VAR chaos distracts from Pochettino’s relief as Spurs’ Alli pegs back Watford

[Mohamed Nasser]

Was this a point to be savoured, or another match best quickly forgotten? Spurs fans will probably spend the weekend mulling it over after a late poke from Dele Alli – one that required, and was eventually granted, the approval of VAR – hauled Mauricio Pochettino’s misfiring team back, just, from a deficit they had laboured under since the opening minutes.

For Watford this was one of those so-near-yet-so-far days, but the commitment from his players gave heart to Quique Sánchez Flores. The league’s bottom side were far from the rabble of early season here and, had they been more decisive in one of several counterattacking opportunities, they might yet have secured their first win of the season.

For Pochettino the message to take was a hopeful one. “I think it was so important in the way we achieved the point,” he said.

“The team was fighting, we had the character we needed to show. After a disaster you need to fight and you need to be strong in your mind. It was the first step to build our confidence again.”

That disaster was, for Pochettino, the 7-2 defeat against Bayern, not the equally comprehensive 3-0 reverse at Brighton that followed the Saturday afterwards. As against the Seagulls, however, the story of this game was Spurs trying to overcome an early, self-inflicted setback. Watford’s opening goal in the sixth minute was well taken but should never have been allowed to happen.

Craig Cathcart is not renowned for his distribution – Hertfordshire’s answer to Leonardo Bonucci he is not – but he began the move that led to the goal by flighting a 60-yard pass from centre-back to the right wing, where Danny Rose crucially misread its flight and Daryl Janmaat did not. Sent clear into gaping space the Dutchman then did his bit, getting the ball out of his feet and crossing low across the six-yard line. With Spurs’ defence slow in thought and body Janmaat’s delivery eluded them all but not Abdoulaye Doucouré, who drifted into the far post and slid the ball past Paulo Gazzaniga.

Spurs, like their visitors, had started the match with a five-man defence. It was, said Sánchez Flores, a sign that they and Watford both “were not in the best moment”. But the Spaniard added wryly: “When you change the system it is not inevitable that you adjust to it.”

So it was that the hosts struggled while Watford looked dangerous on the counter. That long switch behind Rose and outside Jan Vertonghen was always on and from one such pass Watford might have had the chance to double their lead after Vertonghen mistimed a sliding tackle on Gerard Deulofeu in the box. The referee, Chris Kavanagh, waved away shouts for a penalty and VAR saw no reason to overturn, despite replays apparently showing Vertonghen making no contact on the ball.

Half-time brought boos, the introduction of Son Heung-min and a switch back to a back four. The South Korean made an immediate impact and could have equalised in the 49th minute. Advancing on to an excellent Alli through ball, he let off a fierce shot only to see it clatter back off Ben Foster’s bar.

Watford then had more chances on the counter to extend their lead but the best fell to Janmaat, not once but twice, and the Dutchman fluffed his lines.

So, finally, a quick mention for the midfielder synonymous with the good times under Pochettino but of late under something of a cloud. Alli made his first start of the league season here. He played close to Harry Kane, his favoured position. He was rusty and at moments frustrating, but he gave flashes of the impish play that make him a unique talent and left his impact on the game.

The goal came with just three minutes remaining after a gruelling shift for a player coming back from yet another injury. A ball lofted to Kane was punched out by Foster and into Alli’s path. He took it down with his shoulder and poked it into the net. A lengthy VAR check found nothing to overrule the referee – though for a minute the big screen suggested otherwise, for which Hawkeye later apologised – and Spurs escaped with their point.