Weekend round-up

Apart from Spurs beating Middlesbrough 2-3 there was also:

Everton 2-4 Manchester United; Chelsea 2-2 Bolton
And for a while United’s title looked misplaced: 2 goals behind at Goodison Park, while Chelsea were 2-1 up at Stamford Bridge. Michael Carrick had inadvertently helped Alan Stubb’s free kick into goal and Manuel Fernandes had tricked Wes Brown and scored a lovely goal despite United dominating possession and play. But individual errors from Everton players soon put United level: goalkeeper Turner caught and released a corner kick, allowing John O’Shea to tap it in, and Phil Neville’s attempt at clearing a ball ended up in his own net. The tables had turned and there was time for Wayne Rooney, ferociously booed throughout, to score after a great effort and for substitute Eagles to cement the win with a neat shot. Meanwhile, at Stamford Bridge, Bolton had taken the lead with goal from Michalik only to see the lead become levelled and disappear as Salomon Kalou twice headed past Jaaskeleinen. But Bolton equalised, as Kevin Davies headed in a Gary Speed free kick, and Chelsea looked for, but were unable to find, a winner. The race is on, but advantage United.

Manchester City 0-2 Aston Villa
If most teams consider playing at home an advantage, Manchester City must at this point feel the opposite. Having failed to score, let alone win, at home since the 1^st of January, they have won 3, drawn 1 and only lost 1 of their last away fixtures. Despite playing with energy and matching Villa’s attempts, nothing found the goal and Sorenssen was never unduly troubled. Whether because he was getting bored or just because he was looking at the ball and nothing else, the Villa goalkeeper attacked and flattened Darius Vassell from behind, thus awarding City with a penalty. Joey Barton stepped up but fired it over the bar: Sorenssen remained untroubled and Barton must be regretting his harsh open criticism of his team. Surely that wasn’t worth paying for either…? Villa’s goals came from a powerful header by John Carew and a very well taken free kick by substitute Shaun Maloney.

Reading 1-0 Newcastle
The eagerly awaited return of Michael Owen, which lasted 90 minutes but only looked hopefully brilliant for the first part, ended up yielding an offside goal and some nice chances but no more. As Sibierski and Emre both had to be taken off for serious injury, Ameobi also made his return as a substitute. Newcastle looked bright in the early stages of the game, and in the first half Titus Bramble seemed to post the greatest threat to goalkeeper Harper with some deplorable back-passes. But Reading came back and Newcastle looked increasingly disorganised and seemed to have misplaced their central midfield entirely. Beautiful crosses from Solano and Milner found the middle but the Reading defence expertly trapped Owen, Ameobi and Martins offside. A well taken volley by Kitson put Reading deservedly ahead and they continued to press for more goals. If they keep this form up, the UEFA cup spot will come whether Steve Coppell wants it or not.

…and the rest:
Rafael Benitez, with one eye - or possibly both – firmly on next week’s Champions League fixture with Chelsea, had rested several of his key players and Portsmouth saw their opportunity and took it. Benjani Mwaruwari chipped a long goal kick past an advancing Jerzy Dudek and proceeded to head the ball in for their first; Niko Kranjcar, alone on the left hand side, controlled another long ball and nicely tucked it in for the second. Liverpool eventually responded with a corner kick header by Sami Hyypia; Portsmouth 2-1 Liverpool. Wigan were tortured by a rampant West Ham; the win for the Londoners put the teams on level points. Luis Boa Morte caught on to a long goal kick and his touch sent the ball bouncing over John Filan, who had misjudged the ball, and into the net. Yossi Benayoun found the goal mouth wide open as he finished off a wonderful attacking team effort and Boa Morte and Harewood combined to score a third; Wigan 0-3 West Ham. Charlton’s woes deepened after their trip to Blackburn: Scott Carson dropped the ball from Jason Robert’s strike and even if a header by Darren Bent put the visitors level, this was not Charlton’s finest hour. Ben Thatcher was sent off, Hermann Hreidarsson scored a clumsy own goal and a few minutes later it was Robert’s turn to shoot straight through all defensive attempts. A lovely Matt Derbyshire strike from the right in the 83^rd minute sealed the victory; Blackburn 4-1 Charlton. Sheffield United moved a step away from the immediate relegation bottom as a powerful strike by Michael Tonge secured a win over already relegated Watford; Sheffield United 1-0 Watford. Arsenal, ever wasteful with brilliant chances, but creating enough of them to get a few in by sheer statistical necessity, overcame Fulham by scoring two winning goals in the last six minutes. Having gone ahead with a header and seemingly cruising, their game regained urgency as Fulham equalised in the 78^th minute. But an Adebayor strike and a penalty allowed Arsenal to claim all the points and send Fulham deeper into relegation issues; Arsenal 3-1 Fulham.

