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(AP):
The boos rang out as Tottenham’s players left the field after going a sixth straight half of play in the English Premier League (EPL) without a shot on target.
His team trailing 1-0 and being outplayed at home by an injury-hit Leeds, it likely dawned on Antonio Conte that he had a bigger job on his hands at Tottenham than he might have imagined.
The Italian’s half-time team talk made all the difference.
Tottenham came out with much more intensity and delivered a second-half performance more in its new manager’s image as goals by two unlikely sources — Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Sergio Reguilon — secured a 2-1 win yesterday.
In the earlier game, Manchester City swept past Everton 3-0 to move back to second place, three points behind Chelsea.
It was a first league win under Conte since the Italian replaced Nuno Espirito Santo as Tottenham manager before the international break. His renowned passion was evident in the final minutes as he whirred his arms, urging fans to get behind the players to see out victory.
They did, and Spurs climbed to seventh place — above Manchester United, who plunged even lower in the standings on the day they fired manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær after a string of humiliating results.
Conte was once linked with potentially replacing Solskjær at United but he has ended up at Tottenham and has yet to lose, having started with a win in the Europa Conference League and a 0-0 draw at Everton in the EPL.
“At half-time, the players showed me they could win this game,” Conte said.
“In the second half I corrected the situation … I look at the stats and Leeds are the best in the league for running and the intensity. In the second half we changed something tactically and in the intensity, we beat them.”
CREATIVE CANCELO
Man City’s main creative threat this season is coming from a defender.
Portugal full back Joao Cancelo set up five goals in two games for City before the most recent international break and he was at it again against Everton, providing a sumptuous outside-of-the-boot pass for the 44th-minute goal by Raheem Sterling that set up a routine win at Etihad Stadium.
If that got City fans excited, Rodri’s thunderbolt from 30 metres in the 55th was another moment to get them off their seats. Bernardo Silva added a third goal in the 86th.
It was a solid response by City to big wins by title rivals Chelsea (3-0 at Leicester) and Liverpool (4-0 at home to Arsenal) on Saturday and achieved without key players like Ruben Dias, who was rested, and Kevin De Bruyne, who is isolating after contracting the coronavirus.
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