It was easy to wonder where Tottenham Hotspur's goal would come from, particularly when Emmanuel Adebayor limped off injured and Andre Villas-Boas looked at his bench and saw no strikers. Tottenham, determined to push their top-four ambitions, had been the better and more creative team, even if Swansea City emerged with credit for their all-round polish, albeit that the decisive moment had eluded them.
Enter Jan Vertonghen, the defensive signing from Ajax over the summer, who has emerged as both a key figure and fan favourite. He picked a vital moment to score his first goal in the Premier League and only his second for the club, after September's reward at Carlisle in the Capital One Cup. And it was a finish that bristled with class.
Kyle Walker's free-kick flicked off a Swansea head but it would be remiss to say that the ball fell kindly for Vertonghen, as the visitors' defensive concentration suffered a rare lapse. Vertonghen's technique and body shape had to be spot on to convert the chance on the half-volley but it was. Tottenham had their decisive moment.
Swansea had never won at White Hart Lane and they came to pass. And pass. In this Premier League of blood and thunder, it is remarkable to witness their patience on the ball, particularly at the back. After six minutes, the travelling support shouted 'Olé, Olé' as their team revelled in possession. It was rather early for that sort of thing but it somehow captured the essence of what has been built at the club.
Tottenham's pressing, though, was never going to allow for a Sunday stroll and the home team hustled their opponents into errors. They came to control the first-half and only last-ditch defending and poor decision-making stopped them from taking a lead into the interval.
Tottenham created a fistful of first-half chances and none was better than that which Mousa Dembélé presented to Jermain Defoe in the 13th minute. Dembélé caught the striker Michu dallying in a deep area, robbed him, surged forward and, having drawn the Swansea defenders, ushered in Defoe with a cute back-heel. Michu, though, made amends, tracking back to make the block.
Adebayor drew a vital block from Chico Flores, when well-placed from Walker's cross; Aaron Lennon chose to pick a pass rather than shoot, after being played in by Sandro and Walker exploded a shot from outside the area that threatened to remove Gerhard Tremmel's head. The goalkeeper could not get his hands up in time and the ball ricocheted clear off his shoulder. Walker will never hit a sweeter drive. From the follow-up, Adebayor found William Gallas but the captain's header was weak.
Swansea kept men behind the ball and they flickered on the counter. Their most notable first-half effort, though, came from Michu from almost 50 yards. Sandro erred with a pass and Dembélé hesitated but Michu did not, attempting to catch Hugo Lloris off his line. The shot sailed over but not without causing a few flutters.
It was a compelling game, tight and technical, that came to feel as though it would hinge on a moment of quality or a mistake. The pattern was long since established: Tottenham on the front foot, probing, and Swansea, defensively assured, happy to absorb and commit numbers forward on swift counters. Ashley Williams, the returning captain, was superb in central defence.
The visitors had fashioned the chance to change things early in the second-half when Wayne Routledge beat Gallas too easily and crossed for Nathan Dyer. The winger was unmarked but he failed to make a firm connection with his header.
The majority of the second-half chances were Tottenham's. Adebayor forced Tremmel into a scrambling save, Dembélé saw a shot deflected wide and Walker sliced high and wide on the break. Tottenham looked to have run out of ideas but Vertonghen's conversion, after Adebayor went off, had the home crowd chorusing his name.
Defoe was thwarted by Tremmel one-on-one late on and there was injury-time drama when Lloris punched clear ahead of Michu, flattening the striker in the process. Swansea raged when Tottenham played on to threaten through the substitute Andros Townsend; the benches clashed and there was pushing and shoving on the field.
Tottenham, though, merited the points. There was the feel-good factor of Scott Parker's late cameo for his first football of the season yet the real happiness for the club comes in a glance at the league table.
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