…elsewhere:
I should add to the Scottish and Italian league title winners of last week that Lyon actually have secured the French Ligue 1 as well. Again. I forgot. Or perhaps don’t care enough? PSV Eindhoven won the Dutch league in style with a 5-1 win. And my UEFA-cup predictions have so far been completely off, as Espanyol beat Bremen 3-0 and Osasuna beat Sevilla 1-0. Of course return legs can change things for the losers who are at home next. Oh, who cares. In Sweden, Malmö FF completely destroyed AIK with a 4-0 home win. Delightful.

Striking Entertainment

I suppose that, say, Chelsea supporters watching a game which sees their team scoring an early goal might think that the players only need to hold on to that – and could be forgiven for doing so. Their team would be able to hold on to a lead like that. Chelsea often win 1-0. But when we went up after 12 minutes, with some lovely touches by our strikers, I just knew that there was a long way and many goals to go. Yes, the trademark entertainment continues. Even if the defence looked wonderfully improved, with a Ledley King coming back to form, and the offensive play looked convincing, and we were 2 up, and Robbo seemed alert… it was never going to be. Clean sheets are for playing Watford.

So where does this leave us? Well, finally above Reading, for a start. They have to play Newcastle on Monday, but are at home and could very well come away with three points. It’s all still very tight: Bolton’s draw with Chelsea placing them on 55, Everton’s defeat placing them on 54 and Pompey, courtesy of Benitez’ European ambitions (yes, I’m bitter), are on level points with Spurs on 53 but above in the table due to superior goal difference. For a while it looked as though we would find ourselves in the positives again, but at least it’s not negative anymore…

Ok, we still can’t defend set pieces properly but despite that, and despite letting in another goal (very well done by Viduka), the defence looked better. Ledley is a joy to watch, even if he still isn’t fully fit, and hopefully there is still scope for positive development in the last games – we’ll need it. Rocha had some problems, but Malbranque filled in to help very well – his tackle on Johnson, for which he was booked, was a clean effort on the ball. Didier, bless him, did a good job defensively but he just cannot seem to aim a shot to save his life. Jermaine Jenas, who can aim a shot, had another good game as well, great movement and passes. We had an excellent first half but let Boro into the game in the second – they had at least 20 minutes of domination which really tested the defence. Any sloppy pass (of which there were a few then) they turned into an opportunity. When Malbranque had to be more defensive we lost some attacking intent and found it hard to turn the game back. Scoring another goal and holding on was a bit of an effort, but it happened, beautifully, the game turned again, and ended as a job well done. Calm consistent play and an easy win are for other teams.

Berbatov (always our star and fast becoming the pet favourite of all pundits, commentators and journalists) and Keane (also reaping a considerable amount of praise) are amazing together at the moment. Just delicious. Curse over.

Middlesbrough 2-3 Tottenham

One hundred games in charge of Tottenham Hotspur for Martin Jol, and a good way to celebrate with an entertaining win. Clean sheets are as elusive as ever and defending against set pieces is still an Achilles heel, but the attacking flair was there too and Tottenham march on in the quest for a UEFA-cup spot.

