Christian Eriksen bagged a 89th-minute winner as Tottenham Hotspur beat Sunderland 2-1 at White Hart Lane this afternoon.
Jan Vertonghen's deflected effort helped Spurs into the lead after just four minutes, but Sebastian Larsson struck a fine free kick as the Black Cats went in level at the break.
Gus Poyet's side defended for their lives in a second half that saw Tottenham throw the kitchen sink at their North-East counterparts, before Eriksen struck in timely fashion to snatch the points.
Below, relive the drama with Sports Mole's live commentary.
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to our live text coverage of Spurs' visit of Sunderland on a day when the prodigal son returns to White Hart Lane. Yep, Gus Poyet is back at the Lane once more. That was a joke, for we're talking about Jermain Defoe of course!
Yep, the former Tottenham hitman returns to his former club this afternoon in the red and white of Sunderland, having signed a three-and-a-half year deal with the Black Cats from Toronto on Friday. Welcome back to the Premier League, Mr Defoe.
What a fantastic deal that could prove to be come May. Poyet's side sit one point and two places above the relegation zone, having scored just 18 Premier League goals all season. It's not been a great season for them, has it? But in Defoe they've recruited a player who certainly knows the way to goal.
He is, as we well know, somewhat of a marksman at this level, with 124 Premier League goals under his belt. At 32, there may be one or two question marks over his age and capacity to roll back the years, but it's seemingly a risk that Poyet and Sunderland are willing to take - and who could blame them?
You don't score 18 goals in 21 games if you're flush with quality in the final third, with Steven Fletcher and Connor Wickham so far failing to add much by way of goals to Sunderland's survival bid. They're a tricky team to beat, as Chelsea found out this season, but they've been sorely missing that spark at the other end and you have to fancy that Defoe just might be the man to ignite their season.
But is he starting? Let's find out. Team news on the way, my friends.
SPURS XI: Lloris; Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose; Dembele, Stambouli; Chadli, Kane, Eriksen; Soldado
SUNDERLAND XI: Pantilimon, Jones, van Aanholt, Brown, O'Shea (c), Vergini, Larsson, Rodwell, Johnson, Fletcher, Defoe
SPURS SUBS: Vorm, Davies, Naughton, Capoue, Paulinho, Townsend, Adebayor
SUNDERLAND SUBS: Wickham, Gomez, Graham, Coates, Giaccherini, Mannone, Buckley
Okay let's get rough, rugged and raw and I can confirm that Defoe IS starting today! Of course he is. This relegation dogfight won't win itself.
Defoe starts up front alongside Steven Fletcher in attack, with Sebastian Larrson, Jack Rodwell and Adam Johnson in a three-man midfield. Then you've got Billy Jones and Patrick van Aanholt as wing-backs, with Santiago Vergini, John O'Shea and Wes Brown lining up in central defence in front of Costel Pantilimon between the sticks.
On to Spurs now, and here's how they line up: Out-of-form Roberto Solado keeps his place and partners in-form Harry Kane in the Lilywhites' attack. Further back you'll find Christian Eriksen, Moussa Dembele, Nacer Chadli and Benjamin Stambouli in midfield. Eric Dier starts in central defence beside Jan Vertonghen, while Danny Rose and Kyler Walker start at left and right-back respectively, with Hugo Lloris continuing in goal. And that's your lot!
We can't go any further without mentioning the very sad news that Jozy Altidore has left the Premier League. He went to Toronto in the deal that saw Defoe join the Black Cats. We'll be paying tribute to the USA international a little later with a vine of his best bits in a red and white shirt.
We've already had a look at Sundeland, and we'll take a closer look at the Lilywhites soon, but first why not take a minute or two and see what the lads down at Sports Mole have had to say on this one. Go on sure.
What have we made of Spurs' season so far then? I'm an Arsenal fan myself, so saying nice stuff about them *spits* is difficult, but I have little choice because they have been quite decent in fairness to them. There was a bit of a blip in losing 2-1 at Crystal Palace last week, but they bounced back in fine fashion; beating Burnley in the FA Cup in a game where they trailed 2-0 inside the first eight minutes.
