May 2015: The Race For Europe
Harry Kane's form has been nothing short of brilliant this season, as Spurs pushed the fight for fourth place right to the wire.
As May rolled around, only 3 games stood between Tottenham and a spot in the Champions League next season. With Manchester City just one point behind, the team were more than aware that anything less than maximum points would ensure they finished fifth.
But Spurs had other ideas. First to visit, were West Ham, who had previously dished out a vicious 5-2 beating back in December.
Tottenham 3-2 West Ham United
Early on, it was West Ham who had the best of the action, pressing forward and putting pressure on the Tottenham back line. The young pairing of Doria and Eder Alvarez Balanta held strong though, and with Lucas Romero dropping deep, Spurs held on until half-time, where the plan was to re-group.
Mauro Zarate, so often a pain in Tottenham's side, scored 3 minutes after the restart; catching the Spurs defence napping with a sharp run on to a speculative long ball before rounding Hugo Lloris and scoring into the now empty net.
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Despite some excellent Displays, Lloris has shown himself to be prone to costly errors over the course of the season.
Spurs fans groaned, as their hot-and-cold French goalkeeper picked himself off the ground; another goalkeeping error...they were becoming more and more costly by the minute.
They soon had something to cheer about though, as Adama Traore, playing on the right wing, came bursting down the flank, and cut inside the West Ham defence to bury his shot in the back of the net. 1-1, and things were looking better.
Mauro Zarate, though, was determined not to see his side lose, and was on the scoresheet again just 3 minutes later - a powerful long-range effort which caught Lloris napping, and West Ham were ahead again.
For 20 minutes, Tottenham had to withstand a torrent of West Ham attacks, and their own were feeble counter-attacking attempts that rarely made it past the half-way line. The passing from midfield was woeful, and Spurs really had concerns about the result.
Adama Traore to the rescue. Two goals in the last 15 minutes of the game rescued his side, and ensured that Lloris' bad day at the office didn't affect matters too much.
Position After one game: 4th (62PTS)
Next on Spurs' list were Swansea, who, again, Spurs had not beaten this season, and for this game, Hugo Lloris found himself on the bench. When asked about the decision to drop his first-choice goalkeeper in the penultimate game of the season, Pochettino was candid in his answer.
"Frankly, and i'm sure the supporters agree, Hugo hasn't been at his best recently. Jeronimo [Rulli] has been sharp in training, and as a manager, my job is to choose the players who give us the best chance of winning. Right now, Hugo isn't in that selection."
Tottenham 3-1 Swansea
A performance so far removed from the game against West Ham, fans could be forgiven for thinking they were watching a different team. Martin Odegaard partnered Lucas Romero in midfield, and the duo, although young, made light work of Swansea.
Harry Kane opened the scoring after just 11 minutes, latching on to a lofted pass from Odegaard to slot home calmly, and keep Spurs moving towards European football. The rest of the first half was uneventful, but Tottenham never looked threatened by the Swansea attack, and as half-time rolled around, Spurs were the dominant side.
Lucas Romero continued to impress against Swansea, cementing his reputation as one of the world's best young midfielders.
After the break, Swansea were a completely different team. Flying into challenges with a passion which was lacking in the first half, and pouring forward with every attack. Rulli, who had nothing to do in the first half, was called into action regularly, and was equal to the challenge. One particularly rasping shot from Gomis forced the Argentinian stopper into an athletic one-handed save which drew applause from the entire stadium.
Adama Traore doubled Spurs' lead after 66 minutes, and the tide turned once again. Deflated by the goal, Swansea looked in danger of collapsing, as Spurs turned on the style. Their passing was slick, and they looked good. Konoplyanka sealed the win after 89 minutes with a long-range effort which found its way to the top corner, and the Spurs fans went wild.
Even Gomis' stoppage time consolation couldn't stop the celebrations in the away end, as Tottenham kept a point between them and Man City, retaining 4th place.
Position After Two Games: 4th (65PTS)
In the final game of the season, Tottenham travelled to Norwich, knowing only a win would be good enough to secure European Football. Man City were in action at Nottingham Forest, so any slip would be enough for Tottenham to drop out of fourth place.
Tottenham 3-1 Norwich
Another excellent performance from Tottenham, and as straight-forward a win as they've seen this season. Jonny Howson's early goal looked like it might have thrown a spanner in the works, as news filtered through that Manchester City were a goal to the good against Forest, but Eugene Konoplyanka and Harry Kane were once again unstoppable in front of goal, with Hojberg and Emre Can pulling all the strings from midfield.
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Despite only making 10 appearances at Liverpool, Emre Can has become a firm fan favourite at White Hart Lane, and a twitter campaign under the hashtag #KeepEmre has been launched by Spurs fans who want to see him make his loan move Permanent.
A 3 goal salvo from Kane and Konoplyanka saw Spurs into a comfortable 3-1 lead, and from then on out it was plain sailing.
Final League Table
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