Maddison whipped an outswinging corner into the box and Bentancur clashed heads with Abdul Fatawu.
The midfielder immediately dropped to the floor and his team-mates signalled for the medics to come onto the pitch. It was a concerning incident and no replays were shown on the TV monitors inside the stadium. Maddison looked concerned while Fatawu seemed distressed over his role in the incident.
Rodrigo Bentancur is treated by medics (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
Paramedics rushed onto the pitch too and a few players stood over watching what was happening. Mrembers of Tottenham’s medical staff kept running from the bench and back to relay what was happening to the coaching staff.
It was a lengthy delay and Bentancur was eventually taken off on a stretcher and replaced by Archie Gray. The entire stadium applauded as the Uruguay international was taken off, with Sky Sports later reporting that the player was up and talking in the dressing room, but still being assessed.
Jay Harris
Will Solanke be frustrated?
It was the moment Dominic Solanke would have been dreaming about ever since he completed his £65million move from Bournemouth to Tottenham a couple of weeks ago.
James Maddison whipped the ball into the box and Solanke ghosted past his marker. All he had to do was nudge the ball either side of Mads Hermansen to get off to the perfect start. However, the 26-year-old’s effort fell straight into Hermansen’s hands and, although the linesman’s flag went up for offside, replays suggested it would have counted with a VAR review.
Spurs were so dominant in the first half that Solanke’s miss did not feel like a signficant moment at the time. They had 22 touches in Leicester’s box and five shots on target.
Even when Solanke had a right-footed shot saved by Hermansen in the second half there seemed no reason for Spurs to panic. But then Vardy equalised and suddenly everything changed, and Solanke’s misses looked costly.
Dominic Solanke had a frustrating debut for Spurs (Darren Stapoles/AFP via Getty Images)
The forward was signed to be clinical in these moments and it will be a huge source of frustration for himself and his manager that he could not be decisive.
Solanke impressed in the other elements of his game though. He did not have a lot of touches but was constantly breaking into the box and looking to attack the ball. He dropped deep a couple of times to link up play and won the ball back, too.
In the second half, he went on an excellent run after picking up the ball in the centre circle and pulled it back to Maddison on the edge of the box. The midfielder just needed to shift it into space and shoot but his first touch let him down.
There were more than enough signs to suggest he will be a huge success for Spurs but it was not the start he would have hoped for.
Jay Harris
Did Maddison step up at his old club?
This was always going to be a big game for James Maddison: back at Leicester City for the first time since he left to join Tottenham last summer, and playing his first competitive game since the heartbreak of getting cut from the England squad for last summer’s Euros.
But then this is a huge season for Maddison, as he hopes to get back to the levels he showed in the first section of last term.
But the good news for Spurs fans is that this looked like the same Maddison that they saw in those thrilling first few months of the 2023-24 campaign. He ran the game for Tottenham, particularly in the first half — always available, showing for the ball, finding space in that left pocket, and creating chances from set pieces and open play.
James Maddison shone bright for Spurs at his old club (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Maddison created Spurs’ opener, with a perfect whipped cross from deep, finding Pedro Porro’s brave run into the box. With better finishing from his team-mates he would have ended with more than one assist. And he never looked remotely troubled by the booing he got from some sections of the home crowd, although he got a great reception when taken off in the second half.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
What next for Tottenham?
Saturday, August 24: Everton (H), Premier League, 3pm BST, 10am ET
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(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images))
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