And who could forget that 5-3 demolition of Chelsea on New Year's Day; a real 'hang about, Spurs might have a decent manager for once' moment. They're sixth in the Premier League table, two points off the top four and, understandably, optimism is high on the white half of North London - and it definitely ought to be ahead of kickoff here because, well, they boast a decent record against Sunderland.
The Lilywhites are unbeaten in their last nine against their North-East counterparts, with their last defeat coming in a 3-1 reverse at the Stadium of Light back in 2010. Even more ominous is the fact that Sunderland haven't won here since 2008 - that's seven years, if you did foundation maths like me.
Incidentally, you'll get 9/2 on an away win this afternoon - so for every £2 you stake you get £9 back, if you did foundation maths like me. Bookmakers, who are effectively experts at gauging the likelyhood of certain outcomes, certainly don't fancy the visitors, but let's not write them off just yet.
Apart from Defoe, who can Sunderland look to for a bit of inspiration? Options are scarce by virtue of their goalscoring woes this season, but we'd probably have to punt for Adam Johnson. The tricky winger has four goals this season - would've been five had his thunderous shot not cannoned off the bar against Liverpool last week - and he's probably one that Spurs will have to keep an eye on today. Incidentally, Fletcher also has four goals to his name so far.
What about the hosts? Well that one's not quite as debatable, is it? It's Harry Kane who, with 18 goals, has scored more goals in all competitions this season than any other Premier League player aside from the one and only Sergio Aguero. Granted, quite a few of them came in the Europa League, but the 21-year-old has brought his continental form into domestic outings lately and has six goals in as many games - including a brace against Chelsea on New Year's Day.
PREDICTION! Right, so we're about five minutes from kickoff now, which can only mean one thing: it's time to get a prediction horribly wrong. I think Sunderland, with Defoe in tow, will give a very good account of themselves and restore optimism for their survival hopes, but they'll ultimately come up short this afternoon. 2-1 Spurs. Feel free to make your own predictions, but there's literally no prizes for guessing unfortunately.
Big Ledley is predicting 3-1 Spurs - or else the photographer has just asked him how many injuries he's had since Thursday. But I'm sticking with 2-1. Let's go!
.@LedleyKing is backing us to win 3-1 today. What's your prediction? Where are you in the world? Use #COYS pic.twitter.com/sVB7hdWI5Y
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 17, 2015
Right, both sets of players have entered the field and we're just minutes away now. Surely Defoe will get a good reception from the Spurs faithful, and surely he won't celebrate should he score. Let's see how the does anyway.
KICKOFF: Chris Foy, the silver fox, takes charge of this one aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're off at White Hart Lane. Sunderland, playing in their blue away kit, get us underway.
GOAL!!!! SPURS 1-0 SUNDERLAND (Jan Vertonghen)
Spurs get off to a fantastic start through Vertonghen. It stems from a free kick as Santiago Vergini fails to clear his lines following Christian Eriksen's free kick, and Vertonghen, with a clever drag-back, fires at goal and his attempt takes a wicked deflection to deceive Pantilimon. 1-0.
PENALTY APPEAL: But it's a brilliant response from the visitors and they could, and probably should, have had a penalty! Jermaine Defoe deceives Vertonghen by letting the ball roll past him in the box, before the striker goes to ground under the Belgian's challenge. Defoe wants a penalty, as do plenty of Sunderland players, but Chris Foy is having none of it. Poor decision it must be said.
More positive play from Sunderland and they're far and away the better team so far, but they still look to be struggling in the final third.
Sunderland, it has to be said, still bossing this one by way of possession. It seems Pochettino has done his homework on Defoe because the diminutive striker has seen very, very little of the ball so far.
We've said Defoe has been a passenger so far, and he has, but he's just shown why he can be so dangerous. He's made a darting run to latch on to John O'Shea's long ball, but he was flagged offside. Still, he's going to put so much pressure on that linesman and he might just make one or two wrong calls.
Defoe is coming into this one more and more, and he might've had a sight at goal there but, in a two-on-two situation, Steven Fletcher's pass is far too heavy and it takes Defoe away from goal. Good game this.
CHANCE! Yep, it's an end-to-end belter alright. It's a swift counter-attack as Danny Rose cuts back for the oncoming Eriksen, who fires a first-time shot at goal from the edge of the box, but Pantilimon gets down well to push it away.
