When it is Not Your Day - Tottenham 1 Sunderland 0

Spurs sit 3rd in the league tonight but they are not sitting pretty.  Today's home game against an awfully deficient Sunderland side should have been a foregone conclusion.  More so when their new manager David Moyes decided that he would give a chance to Steven Pienaar to shine in mid-field.  Piennar was originally an Everton player who came to Spurs, disappointed in performances and then sold back to Everton.  Now he is a free transfer to Tottenham.

I should be happy that my team won, but as I look at the three wins this season., it is a good reminder that the three wins came against sides who were struggling at the bottom of the table. Two of those wins have come against bottom placed teams Stoke City and Sundeland.

The two draws that came where where both against Mersey-side clubs Everton and Liverpool  When I look back at those games, Spurs were lucky to escape with 1pt, so that gives pause for thought as to how to figure out how they are so high up on the league, and more importantly invites much better performances.

Sunderland gifted Spurs a goal, and they also muffed their lines when given the same gift earlier, to Sunderland.  From 4 yards out, the ball was shot without conviction and Spurs defender Walker helped with a timely goal-line clearance.  Had that goal been allowed, Sunderland would have locked up shop and blank Spurs to a 0-0 draw. 

Time and time again, Sunderland flubbed their lines and at present look like a very good bet as a relegation candidate. While they are getting better performances than Stoke City.  Earlier in the day Watford had shown that so called minnows of the Premier league should never be taken lightly.  Manchester United lost their third game in a row in a surprise 3-1 defeat.

Watford's result cannot be measured yet until they play the likes of Spurs, Everton and Liverpool, but the way they played their game today, Spurs will need to lift their game by several notches, otherwise Watford fans will be looking forward to Spurs visiting in the near future.

The reality is that this was a rather weak Sunderland side and Tottenham could not finish them off, though why bemoan a victory, but such victory is a short-term elixir for fans who base their support on results, rather than quality of performance and quality of team.

On a day when the expected win came by a fluke error, the news on the injury front may not be as grim as it appeared today.  Harry Kane, Spurs striker looked like he suffered an acute sprained ankle and he could not walk off the pitch unaided.  Later fans saw Kane on a gurney which became a makeshift wheelchair but this is not a hearts in mouth time.

Kane needs a rest from football, and this injury may end up being a blessing in disguise.  So does Delli Alli who isn't at his sharpest best.  It was dubious why Christian Erikson was left on the bench when he does not need the rest - for Denmark failed to qualify for the Euro Soccer tournament in France this summer.

A victory today actually hides all sorts of ills that would have come to the surface had Sunderland not been so utterly hopeless today.  A team like Manchester City which has gelled very well, is not like meeting the bottom two clubs.  Guardiola's City was mesmerizing and brutally efficient today as they dispatched Bournemouth. 

The win was nice, but in comparison with Manchester City, there is a gulf in difference, City are not afraid of going for the jugular of the other team, but Spurs showed yet again today, they don't have a ruthless streak in them.  At one point Sunderland's passing became more slick and smooth than Tottenham's. 

This was not Sunderland day, but Tottenham should not take any glad tidings in that - Spurs simply have to improve because every other team in the league can potentially be  better quality opposition.   While they might not be under enormous pressure to succeed in the league as Manchester United currently are under, Sunderland once reduced to 10 players due to a red card should have swiped aside, as Everton did recently. 

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