In the absence of injured duo Harry Kane and and Son Heung-min, Dele Alli stepped up to score a penalty as Tottenham drew at Burnley on Saturday evening.
Chris Wood had given Burnley the lead early on after Hugo Lloris spilled the ball at the feet of the striker. Spurs were poor in the first half, leading Jose Mourinho to make a double switch at half-time.
The changes paid off immediately as substitute Giovani Lo Celso played a part in the awarding of the penalty, slipping the ball through to Erik Lamela who was fouled by Ben Mee.
Alli stepped up and confidently put the ball to Nick Pope’s left, earning a point for Tottenham on a frustrating evening at Turf Moor.
After the game, Alli was seen laughing with Pope. But why?
In his pre-match interview, the Spurs forward revealed he had taken plenty of penalties against Pope in England training, and he would usually put his spot-kicks in the other corner.
“I don’t want to give anything away but I knew he thought I was going the other way!” Alli told Sky Sports.
“He asked me why I switched sides. The amount of times I’ve taken penalties against him in training, I knew he thought I was going to go that way.”
It looks like Jose Mourinho has a designated penalty taker for the rest of the season, but the Tottenham boss will hoping his side can start scoring more often from open play.
