Harry Kane’s penalty sinks Burnley and boosts Tottenham’s top-four hopes

Perhaps a dodgy meal will not stop Spurs this time. When it was announced that Dejan Kulusevski would start on the bench after contracting a stomach bug that had affected other members of the squad, it was hard not to draw parallels with the “lasagne-gate” drama of 2006, which helped Arsenal pip them to the Champions League. But Tottenham negotiated a sizeable banana skin nevertheless and can watch their closest rivals seek a way past Newcastle tomorrow night with a two-point advantage in fourth.

They can thank VAR for that. Burnley were irate but the penalty award that won this game looked correct by the letter of today’s mind-numbing laws. Ashley Barnes’s arm was deemed in an unnatural position when the ball struck it as half-time approached but it would barely have been a talking point had play not been called back for the review. Harry Kane had little time for such concerns; he buried the spot kick, leaving relegation-threatened Burnley to live on their nerves next weekend and ensuring a leggy Tottenham got the job done.

Their ability to achieve that was in question for long periods. The biggest intrigue, as the first half took shape, was whether a rugged Burnley could get away with their approach for an entire 90 minutes. Mike Jackson had gone with a flat back five and, although critically weakened by the absences of Ben Mee and James Tarkowski, the away defence showed ample appetite to hack, block and scrap at anything sent in their direction. Tottenham did not begin as if affected by sickness, nor by the rapid turnaround since Thursday’s jubilant derby night, but the lack of an early breakthrough naturally risked fomenting tension.

While Spurs began at speed, flipping the ball from one side to the other with