Three reasons why you wanted to see this match. A stirring comeback by relegated Burnley who fought for nothing but pride and £800,000 extra, a sublime Luka Modric goal, and Ledley King’s form which is now front and center in Fabio Capello’s defensive deliberations.
It seemed a walkover by Spurs who put in an early goal by Gareth Bale. But it was Modric’s goal that really captured the imagination as the Croatian put in a beautiful stepover that caught out the Burnley defense and then lashed in a supersonic shot with his left foot. All around brilliance. Burnley answered magnificently just before the break as Wade Eliott the hero in Burnley’s promotion scored the first goal by a nice little flick by Stephen Fletcher a la Xavi to signal a fightback. It was 2-1 at halftime.
The second half was Burnley, as a tiring Spurs team made a number of mental mistakes. Jack Cork making the most of a Martin Patterson cross, heading the ball emphatically past Ben Alnwick for the equalizer. More was to follow as Fletcher swung the ball across the box for Patterson to finish. By this time Harry Redknapp had rediscovered his nervous head tic.
Burnley buried Spurs as Robbie Blake found Eliott whose shot skimmed over the pitch and was deflected into goal by Stephen Thompson.
Burnley go down with their heads held high. But Fabio Capello would not be too impressed by Ledley King and especially Michael Dawson who were caught out of position on a number of occasions. Central defense is turning out to be England’s Achilles heel. No one looks impressive.