With every tiny glimmer of hope, be it progress in one of the cups or someone returning from injury there comes a result in the Premier League to deepen the gloom for Ange Postecoglou.
Last time, a miserable defeat at Everton against a team who had forgotten how to score. Now this. Beaten at home by a team who had forgotten how to win. Or even draw.
After the win at Hoffenheim, hope destroyed once again and the home crowd turning on chairman Daniel Levy with strong boos at the final whistle, choruses of protest songs building through the second half and a banner held up at the end as the stadium emptied demanding change.
From the Spurs angle there is no way to sugar coat it. This result was simply awful even in the context all the injuries and unavailable players. Despite low energy tanks and depleted confidence. The young players are giving their all but it is not amounting to points.
Postecoglou’s team may be in all cup competitions, well placed in Europe and one up at halfway in a two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final against Liverpool but they have five points from the last 11 league games.
They have not won at home in the Premier League since November 3 against Aston Villa. In the time since, they have been beaten by Ipswich, been held by Wolves and leaked six against Liverpool.
Now this. Leicester arrived in N17 pointless in seven. They stood one defeat from a club record in the Premier League, set in 2001 and which ended with a win against Spurs.
By the end, Doctor Tottenham supplied the remedy again and Van Nistelrooy and his players were celebrating in front of the away end having fought back from behind down to score twice in five minutes at the start of the second half.
The goals came from Jamie Vardy and Bilal El Khannouss.
The visitors clung on from here. It was far from pretty. They team wasted time terribly, but they resisted all Spurs could throw at them and they won for the first time since the start of December.
It had promised to be different when Richarlison opened the scoring in an error-strewn first half, drifting behind Wout Faes and holding James Justin at bay as he twisted to head in a cross from Pedro Porro.
It was his second goal in two Premier League games having missed most of the season to date through injury.
Before then, Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk had produced saves to keep his team in it.
First with a strong save to beat away a fierce strike by Porro and then an exceptional save to deny Heung-min Son, who thought he had found the bottom corner.
Son, after scoring twice at Hoffenheim on Thursday, carried a little of his old menace, and drew another fine save from Stolarczyk with a curling left footer tipped onto the bar, just before Richarlison’s opener.
Once behind, Leicester summoned a decent response. Pushing forward with purpose to force corners, with two efforts from distance deflected wide.
The one from El Khannouss had Spurs keeper Antonin Kinsky worried as it looped up over him and caught the roof of the net.
But Tottenham crumbled after the interval.
Vardy levelled inside a minute after a series of defensive mistakes featuring Rodrigo Bentancur who missed a tackle, Porro who had vacated his post and Ben Davies and Kinsky who both dived to intercept a low cross by Bobby de Cordova-Reid and both failed.
Jubilant Vardy converted from centimetres, his 10th goal in 18 Premier League games against Tottenham.
The goal rocked the home team and they conceded again very quickly. Again, the defending left much to be desired in the same areas of the pitch.
Bentancur was muscled off the ball by De Cordova Reid who rolled a short pass to El Khannouss.
Tottenham’s defenders sat back and invited the Morocco international to take aim from distance, which he did and found the bottom corner, beyond the dive of Kinsky.
The mood soured. Some Tottenham fans returned late to their seats from the half time interval to find the game on its head and the hardcore in the South Stand turning their attention on Levy, who was present in the directors’ box.
They booed the decision to replace Richarlison, although Postecoglou later said he had been feeling a groin strain and should have come off at half time.
Pape Matar Sarr should not have started, according to the Spurs boss, but insisted on playing through injury.
Tottenham were better going forward after the changes but still so vulnerable at the back.
Dejan Kulusevski found himself clean through onto a long ball from Kinsky only to be denied by keeper Stolarczyk and Porro, so awful defensively, made an impression in attack.
First striking the bar from a free kick deflected off Vardy, then wriggling through a crowd of blue shirts and slicing wide when teammates were better placed and then crossing for Radu Dragusin to head over.
Nerves frayed around the stadium as the minutes ticked down and frustrations heightened as Leicester blatantly played for time. Seven minutes added time did not seem to compensate but the visitors hung on to climb out of bottom three as Tottenham plunge back into the gloom.