Spurs began the game brightly, with Dimitar Berbatov tormenting the Middlesbrough defence from the start. A few opportunities into the game, Spurs deservedly took the lead: a pass from Malbranque found Berbatov, who, after some marvellous ball control embarrassed his former Leverkusen team mate Emanuel Pogatetz and found Robbie Keane. The Ireland striker, unmarked as all eyes were on Berbatov, coolly tapped in his 20^th goal of the season with an equally sublime touch. Spurs continued to dominate possession with some lovely, fluent, link-up play and Berbatov’s impressive touches combined with Keane’s movement were a continual threat. Middlesbrough’s attempts invariably stumbled on the Spurs defence, visibly bolstered by the return of Ledley King. King and Dawson did well to contain Boro strikers Viduka and Yakubu, who were unable to get close to the goal until the closing minutes of the half. Even when the home team launched an attack, their visitors covered well.

The second half began where the previous had left off: a pass from Jenas in the middle found Ghaly on the right who crossed it to Berbatov on the left hand side of the area. The Bulgarian took a wonderful right-footed volley strike from 25 yards which Schwarzer had no hope of catching. Waking up and smelling the defeat, Boro were piling up more pressure and after some substitutions and changes, most notably switching Stewart Downing to the right, their efforts paid off. Viduka headed in a cross from Downing and forced Robinson to make a spectacular save moments after. This was the beginning of a period of strong play from Boro, visibly inspired by their goal. Downing was testing stand-in left-back Ricardo Rocha, and forced Steed Malbranque to defend more as well. Spurs started looking somewhat insecure and Aaron Lennon was brought on for Hossam Ghaly in an effort to open up the Boro defence further.

With ten minutes to go this idea seemed to pay off as Berbatov, Lennon and Keane combined for a great opportunity, and started to turn the game back in Spurs’ favour. A few moments later it yielded a third goal: Jenas placed a ball perfectly for Lennon’s run on the right flank and the winger crossed in for Keane, who shot in his second of the evening, putting him and on a level goal tally with Berbatov. They now both have 21 goals in all competitions. Middlesbrough refused to acknowledge defeat, however, and kept pushing on, testing the limits of the tiring Spurs defence. Their efforts were rewarded on 89 minutes as a corner kick was headed into the net by Pogatetz, but it remained a small consolation.

Middlesbrough
Schwarzer, Davies (Arca 64), Woodgate, Pogatetz, Taylor, Cattermole (Johnson 40), Boateng, Rochemback, Downing, Viduka, Yakubu (Lee 70).
Subs Not Used: Jones, McMahon.
Booked: Yakubu.
Goals: Viduka 66, Pogatetz 89.

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, King, Dawson, Rocha, Ghaly (Lennon 72), Zokora, Jenas, Malbranque, Berbatov, Keane.
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Defoe, Huddlestone, Ifil.
Booked: Malbranque.
Goals: Keane 12, Berbatov 47, Keane 83.

Attendance: 27,861
Referee: L Mason

Man of the Match Dimitar Berbatov strikes again (Image from www.bbc.co.uk)

The Races

I have been complaining about the fact that Manchester United and Chelsea now seem set to battle for glory on all fronts, but A. we have to await the Champions League semi-finals until we know if either of them make it in that particular competition, and B. at least we still do have a race for the title on. As has been seen before, and as is the case in Scotland and Italy this year, the title can be decided well before the end of the season. With 3 games to go, there is still everything to be decided in the Premier League.

The title is a race, in which anything can happen, between the aforementioned giants; Arsenal and Liverpool are in a sense battling for third and fourth. Everton, Bolton, Reading, Portsmouth and Tottenham are all within 4 points of each other and hoping for UEFA cup spots – should either or all of them go on a bizarre losing streak, Blackburn, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Man City, all within 2 points of each other, might even come up with a challenge. At the bottom of the table we find Watford, the only team which has already lost the fight for survival, but above them are 5 teams, West Ham, Charlton, Sheffield United, Wigan and Fulham, all within 4 points of each other and in fierce combat.

What makes it all more interesting are the run-ins and the fact that the top teams are clocking up a lot of games and injuries.

