Ex-APOTY Ikpeba criticises two Tottenham stars who were invisible in second half vs Chelsea

Published: September 20, 2021

Former African Footballer of the Year and 1996 Olympics gold medalist Victor Ikpeba has criticised two Tottenham Hotspur players Harry Kane and Heung-min Son for their performance in the second half against Chelsea in a Premier League clash on Sunday.

Thomas Tuchel's side continued their strong start to the season with a 3-0 rout of Tottenham courtesy of strikes from Thiago Silva, N'Golo Kante and Antonio Rudiger.

Ikpeba underlined that Tottenham Hotspur's marquee players Kane and Son were invisible in the second half.

Kane, Manchester City's number one target in the summer transfer window, has failed to live up to his high standards so far in the new season with no goals after five matches against domestic opposition, while Son wasn't looking sharp in his first game after recovering from an ankle injury.

Speaking on SuperSport's Monday Night Football, monitored by allnigeriasoccer.com, Ikpeba stated : "Spurs with due respect had a fantastic first 45 minutes, they didn't create a lot but had a lot of energy and they were punished by dead ball situations.

"Chelsea can hurt you when it comes to dead ball situations, they have the personnel - the likes of Rüdiger, Christensen, Silva - and change the tempo, momentum of the game.

"Spurs got tired, we didn't see much from Harry Kane, we didn't see much from Son. They lacked the experience in the second half.

"What Chelsea does now is that they don't concede in the first 45 minutes, they know they can hurt you in the second half, they are very patient."

Having kept clean sheets in their first three matches in the top-flight, Tottenham Hotspur have shipped in six goals in their last two matches, with all the goals conceded in the second half.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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