Premier League

LEICESTER CITY 1 (Vardy 57)
TOTTENHAM (Porro 29)

THERE were some unknowns on the pitch at the start of Ange Postecoglou’s second term in charge of Tottenham: how would Dominic Solanke fare, what type of first-team impact might Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray have, and would James Maddison find his groove?

Instead, it was a two-second lapse of concentration by the usually reliable Cristian Romero that flipped this opening game of the new Premier League season on its head.

Spurs had been almost too comfortable up to the 57th minute, taking the lead against hosts Leicester City while missing a raft of opportunities. But a brief breach in the Tottenham midfield saw Romero drawn towards a cross he was not going to reach and Jamie Vardy got round behind to nod home.

The equaliser turned what had otherwise been an exciting away performance into a bag of nerves that left manager Postecoglou feeling very much like it was two points dropped.

“It was a disappointing night for us,” he admitted afterwards. “The first-half – excellent and [we] controlled the game, but [we were] wasteful in front of goal.”

And with the King Power Stadium full of excitement to be back in the big time, the Vardy effort turned a subdued home performance into an all guns blazing comeback.

Postecoglou added: “Once Leicester scored, you could tell the crowd lifted and we lost our composure. We let them back in.”

New £55m signing Solanke was involved on his debut, offering a muscular presence up front. But despite the big money hitman keen to get off the mark, Spurs were guilty of profligacy in front of goal.

“We need to be more ruthless,” continued Postecoglou. “We made poor decisions. When we’re that dominant, we should be out of sight of the opposition and we weren’t. Dominance is great, but if you don’t score it is meaningless and pointless.

“You need to be a lot more ruthless in the final third – if we don’t, then we won’t get the rewards our football should get.”

Tottenham set off at a lick. A stream of early corners, scuffed shots, deflected efforts and a goal line hack created an impression of an unbridgeable gulf in class between last season’s fifth-placed team and the Premier League newcomers. City were hanging on by their fingernails in a whirlwind first 20 minutes, hustled into hurried clearances that just saw Spurs return to attack again.

Rodrigo Bentancur – who was later carried off on a stretcher after suffering concussion – got on the end of Maddison’s corner, and his flicked header had to be hooked clear by the contorted limbs of Wilfred Ndidi on the goal-line.

Solanke might have done better when he aimed a header at the back post into the grateful grasp of Foxes goalkeeper Mads Hermansen. The striker was later denied at the other stick and got himself in a tangle when he received the ball to his feet in the six-yard box at an angle.

Then came the goal: Maddison, back at the stadium where he made his name, curled a ball into the danger zone and full-back Pedro Porro showed his nose for goal with a careful header home.

It looked like it might be the start of a rout: Brennan Johnson, who had a flying first half on the Tottenham right, smashed a volley wide.

But this is Spurs, and for all the pretty and a host of efforts not finished, a banana skin moment wasn’t out of the question.

It came on 57: Romero, who had been solid all evening, was drawn like a puppy to a tennis ball when a cross came over. Vardy needed only to drop off and wait.

Substitute Dejan Kulusevski brought some directness while youngsters Gray and Bergvall made their debuts from the bench. Both looked Premier League ready, with Bergvall particularly standing out.

There were promising moments in an evening of general frustration. There may well be sides who play no better than Spurs did tonight at the King Power Stadium this season and stick five past the home side. And that is the problem.

Leicester City: Hermansen, Kristiansen, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin, Winks, Ndidi, Fatawu, Buonanotte (Soumare, 79), De Cordova-Reid (McAteer, 86), Vardy (Mavididi, 79)
Substitutes not used: Ward, Okoli, Pereira, Choudhury, Nelson, Cannon

Tottenham: Vicario, Porro (Spence, 90+2), Romero, van de Ven, Udogie, Sarr (Bergvall, 78), Bentancur (Gray, 78), Maddison (Kulusevski, 79), Johnson (Werner, 78), Solanke, Son (Richarlison, 90+2)
Substitutes not used: Austin, Dragusin, Davies