Manchester United have a long injury list and a tough fixture list: AC Milan (H), Everton (A), AC Milan (A), Manchester City (A), Chelsea (A) – followed by the FA-cup final in May.

Chelsea have less injuries but an equally intriguing fixture list: Liverpool (H), Bolton (H), Liverpool (A), Arsenal (A), Manchester United (H), Everton (H) – and then the FA-cup final.

Added to which could also be a Champions League final for either or both.

For the UEFA-cup contenders it looks as follows:

Everton (54) have Manchester United (H), Portsmouth (H) and Chelsea (A)
Bolton (54) have Chelsea (A), West Ham (A) and Aston Villa (H)
Reading (51) have Newcastle (H), Watford (H) and Blackburn (A)
Portsmouth (50) have Liverpool (H), Everton (A) and Arsenal (H)
Tottenham (50) have Middlesbrough (A), Charlton (A), Blackburn (H) and Man City (H)

On paper, Spurs could quite conceivably end up in 5^th place – but football is rarely like that. Reading have a good chance at getting full points from their remaining fixtures and if Spurs get tired with three games in the last 7 days the UEFA-cup spots could go to Reading, Bolton and Everton. For Spurs having a game in hand may prove to be less of an advantage than a handicap as the final three fixtures have piled up in one week. Because of the closeness in points here, goal difference could very well become an issue, something which would work in Everton’s (+15) favour and help their tricky run-in. Intriguingly, Bolton and Spurs both have a negative goal difference, -3 and -1 respectively.

At the bottom, from the bottom, it looks as follows:

West Ham (32) have Wigan (A), Bolton (H) and Manchester United (A)
Charlton (33) have Blackburn (A), Tottenham (H) and Liverpool (A)
Sheffield United (35) have Watford (H), Aston Villa (A) and Wigan (H)
Wigan (35) have West Ham (H), Middlesbrough (H) and Sheffield United (A)
Fulham (36) have Arsenal (A), Liverpool (H) and Middlesbrough (A)

On paper Charlton and West Ham would seem mainly doomed, with Fulham blessed with a run-in which makes them almost as much so. But again we can never be sure, especially not with the “biggies” getting tired and the relegation candidates fighting for survival.

I don’t even know what to say about all this as predictions everywhere seem futile: the race is on, let’s just put our seat belts on and enjoy!

tottenham hotspur

PFA awards

The Professional Footballers’ Association unsurprisingly named Cristiano Ronaldo as player of the year, as well as young player of the year – a category which also had Aaron Lennon among the nominees. As it was, Aaron got third, behind Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas.

From a Spurs point of view it was surprising to not see Dimitar Berbatov among the nominees, but he did make it into the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, which looks as follows:

Edwin van der Sar, Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra (all Man Utd); Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo (all Man Utd) and Steven Gerrard (Liverpool); Didier Drogba (Chelsea) and Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham)

Considering various rumours about Berbatov’s future, most of them involving Manchester United, this is a strangely unsettling line-up. Could it come true? Now, I have to say that I don’t quarrel with the forward partnership and can refrain from doing so when it comes to the midfield, but is Man U’s defence really so solid that we cannot think up a better one? Vidic, yes, but Ferdinand? Why not Terry or Carragher? van der Sar over Cech? And Neville and Evra? Really?

Any suggestions of a different Premiership cut and paste dream team?

Weekend round-up

Bolton 1-3 Reading
A truly remarkable result at the Reebok stadium which saw Reading supplying all goals in the game, despite being dominated by their hosts throughout. Bolton had outmuscled, outwitted and outplayed their visitors from the first minute: Reading were getting precisely nowhere. They did, however, defend quite well, Hahnemann had some impressive saves to make and Bolton did not manage to convert their many chances. Not until Anelka got some help, that is. His cooperation with Thomson was superb, but had his shot found the net without the assistance of Shorey? Doubtful. As it was, Bolton were ahead and cruising until there was 6 minutes of ordinary time left. But a clumsy and entirely unnecessary tackle by Meite on Kevin Doyle gave Reading a penalty and a chance to equalise. The Ireland striker expertly did just that and the goal seemed to create a spark of confidence in a Reading side which had looked lost throughout much of the game. The Bolton defence went from impenetrable to nonexistent within minutes and Doyle was able to score again. A third goal followed, as a lovely cross was headed into the net by Stephen Hunt, unmarked in front of goal. Hunt had had another clash with a goalkeeper, as he ran into Jaaskelainen in a manner which seemed harder than necessary; he was booked for his trouble, but the Finn was not hurt. Injuries had been a problem for Bolton, however: three substitutions due to serious injury in the first half, as Hunt, Diouf and Nolan all left the field in pain.

