Tottenham Hotspur went into today's Premier League clash with Swansea City looking to record back-to-backs wins and maintain a strong start to the campaign.
Spurs controlled possession and territory but despite their dominance needed a touch of fortune to break the deadlock, as Jonjo Shelvey was judged to have brought down Andros Townsend inside the penalty area.
Roberto Soldado stepped up to slot home the spot kick, with a quartet of debutants helping Andre Villas-Boas's side make it three wins in a week across all competitions.
Here, Sports Mole dissects another display full of positives from a Spurs side full of new faces.
Match statistics:
Spurs
Shots 19
On target 5
Possession 49%
Corners 8
Fouls 10
Swansea
Shots 7
On target 5
Possession 51%
Corners 3
Fouls 15
Was the result fair?
On balance it is hard to argue that Spurs weren't worthy winners this afternoon, controlling possession and territory while also regularly testing Michel Vorm in the Swansea goal. The visitors will be very disappointed with the manner in which they conceded though, with Townsend winning a rather fortunate penalty that ultimately proved decisive.
Spurs' performance
Villas-Boas gave Soldado, Nacer Chadli, Etienne Capoue and Paulinho home debuts this afternoon, with all four making positive contributions. Townsend also produced a performance full of pace and initiative in his first Premier League start for the club. Spurs need to do a better job of providing service for Soldado in the future, with the Spaniard largely kept quiet despite the home side dictating play throughout.
Swansea's performance
Michael Laudrup will be bitterly disappointed with his side today, in particular a midfield trio who were outgunned in a congested central area. Michu quickly grew frustrated as he was left isolated in attack, while Hernandez looked lively but only in patches when the visitors were already chasing the game. Vorm kept the game level with a string of fine saves, but the Swans need more from their creative players to make an impact this season.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Paulinho: The Brazilian consistently drove his side forward in an advanced midfield role, just shading Townsend and Capoue as the standout player at the Lane today. An assured touch regularly saw the midfielder match intelligent runs to effective play in the final third, while only a late block on the line from Williams stopped the Selecao international opening his Spurs account in the first half.
Biggest Gaffe
Referee Neil Swarbrick has to take this award, with an assist from the linesman, for failing to award a penalty to Spurs in the first half. Shelvey brought the winger down with a block inside the area, but the linesman failed to intervene and gave a free kick just outside the box. That poor call probably contributed to another error after the break, which saw Shelvey harshly penalised for another incident involving Townsend after the interval. The winger probably dived on that occasion, but did enough to convince Swarbrick as he fell to the floor.
What next?
Spurs: Next up for a new-look Spurs comes the visit of Dinamo Tblisi in the Europa League on Thursday, with the North London derby at the Emirates to follow three days later.
Swansea: Laudrup's men have to come through the formality of retaining a four-goal advantage to qualify for the Europa League group stages on Thursday, against Petrolul Ploiesti. After that their attention turns back to searching for Premier League points with another away match, against West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns.
