Tottenham's Dele Alli, left, celebrates scoring their third goal against Watford with Harry Kane on Sunday, January 1, 2016.  Eddie Keogh / Reuters
Tottenham's Dele Alli, left, celebrates scoring their third goal against Watford with Harry Kane on Sunday, January 1, 2016. Eddie Keogh / Reuters

Tottenham, led by the twin emblems of Harry Kane and Dele Alli, are on fire just in time for Chelsea clash



Watford 1 Tottenham 4

Watford: Kaboul (90'+1) | Tottenham: Kane (27', 33'), Alli (41', 46')

Man of the Match: Dele Alli (Tottenham)

They have been twin thrashings, four-goal salvoes fired away from home which have now taken Tottenham into the top four. Mission statements have secured their eventual elevation, ending their two-month stay in fifth place. Like Southampton four days earlier, Watford on Sunday discovered Tottenham are in enviable form.

Theirs was a performance of utter dominance. Watford posted the first contender for the unwanted award of 2017’s most shambolic display, but Tottenham were terrific.

“We played to a very high standard,” said Mauricio Pochettino. “The first half was one of the best we have played this season.”

It was his vision being played out perfectly: youth and energy, attacking intent and skill, a triumph hewn on the training ground, borne of collectivism and clinched by the twin emblems of the new Tottenham.

Harry Kane and Dele Alli — one home-grown, the other acquired young and both moulded by Pochettino — struck twice apiece. It was Kane’s 100th Premier League appearance and he marked it with his 58th and 59th goals, a healthy statistic that is a sign of his consistent productivity. A brace was taken with the assurance of a specialist scorer. Perhaps the only surprise was that the supply line for both goals was reserve rightback Kieran Trippier. Promoted because Kyle Walker was suspended, the understudy doubled his tally of assists for Spurs in six minutes.

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• Premier League round-up: Chelsea make it 13 in a row

His first was a pass slid through the Watford defence that Kane converted from an acute angle. Then Trippier controlled Alli’s cross-field ball and whipped in an enticing cross. Kane met it on the volley to apply the finishing touch.

Alli was inches from a landmark of his own, a maiden Premier League hat-trick. He struck the bar with a ferocious shot a minute before Kane’s opener. He ended with a second successive brace and proof of his symbiotic understanding with Kane: his second goal came from the striker’s cross.

For his first, he latched on to a poor clearance from Younes Kaboul, the man Pochettino had appointed Tottenham captain before swiftly acknowledging his error, and placed a shot beyond the former Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes. The presence of two old boys added a symbolism: Tottenham’s present is infinitely preferable to much of their recent past.

Pochettino was able to remove Alli with half an hour remaining. Danny Rose and Kane also sat out the closing stages as attention turned to Wednesday’s attempt to halt Chelsea’s winning run. “We’re coming for you,” chorused the Spurs faithful to their Blues counterparts.

Their thoughts had strayed from Watford. Pochettino had taken mercy on them. Tottenham lost concentration in added time and Kaboul scored the least consoling of consolation goals. Watford’s problems began before kick-off. Already ravaged by injuries, they lost Juan Zuniga in the warm-up. Striker Odion Ighalo came in while Nordin Amrabat, Watford’s third choice right wing-back, moved to the flank until he, too, sustained an injury.

Yet absences alone cannot excuse their staggering ineptitude, as Adlene Guedioura accepted. “It is embarrassing to lose like that,” said the midfielder. “I want to apologise to all the fans.” Much was sorry about Watford, a side seeming to lack the basics, whether of organisation or commitment. They feel a team without an identity, as though the revolving-door recruitment policy has come at a cost.

Now Tottenham have four consecutive wins, Watford one point from four games. They looked what they are: teams going in opposite directions.

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The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre

The specs

Engine: 2x201bhp AC Permanent-magnetic electric

Transmission: n/a

Power: 402bhp

Torque: 659Nm

Price estimate: Dh200,000

On sale: Q3 2022 

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
THE BIO:

Favourite holiday destination: Thailand. I go every year and I’m obsessed with the fitness camps there.

Favourite book: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It’s an amazing story about barefoot running.

Favourite film: A League of their Own. I used to love watching it in my granny’s house when I was seven.

Personal motto: Believe it and you can achieve it.

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The specs

BMW M8 Competition Coupe

Engine 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8

Power 625hp at 6,000rpm

Torque 750Nm from 1,800-5,800rpm

Gearbox Eight-speed paddleshift auto

Acceleration 0-100kph in 3.2 sec

Top speed 305kph

Fuel economy, combined 10.6L / 100km

Price from Dh700,000 (estimate)

On sale Jan/Feb 2020
 

Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

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World Cup warm-up fixtures

Friday, May 24:

  • Pakistan v Afghanistan (Bristol)
  • Sri Lanka v South Africa (Cardiff)

Saturday, May 25

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  • India v New Zealand (The Oval, London)

Sunday, May 26

  • South Africa v West Indies (Bristol)
  • Pakistan v Bangladesh (Cardiff)

Monday, May 27

  • Australia v Sri Lanka (Southampton)
  • England v Afghanistan (The Oval, London)

Tuesday, May 28

  • West Indies v New Zealand (Bristol)
  • Bangladesh v India (Cardiff)

Factfile on Garbine Muguruza:

Name: Garbine Muguruza (ESP)

World ranking: 15 (will rise to 5 on Monday)

Date of birth: October 8, 1993

Place of birth: Caracas, Venezuela

Place of residence: Geneva, Switzerland

Height: 6ft (1.82m)

Career singles titles: 4

Grand Slam titles: 2 (French Open 2016, Wimbledon 2017)

Career prize money: $13,928,719

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020

Launched: 2008

Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools

Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)

Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13

 

Impact in numbers

335 million people positively impacted by projects

430,000 jobs created

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26 million school children given solar lighting

Glossary of a stock market revolution

Reddit

A discussion website

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The users of Reddit

Robinhood

A smartphone app for buying and selling shares

Short seller

Selling a stock today in the belief its price will fall in the future

Short squeeze

Traders forced to buy a stock they are shorting 

Naked short

An illegal practice  

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Sun jukebox

Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)

This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.

Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)

The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.

Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)

Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.

Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)

Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.

Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)

An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.

Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)

Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.

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Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5


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