Manchester United 1-1 Middlesbrough
Another remarkable, and for United possibly disastrous, result was the outcome of the game at Old Trafford which saw Middlesbrough come back to equalise after Kieran Richardson’s early goal had put United ahead. Despite Sir Alex’s fears about his star wingers safety, Ronaldo was on the field – the only player rested ahead of the midweek Champions League game was Ryan Giggs, but even he had to come on in an effort to salvage the situation. Middlesbrough were not so obliging, however, and United had to settle for a 1-1 draw with an added problem of an ill-timed injury to Rio Ferdinand. The draw looked like it could reduce United’s lead to a mere point…

Newcastle 0-0 Chelsea
…but Chelsea failed to catch up as they were held to a goalless draw in Newcastle. Chelsea seem to work well under pressure, perhaps even only working well under pressure? While never overly troubled by Newcastle’s efforts, the visitors failed to step up their own tempo in trademark fashion. Partly thwarted by a solid Newcastle defence and partly by a lack of urgency the Champions never displayed anything near their attacking best, possibly overly confident in their ability to clinch late winners.

…and the rest:
Everton, in fine form recently and pushing for a Europe spot next season, were overcome by relegation strugglers West Ham and lost Andy Johnson to ankle injury. The only goal in the game came early on, as some nice work by Benayoun set up Zamora for a wonderful 20 yard strike past Howard. West Ham 1, Everton 0. Liverpool, unsurprisingly, beat Wigan at Anfield with a double from Dirk Kuyt. The Dutch striker managed to turn and flick the ball, arriving from a Pennant cross, into the net. His second goal also came from a turning move: getting the ball with his back towards the goal he made a nice turn while protecting it and fired it home. Liverpool 2, Wigan 0. At the bottom of the table we find Watford, who, due to their draw with Manchester City, are now confirmed for relegation. Stuart Pearce’s side, conversely, has moved even further away from the danger. Watford 1, Man City 1. Charlton, hoping to climb out of the bottom three and jumpstarting a “great escape”, were only allowed to hope for a few minutes. El Karkouri put his team ahead with a remarkable 35 yard shot which took a few minor deflections on its long way into goal. If there had been an element of fortuitous chance taking about that goal, the equaliser was a thing of beauty: Montgomery made a perfect pass to John Stead, who took an equally perfect shot from the edge of the box. Charlton 1, Sheffield United, 1. Fulham rescued a point with a somewhat surprising draw against Blackburn, whose slim chances for Europe football became slimmer. Fulham 1, Blackburn 1. In Birmingham, Aston Villa were unable to get more than a goalless draw out of Portsmouth, despite considerable effort and a vastly superior number of chances. David James was not to be overcome and finally set his coveted record of Premiership clean sheets (142) with a remarkable display of goalkeeping. He can shave now. Aston Villa 0, Portsmouth 0.

…elsewhere:
In Scotland, Celtic won the Scottish Premier League title with a nervy victory over Kilmarnock. The hero of the day was Shunsuke Nakamura, who scored the winner with a trademark free kick in injury time. Celtic are now champions with 4 games still to play. Likewise, in Italy, the title race is over as a 2-1 victory over Siena made Inter the Serie A champions with 5 games to spare.

