Spurs overcome stubborn Middlesbrough

Tottenham Hotspur wore down a stubborn Middlesbrough side to win 1-0 at White Hart Lane, reducing Chelsea’s lead to nine points at the top of the Premier League.

The win sees Mauricio Pochettino’s sit second, three points ahead of third-placed Arsenal, and may be the only team who could catch the run-away leaders after Liverpool were beaten by Hull City in the earlier kick-off.

Harry Kane broke the deadlock for the hosts in the 50^th minute from the spot after pressure from Spurs for the majority of the game, Son Heung-Min’s clever footwork proved too tricky for Bernardo Espinosa to deal with leaving the Columbian to bring down the 24-year-old.

Middlesbrough displayed little in terms of an attacking threat, but should have rescued a point late on when Alvaro Negredo fired wide in the 90^th minute, despite no pressure from the visitor’s backline.

Victor Valdes kept his side in the tie for large periods, and frustrated a Spurs side who next face a daunting trip to out-of-form Liverpool on the 11^th of February.

While Aitor Karanka’s side fall to 15^th, a point off the relegation zone, and know they will face a tough test when they host Ronald Koeman’s Everton on the same date.

The hosts came closest to breaking the deadlock in the 25^th minute, when former Southampton defender Toby Alderweireld headed off the crossbar, following a superb cross from the impressive Christian Eriksen.

As Spurs turned the screw, Kane came within centimetres of opening the scoring, when the 23-year-old ‘s header whizzed narrowly over the bar, after a great ball from Son picked out the former Millwall striker.

The two linked up again in the 41^st minute, this time Kane found the back of the net expertly from an accurate Son cross, but referee Mark Clattenburg immediately raised his hand to correctly chalk off the goal for offside.

Eriksen - who provided the visitors with problems all evening – came close to beating the in-form Victor Valdes in the 50^th minute, after Dane’s well-hit shot was pushed away by the Manchester United goalkeeper.

Tottenham held out for the crucial win, and know they will have to display grittiness like this evening to push Chelsea all the way.

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