Thomas Frank rued attacking shortcomings but defended the sale of Brennan Johnson after Tottenham were held to a draw by Sunderland that produced more boos from supporters at the full-time whistle. Having taken the lead in the first half through Ben Davies, Spurs had chances to go further ahead before being pegged back by Brian Brobbey’s 80th-minute equaliser when the visitors looked the more likely to go on to win it.
An injury to Mohammed Kudus, who was forced off before the 20th minute with a muscle problem, comes after Frank’s forward options were weakened by the sale of Johnson to Crystal Palace for £35m. Without the suspended Xavi Simons, serving the last of his three-match ban, they lacked, in Frank’s words, “a cutting edge”.
“The big headline is: we didn’t score the 2-0 goal,” Frank said. “The first half was very good, I think we were totally dominant. Second half, not as dominant but we still had some good counterattack situations where we need to get more out of it. You can’t rely on, in the Premier League, just to win 1-0.”
The 21-year-old Dane Scarlett, who came on in the 88th minute, was the only forward Frank could call upon from his bench when his team needed a boost in the second half. “We lacked a little extra freshness,” Frank said. “I look at some teams last night that just put three players on like-for-like and then they run away with the win – a club we can’t speak about [Arsenal]. That would have helped us.”
With Tottenham’s bluntness up front and the albeit unforeseen injury to Kudus, the sale of Johnson to Palace looks especially ill-timed. “Sometimes the decisions make more sense further down the line,” Frank said. “Now there was an opportunity to sell a player, which the club hasn’t been that good at in the past, and sometimes that window can be small if you want to do that.”
As for Sunderland, they were still missing six players at the Africa Cup of Nations and named the same team that started the draw – one of four in a row now – against Manchester City on Thursday. Régis Le Bris, the manager, continues to prove himself as a shrewd tactician and Enzo Le Fée was a key factor in their second-half revival.
Up until Kudus went off, Spurs had looked bright. Mathys Tel went close when his bending shot went just wide of the far post, while Richarlison could not connect with an acrobatic effort. Sunderland accepted their role as frustraters and Granit Xhaka relished his casting as the pantomime villain. The former Arsenal captain could only see the funny side when he slipped on his way to taking a corner, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Spurs found the breakthrough at a corner of their own. Wilson Odobert’s delivery was taken down by Cristian Romero at the back post and, with Sunderland standing stock still, he had time to lift his head and cut the ball back to his defensive partner, Micky van de Ven, whose shot was prodded in by Davies. It was the Welshman’s first club goal in over two years.
Sunderland came out re-energised after the break and Spurs looked nervy under the first bit of pressure. “Just 1-0 down, it was possible to switch on,” Le Bris said. Romero scuffed a back pass well short and Brobbey played a one-two with Eliezer Mayenda before hitting the side netting with a powerful strike that took a nick on the way.
The visitors’ new sense of adventure left them vulnerable at the back. When Spurs found themselves three-on-two on a breakaway, Richarlison’s pass was cut out before it reached a target in the middle. Members of the Spurs coaching team were then up in arms when Randal Kolo Muani’s loose touch squandered a dangerous counterattack after Pedro Porro had driven forward.
Le Bris agreed with Frank’s estimation that Spurs should have been out of sight: “Probably we are a bit lucky because in a Premier League game, when you don’t play at your best, you should be punished and it wasn’t the case … They were not clinical, which was a good thing for us.” Playing in a more advanced position, Le Fée grew in influence, hitting the foot of a post with a header from Nordi Mukiele’s cross with 10 minutes to go. Moments later, he created the equaliser. The Sunderland move was slick, Le Fée and Brobbey combining on the edge of the box before the latter rifled his first-time shot past Guglielmo Vicario into the far corner.
Now on 30 points, Le Bris reiterated that Sunderland’s first target is 40 and survival, despite their lofty position of eighth in the table. Frank and Spurs will see it was two more points dropped as they remain in the bottom half.
