Son seals fightback but Spurs paper over cracks

Credit Tottenham for their resilience. Credit their character for coming back into the game. Credit them for battling their way to a point that never really seemed plausible until Son Heung-min converted an 84th-minute penalty.

- Jonathan Wilson

Credit Tottenham for their resilience. Credit their character for coming back into the game. Credit them for battling their way to a point that never really seemed plausible until Son Heung-min converted an 84th-minute penalty. But let nobody get carried away: this was a game that raised more questions for Spurs than it answered. It was not a performance that should reassure anybody.

The daffodils were out in front of the flats on the Seven Sisters Road. There was some warmth in the sun. Fans uncertainly cast off their thick winter coats. Finally, Tottenham's injury crisis is easing. At last Ange Postecoglou has had some time to work with his squad. Spurs had won league games on three successive weekends. Even with a 1-0 defeat against Manchester City in their previous league match, it might have been possible to believe that winter is over, that renewal has begun.

Then came Thursday and a miserable performance at AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League. That it was only 1-0 at least offers some hope for the second leg on Thursday - and that Postecoglou can maintain his much-vaunted run of always winning a trophy in his second year at a club, but on that the entire season hangs. And nobody can be too bullish after another weirdly sloppy home display.