Fernando Llorente fails to hit target as Tottenham’s attacking reserves fail to show they are ready for Ajax
- Tottenham will be without Harry Kane and Heung-min Son against Ajax
- Mauricio Pochettino will rely on his attacking reserves for the first leg
- Fernando Llorente was one of those who failed to take his chances on Tuesday
- Christian Eriksen eventually scored the winner but overall it wasn’t pretty
As Chris Hughton’s Brighton unapologetically parked the bus, welcoming anyone wearing white to have a pop at their goal, Tottenham Hotspur’s players took it in turns.
Dele Alli, Lucas Moura and Christian Eriksen queued up to have a go in what was an overall one-sided encounter. Then there was Fernando Llorente, the grand contributor of, well, nothing.
Sometimes the statistics say it all, so here goes: against a side begging to have shots taken against them, Llorente managed none on target, none off and none blocked.
Fernando Llorente struggled to make an impact in Tottenham’s 1-0 win over Brighton
Llorente was involved in some aerial duels but wasn’t able to really make an impact
In all, the Spaniard did little to show why he should face Ajax in the Champions League next week, when Tottenham will be without Harry Kane and Heung-min Son.
The Spurs wingers tried to fire a few crosses the centre forward’s way but Brighton, with 6ft 4in duo Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy, were happy to gobble them up.
There were next-to-no runs behind, and few times did he hold the ball up like a striker should.
Christian Eriksen scored the winner for Tottenham as Brighton finally caved in to their attacks
Eriksen celebrates with Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli after Tottenham went 1-0 up
What made matters worse was Llorente’s inclusion in the starting line-up saw manager Mauricio Pochettino push Son over to one side and Moura to the other.
It limited their contribution in the box, where they could have caused problems. Instead, Brighton were quite pleased with the game plan, and came close to pinching a point.
In the end it was a low shot by Eriksen that ruined the visitors’ night and kept Tottenham in the driving seat for a top-four finish.
Spurs have a lot to thank Llorente for, of course. It was his goal off the hip (or hand, if you are a Manchester City supporter) that saw them through to the Champions League semi-finals.
Vincent Janssen (right) was brought on to replace Kieran Trippier towards the end of the game
Yet the 34-year-old has the habit of looking like a one-trick pony and, on this occasion, that one trick did not work. Dunk and Duffy simply took it in turns to out-leap Llorente whenever needed.
In the 80th minute, Pochettino introduced Vincent Janssen for his very first appearance of the season and his first since August 2017. Desperate times, desperate measures, and all that.
He replaced Moura, who may have felt hard done by. He seemed deserving of more minutes.
One of the more curious spectators inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was Zac Efron.
The sighting of the actor on TV prompted some on social media to joke that Pochettino was set to sign him up. To be fair, he is only two Premier League goals off Llorente’s total. We all are.