It's the Spurs show once more now, but Sunderland look far better at the back than they did early on. The error-prone Vergini made another mistake in the build-up to the goal, but he's responded well to it in fairness.
Another offside decision goes against Defoe. I really wouldn't like to be Dier or Vertonghen today. He's going to be on their shoulders for 90 minutes, waiting for that killer ball to run on to.
CHANCE! Really good chance, and it's Soldado believe it or not. The Spaniard latches on to Vertonghen's long ball, and a good touch would've seen him go one-on-one with Pantilimon, but his first touch is heavy and allows the Sunderland keeper to smother the ball and the chance with it. He missed an open goal from six yards on Wednesday, so his confidence might be a little shaky.
SAVE! Excellent save from Pantilimon to push away Eriksen's long-range strike. Sunderland defenders just allowed him to shoot, so they can thank their goalkeeper for saving them an ear-bashing from Poyet during half time.
CHANCE! Oh no. Steven Fletcher is responsible for arguably gaffe of the season. Billy Jones plays an absolutely superb ball across Spurs' six-yard box, and Fletcher just has to tap it home, but the ball rolls under his foot and trickles away. How important will that miss prove by about five o'clock? Shocker.
GOAL!!!!! SPURS 1-1 SUNDERLAND (Sebastian Larsson)
What a brilliant equaliser. It stemmed from a free kick that Defoe won off Vertonghen - which saw the Belgian booked - and Larsson stepped up and bent a brilliant ball over the wall to give Lloris no chance at all. They've thoroughly deserved that.
Sunderland are temporarily down to 10 men as Billy Jones receives treatment for a head wound. It looks nasty as blood continues to spill from the top of his head. We're not sure how it happened.
Tottenham have gone well on top since being pegged back, with Sunderland's defence forced to contend with one or two really good deliveries from Eriksen. Bit of respite now as Pantilimon takes a goal kick.
Defoe has been ruled offside three times in this half already. He's a predator and he'll be testing that back line all the time. I punted for a 2-1 home win prior to kickoff, but I think Sunderland have more goals in them.
UPDATE: Incidentally, Chelsea are currently leading Swansea 4-0 at The Liberty Stadium. Oscar and Diego Costa have bagged two apiece in what looks to be a rout in South Wales. #prayforFabianski
Three minutes left in this half then, and a half-time draw is nothing less than Sunderland have deserved. It's been a very, very even game so far and it could really go either way.
CHANCE!!! White Hart Lane holds his breath as Fletcher plays in Defoe but, instead of taking a shot, tried to cut back on to his stronger right foot and Kyle Walker got back in the nick of time to ensure his former teammate couldn't get the shot away.
TWO MINUTES ADDED ON:
OFF THE POST! Very unlucky from Harry Kane, who's been very quiet so far it must be said, and he's unlucky after watching a shot bounce off the post in the dying stages of this half.
HALF TIME: SPURS 1-1 SUNDERLAND
Well, that's all she wrote in this half, my friends. Spurs took a fourth-minute lead through Jan Vertonghen, but Sunderland have been really good and they're good value for the draw, after Seb Larsson stroked home a delightful free kick on the half-hour mark.
There were two really good chances before the break. First, Defoe found himself with a goalscoring opportunity, but inexplicably decided to cut back on to his right foot, allowing Kyle Walker the time to thwart the danger. Then, Harry Kane, a mere passenger in the first half, came within the width of the woodwork from re-establishing Spurs' lead just before the whistle by crashing his shot against the post. Fine effort, and he was unlucky to see it missed.
Anyways, that's it for the moment, folks. Stick the kettle on and meet me back here in five for the second half. Will Defoe score on his return to White Hart Lane? Will Spurs edge ahead again? All these questions will be answered in the near future.
RESTART! Aaaaaaaaaaaaand we're officially back underway, my friends. Spurs, playing from left to right in this half, kick us off. Let's see if they can start this half as well as they did in the first 45 minutes.
Billy Jones, who had that head injury in the first half, is now rocking a Terry Butcher-style bandage. He just needs the blood to complete the look, so maybe he could insult Lee Cattermole or something.
