After six Premier League games without a victory, coming up short again, this time against a promoted side that had been struggling for large parts of the 2026/27 campaign themselves, would've meant more questions than answers.

Coventry were looking for a third win in succession

One of those might've been whether Roberto De Zerbi, Spurs' saviour only a few months ago, really was the right man for the job.

Fortunately for the Italian and his squad, the Tottenham faithful still appeared to be fully behind their team as the game kicked off.

Frank Lampard's Sky Blues were looking for their third successive top-flight win, a feat that they hadn't managed since the late 1990s, and with the former Chelsea player and coach having a decent record against the Lilywhites, he might've fancied Coventry's chances of prolonging the hosts' agony.

However, Spurs had won the last encounter between the clubs, a 2-1 victory in the League Cup in September 2024, whilst Coventry's last two visits to N17 had ended in 3-0 defeats.

Superb opener from Maddison

Perhaps as a sign of how desperate De Zerbi had become, he had made five changes to the Tottenham starting XI, though that appeared to count for little as the visitors took the game to their opponents, firing off three attempts in the opening 10 minutes of the match.

None were successful, and they were quickly made to pay as Mo Kudus teed up James Maddison to score his first goal in the Premier League since February 16th, 2025 against Manchester United.

And what a goal it was, too. A first-time curling effort from outside the box and into the opposite corner, giving Coventry goalkeeper Carl Rushworth no chance.

With only 14 minutes gone when Spurs took the lead, it was already an ominous sign for the Sky Blues, as they'd failed to win any of their previous 47 matches when conceding first in the Premier League.

You'd have to go all the way back to the game against Charlton Athletic on March 6th, 1999, for the last time Coventry conceded the first goal in a top-flight game before coming back to win.

Kudus and Tonali running the show

With 75% possession in the opening quarter hour, Spurs were good value for their lead, Kudus (96.7% pass completion) and Sandro Tonali (94.1%) leading their opponents a merry dance.

Although the visitors huffed and puffed in attack, their aim was off, and all of their efforts in the first half, from the likes of Sidiki Cherif and Brandon Thomas-Asante, were wayward.

Bobby Thomas was doing his level best to keep Tottenham's attackers at arm's length, and his winning of six out of eight aerial duels, and seven from 11 ground one-on-ones, certainly deserves praise. As does Milan van Ewijk's winning of 100% of his tackles.

As an attacking force, however, the visitors simply weren't up to standard, and this could be most easily evidenced by the fact that Tatsuhiro Sakamoto only touched the ball eight times in the opening 45 minutes.

Sky Blues equalise before Marmoush stunner

Despite this, Coventry were back on level terms just four minutes into the second half, as Jack Rudoni got his shot away whilst the hosts' defence just stood and watched.

The shock of conceding to a team that arguably hadn't been in the game to that point appeared to spark Spurs into life.

After Tonali (twice), Micky van de Ven and Omar Marmoush had all seen chances go begging, the Egyptian swivelled on a pass from Andy Robertson and smashed home a second - his first goal for his new club.

As Coventry fought to stay in the game, they couldn't be faulted for effort.

Coventry's tenacity just not enough on the night

Though they had again ceded the majority of possession, with Tottenham keeping the ball 78% of the time from the start of the second half until the hour mark, Thomas-Asante's 18 total duels contested alongside Caleb Yirenkyi's three interceptions were two standout stats among many from a well-drilled Coventry XI.

Lampard could certainly be pleased by the tenacity and doggedness shown by his team, but they were just lacking that bit of quality in the final third.

That they ended the game with a total of 12 efforts at goal, but only Rudoni's on target, is ultimately why they went on to lose the match.

The Sky Blues had more than enough late chances to draw level; however, Ben Davies ended the game as a contest when he bagged Spurs' third deep into stoppage time.

It was the first time since October 26th, 2025, against Everton that the Lilywhites had managed to score three goals, and the relief on the bench was obvious.

De Zerbi will understand that there's still plenty of work to do, but now that the North Londoners have that particular monkey off their backs, they can start to look forward.