As always, Tottenham usually plays well for about half of the match, before falling into an uncertain state and losing favorable results. The match against rookie Leicester City was the same, Son Heung-min and his teammates played very well in the first 45 minutes, there was Pedro Porro's opening goal in the 29th minute and it seemed like they had 3 complete points.
Right before Jamie Vardy equalized 1-1 for The Foxes, Rodrigo Bentancur missed the opportunity to increase the score to 2-0 for Spurs. In a match with 13 corner kicks, not being able to get a second goal felt very bad for captain Ange Postecoglou . Of course, having many opportunities and kicking at the feet of the home team is a positive feature, but leaving with only 1 point makes the away team players feel like a loss.
Disappointing results are one thing, Tottenham has an even bigger headache with Bentancur's injury after the Uruguayan midfielder collided with his head and had to leave the field on a stretcher. After entering the locker room, the 27-year-old midfielder was able to sit up and talk but could not conclude the injury situation. If Bentancur cannot play in the following weeks, Postecoglou cannot immediately have a perfect replacement.
Rookie center forward worth 65 million pounds - Dominic Solanke had a rather lackluster match. The poor finishing situation when facing Leicester's goal from the 26-year-old star is not considered a disappointing phase. The reason is because Spurs had 22 touches of the ball in the home team's penalty area in the first half and had 5 shots on target. However, the away team only got 1 goal. Solanke may be bad but not to the point of being blamed for the misses.
In the second half, the former Bournemouth star had a similar ball and still missed. It wasn't until Vardy equalized for the home team that the English striker's failures were mentioned. Solanke is very aggressive, takes pain and finds space behind the defense. However, the center forward's mission is to score goals, that's enough, but the English star has not been able to complete it.
Almost the only bright spot for Spurs in this match is the performance of James Maddison. The English midfielder was not able to join the squad for EURO 2024 due to injury, so he had a full summer of rest. Since moving to London, the former Leicester star has played very well, becoming the nucleus of Spurs in the 2023-2024 season. "Rooster" fans hope that this season Maddison will still be as fiery and sophisticated as he is to become a source of internal energy for the midfield.
It was the English midfielder who provided the assist for Porro. If he finishes better in the next few phases, Maddison can put his name on the electronic board. The composure coming from the 27-year-old striker is also a positive point. He was unfazed on the field at every moment. When making substitutions, and receiving a lot of booing from Leicester fans at King Power, Maddison did not show any emotion. On the journey to win Champions League tickets, Tottenham needs such cool, stable warriors.
After the match, although still disappointed, Postecoglou did not think that the students played badly. The Australian teacher only hopes that from the next match, more opportunities will be taken advantage of to avoid the unfortunate loss of points like on the opening day.