Tottenham far and away the better team in this first five minutes since the break, but dare I suggest that Sunderland look quite comfortable back there at the minute.
We've seen Sunderland's first foray into Spurs' half and they'll whip in a corner now...
It's a brilliant in-swinger from Seb Larsson, but nobody was on hand to convert it. They can't give the Swede too many opportunities to shoot or cross from set-piece chances, as he has proven already.
CLOSE! Fantastic effort from Eriksen, who somehow manages to get his shot away amidst a sea of blue shirts, and his half-volley has Pantilimon scrambling across, but it's just wide in the end.
SHOT! Yep, Spurs are really coming at Sunderland now and Kane, with an acre of space, goes for goal from an acute angle instead of passing, and Wes Brown gets across really well to block the shot.
SUB: First sub of the afternoon now as Soldado makes way for Emmanuel Adebayor, who receives a lukewarm reception from the Spurs faithful.
SHOT! Kane looks desperate for a goal today, often shooting when a pass is the better option, and here's another example of it as he takes aim from outside the box and watches on as his effort drifts wide.
SUB: Gus Poyet makes his first change now as Connor Wickham replaces the ineffective Fletcher.
SAVE! It's well and truly the Tottenham show now. Everytime that Sunderland earn a respite Spurs come straight back at them, and they very nearly go ahead again as Pantilimon gets down brilliantly to keep out Chadli's rather tame half-volley. It's going to be a nervy last 22 minutes for the visitors.
We've seen very, very, very little (that's not a height joke) of Defoe in this second half. Spurs have been so dominant that Sunderland have barely seen any of the ball in the opposition half. Still, Spurs can't afford to forget that he's back there because he will punish them.
SHOT! If the rest of Tottenham's shots are like the one Adebayor has just had then they'll be alright, because the Togolese striker has flashed a left-footed volley at goal, but it rolls into Pantilimon's hands. Never threatening.
DOUBLE SUB: Defoe makes way on his Sunderland debut for Danny Graham, while Andros Townsend replaces Dembele for Spurs. 15 minutes left. Big ask for Sunderland to hold on, but they might.
SHOT! It's just not happening for Spurs at the moment, as Townsend drills a left-footed shot well wide of the mark. They've got 12 minutes to find the breakthrough.
CHANCE! Oh my word this is really poor. Adam Johnson's speculative shot is palmed away by Lloris, but Graham did well to follow up the rebound, but his execution is ridiculous as the second-half sub fires straight at the Frenchman from around 10 yards out. Such a big chance. How important will it prove in about 10 minutes?
I can't wait to see the shots, because I'm quite certain that Spurs have just had their 78th shot of this one as Walker's speculative effort glides into the crowd. That was an exaggeration, but we're talking at least 20 shots from Spurs today.
Right, we're three minutes from full time and, as it stands, Sunderland are closing in on what would be a brilliant point. They've been proper caned in this second half, but they've held strong at the back.
SUB: Final throw of the dice for Pochettino, who replaces Chadli with Paulinho for the last few minutes.
GOAL!!!! SPURS 2-1 SUNDERLAND (Christian Eriksen)
Heartbreak for Sunderland as Eriksen, as he so often does, strikes late and it looks like Spurs have snatched all three points. Cruel for the visitors, but another Tottenham goal has always been coming in truth.
SUB: Last throw of the dice for Sunderland now as Will Buckley replaces Billy Jones for the last few minutes.
CHANCE! Oh no it's only Danny Graham again. He's through with Hugo Lloris, but his first-time shot lacks the direction to trouble the Frenchman.
OFFSIDE GOAL! Jan Vertonghen thinks he has definitely won this. Pantilimon goes up for a corner and Spurs break down the other hand, and Vertonghen, who ends up slotting into an empty net from 30 yards, is ruled offside.
FULL TIME! SPURS 2-1 SUNDERLAND
Well, that's it. Eriksen is the Spurs hero once more and Sunderland, like so many weakest link contestants, leave with nothing. Cruel, but that's the nature of the beast.
Anyways, that's all we've got, my friends. Stay tuned for player ratings and match analysis from a drama afternoon in North London.
Written by
Shane Callaghan
Shane Callaghan
