Tottenham Hotspur vs Swansea City. Premier League.
White Hart LaneAttendance35,922.
Monday 29 February 2016 06:26, UK
Tottenham launched a second-half fightback to beat Swansea 2-1 and maintain their Premier League title push.
Alberto Paloschi put the visitors ahead in a first half full of fine saves from Swans goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski who kept his side ahead at the break.
But Nacer Chadli and Danny Rose struck twice in the last 20 minutes to seal a deserved three points for the home side.
Spurs remain in second but with Arsenal losing to Manchester United, they are now three points clear of their north London rivals and two behind leaders Leicester, while Swansea remain in 16th position - three points from the relegation places.
Despite Tottenham dominating the first half, Swansea had the first chance of the game inside three minutes as former Spurs man Spurs man Gylfi Sigurdsson saw his effort tipped over the bar by Hugo Lloris from six yards.
But Spurs came storming back with their own chances not long after, Erik Lamela shooting over from close range and Fabianski making the first of many great saves to deny Harry Kane at the back post.
It was Swansea who took their chance to go ahead after 18 minutes, when Paloschi hit home from Angel Rangel's rebounded effort to stun the home faithful.
After that, it was mostly one-way traffic from the home side, with Kyle Walker's fizzing cross evading the outstretched foot of Kane before Dele Alli was denied a penalty by the referee and Lamela's shot from the loose ball only finding the palms of Fabianski.
But Swansea did find another opening with seven minutes of the half to play, as Lloris saved brilliantly from another Paloschi effort from 12 yards out after some great work down the right from Rangel.
The Swans goalkeeper was once again called into action in the dying seconds of the half, making a brilliant save to deny Eric Dier from six yards after Danny Rose carved up the visiting defence, and Son smashed the rebound into the side netting.
The second half started much like the first played out, with Fabianski twice saving from Kane and then stopping another superb free-kick from Eriksen - diving to push the ball onto the crossbar and away from danger.
The Tottenham attacks kept coming in waves, with Alli, Dier, Kane and Eriksen continuing to test the mettle of Swansea's defence and the reactions of their superb stopper.
But they found the breakthrough just before the 70 minute mark, with substitute Chadli turning in a long-range shot from Walker at close-range and finally beating the Polish goalkeeper.
It took just seven minutes for Tottenham to add another to their tally, with a cleared corner seeing the ball fall to the feet of Rose - who smashed home from the edge of the area to give Spurs the long-awaited lead.
Swansea weren't quite finished though, and after making positive attacking substitutions, it was Lloris who was called into action as Paloschi volleyed towards goal from Sigurdsson's free-kick, the Spurs captain was equal to it.
The hosts could have had a third with ten minutes to play as Kane squared the ball for Walker to tap home, but the flag was already raised for offside and the goal was ruled out.
Tottenham saw out the rest of the game with relative ease, staying hot on Leicester's heels with a well-earned win.
Player ratings
Tottenham: Lloris (7), Walker (7), Alderweireld (6), Wimmer (6), Rose (7), Alli (7), Dier (7), Lamela (7), Eriksen (8), Son (7), Kane (7).
Subs used: Chadli (7), Mason (6), Onomah (4).
Swansea: Fabianski (9), Rangel (7), Fernandez (6), Williams (6), Taylor (6), Britton (5), Cork (6), Ki (6), Sigurdsson (7), Ayew (5), Paloschi (7).
Subs used: Fer (4), Barrow (4), Gomis (4).
Man of the match: Lukasz Fabianski
