Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Norwich
Andre Villas-Boas may have been a man tipped for great things but the pressure is really building on the Portuguese manager at White Hart Lane as he has started to feel the wrath of the angry fans. Whilst we all know that the firing of Harry Redknapp was unpopular with Spurs fans it just seems that poor AVB can do nothing right.
With the sales of Luke Modric and Rafael Van der Vaart in the past few days it was obvious that the fans would want nothing less than a win as Spurs hosted Norwich, as it turned out Spurs were lucky to even claim a point against the Canaries, who were also looking for their first win.
The visitors started very brightly and came close after just 8 minutes as they hit the bar. They forced Brad Friedel into action just before half time as Robert Snodgrass gave the Spurs defense real nightmares. It could very easily have been 2-0 to Norwich going into the break however we instead finished the half goalless.
The deadlock was finally broken midway into the second half as Belgian Mousa Dembele, playing for the first time since leaving Fulham, opened his account for Spurs with a solid strike from just inside the penalty area. Sadly for AVB his change of tactics following the goal allowed Norwich to attack and their pressure paid off with around 5 minutes left as Robert Snodgrass equalised after some penalty area ping pong.
Things went from bad to worse for Spurs. Not only had they blown what looked like a certain win but they also finished with just 10 men after substitute Tom Huddlestone was sent off just before the final whistle.
Despite dominating the possession Spurs struggle to really force John Ruddy into action as Norwich were all over the home side bring a lot of defensive pressure and doubling up on the key attacking Spurs players. The big issue however seems to be AVB, he's not Redknapp and he appears to be very unwanted by the Spurs fans who seem to feel annoyed that 'arry was sacked despite finishing 4th last season. AVB will need a win and a win soon if he is going to turn around the fans who have already turned on him.
Chris Hughton once again showed why he is highly regarded by many in the sport. Norwich aren't a rich club or a club full of superstar names but they are a well organised team who, opening day aside, have appeared very difficult to beat. The Canaries might not be a team pushing for Europe but they will be a team that could give anyone a tough day just due to how Hughton has them playing. Robert Snodgrass looks to be an excellent summer signing and seems able to pull the strings at this level and could well be the difference between Norwich staying up or going down.
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