A sylvan setting makes the John Smith’s Stadium one of the most pleasant places to spend an autumnal Saturday afternoon, and the appetite for Premier League football among proud and impassioned supporters remains undimmed. Yet with Huddersfield still bottom of the table and now going into October without a win, the script is badly in need of a change.

Tottenham were 4-0 winners in this fixture last season and the home side were lucky the scoreline had not reached similar proportions by half-time. The pattern of the game was established early on, with Huddersfield working the ball diligently around midfield without finding any real focus to their attacks, and Spurs doing exactly the opposite, keeping their defensive shape and relying on the pace of their tricky front three to make inroads when given the chance.

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Huddersfield being Huddersfield, they were given the chance quite often. Danny Rose headed wide with Spurs’ first opportunity to score after seven minutes. It was the first time the visitors had ventured over the halfway line with any conviction, and Harry Kane should really have done better with a marvellous pass from Lucas Moura that picked him out unerringly right in front of goal. Five minutes later the home defence was breached again when Christopher Schindler missed a defensive header. Kane was behind him in a flash to bear down on goal, and it took a good stop from Jonas Lössl to rescue the situation.

The deadlock was clearly not destined to last very long. Even when facing a third-choice goalkeeper in Paulo Gazzaniga the home side did not manage to put him under any sort of pressure, whereas when Lucas broke free down the right it was immediately obvious Huddersfield did not have enough defenders in position to deal with the danger. The marauding Lucas was eventually halted but was still able to lay the ball back to Kieran Trippier, whose precision cross allowed Kane to score with the sort of header he probably puts away in his sleep.

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Terence Kongolo injured a knee in the attempt to stop Lucas, and was replaced by Florent Hadergjonaj on the half hour, a change that proved significant a few minutes later when the defender caught Rose to give away a penalty. Hadergjonaj would still have been adjusting to the pace of the game, and the actual contact with Rose may have been slight, but Craig Pawson had a good view when Rose was put through on goal by the slickest of passes from Son Heung-min. Kane scored his fifth league goal of the season with a confidently struck spot-kick.

Huddersfield stepped up their efforts to get on the scoresheet with Gazzaniga making a scrambling save from Chris Löwe’s long shot, though luck deserted them on the stroke of the interval when Laurent Depoitre’s volley from Löwe’s cross came back off the bar. It was a good effort, worthy of a goal, and a couple of inches might have made a difference – an accumulation of tiny margins could be what costs Huddersfield at the end of the season.

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David Wagner did what he could in an attempt at a salvage operation, sending on Isaac Mbenza for Schindler, and while the substitute did manage to bring a fine save from Gazzaniga before the end Huddersfield could do with a few more attacking alternatives. All they really have to hurt opponents are Depoitre, Aaron Mooy’s set-piece delivery and Philip Billing’s long throws. The story of this game was that even with Jan Vertonghen and Mousa Dembélé failing to appear for the second half, Spurs were comfortable without them.

“It was tough, the ball was in the air more than on the grass, but we showed we were ready to fight for a win,” Mauricio Pochettino said, the Tottenham manager also confirming that the hamstring injury that sidelined Dele Alli here will also keep him out of Wednesday’s Champions League meeting with Barcelona and in all probability the internationals that follow.

“We are performing to a good level against very strong teams without getting much luck,” Wagner said. “We have to keep our focus on our work now and believe the reward will come.”