…and finally:
Honourable mention to Leo Messi of Barcelona who, in the midweek game against Getafe, managed to replicate Diego Maradona’s famous goal against England in the 1986 world cup. It has been called the greatest goal of all times – now it has a twin. Were they identical? Which was better? Well, it’s all up for discussion. Maradona’s was scored against better opposition, it is said, but Getafe’s players seem to give Messi a little bit more trouble than the English players that time. Anyway, it is a marvellous goal. They both are.

Entertainment...

I have been going on about honourable defeats, we will soon have to call this type of game something as well. Entertaining draws? But entertaining for whom, exactly? Spurs are the new favourites of commentators and other pundits, that’s for sure. And they go on about Berbatov as much as we do here. (His first effort of the game, when he controlled a ball with his head and seemed to twist and bend himself in order to get it in the right direction was amazing and humanly impossible – had he succeeded it would have been the goal of the year, for sheer athleticism!)

My nerves were in bits, of course. And a game which I had come to expecting the worst (an Arsenal complex?) began with a half which suggested that a win would surely be the outcome, was followed by a second half which again made me feel that nope, defeat it is, and then ended with a spectacular goal which made the draw look like a win. Of course now we really do need to win the rest of the games – even when draws are amazingly entertaining (for whom, again?), with lots of goals and great play, they still only provide a point. And we need to secure at least 7^th place… Steve Coppell has said that he wants to focus on the Premiership and that his side would not be ready for Europe next season, a sensible sentiment and who thought Reading would come so far anyway? But, Steve, would you mind losing a few games from now on?! The surprise win against Bolton has put Reading on 6^th spot, a point ahead of Spurs. We have a game in hand on all of the nearest rivals, though.

Back to our game and what a truly wonderful time to finally score from a corner kick! Almost worth the wait just beacuse it came against Arsenal. Expertly done, Dawson winning the first header and directing it perfectly down to Keane, who then headed past Lehmann. Should he have been better marked by the Arsenal defence? Who cares. I had tears in my eyes. What a goal. Set piece revision obviously paid off. We were cruising and it was a joy to watch the fluidity, the creativity and the strength – even Aaron looked like he had been to the gym, pushing people away!

But then came the second half, with Arsenal piling on the pressure and scoring – intriguingly from set pieces rather from flowing attacks, as is their wont. And now I simply cannot refrain from pointing out that even if we still haven’t managed to beat Arsenal in the league, even if they did end up dominating a lot of this game (as well as pretty much all of the away game...) and even if they have put five goals past us, it has taken some creative refereeing to aid them. An offside goal and two penalties that shouldn’t have been given in the away game and two dodgy free kicks in this one. Now I happen to be very fond of Thomas Rosicky, I think he is a wonderful football player and I fully expected him to inflict serious damage today - but not like this. Please tell me if I’m wrong, but as far as I could see he just dived. I’m not even sure who was supposed to have taken him down. The ensuing, well taken, free kick was kicked in by Toure past Robinson (who, like Chimbonda, should have done better, really). And Toure was challenged by Tom Huddlestone, but oh dear did he make the most of it. Again – well taken free kick and well headed by Adebayor, who had missed his fair share of chances. Now, I’m not really complaining about the decisions as such – stuff happens and they had loads of other opportunities– I just get some little gratification from the fact that they have needed this assistance to score. Loads of opportunities don’t mean goals, after all. We still need to work on the defending against set pieces, though… The defence, while not as strong as it could, and indeed should, be still looked a lot better. The King is back and Rocha actually wasn’t half bad as left-back, considering it is an emergency solution. Chimbonda, however, looks a bit tired – he has played a lot of games and not everyone can be blessed with Michael Dawson’s constitution… Thankfully Jenas is hitting great form to create some balance.

Speaking of which – what a way to end the game! Chimbonda – Jenas – Malbranque – and Jenas scores. With practically the last kick of the match. Yup, injury time game changers. It’s our new thing. Entertainment and all.

Tottenham 2-2 Arsenal

An exhilarating North London derby, which saw Tottenham open and finish strongly despite letting Arsenal dominate more during the second half. And another entertaining draw, one which left both teams halted in their European ambitions for next season. All points count at this stage, however, and for Spurs it was a triumph to escape defeat against their fierce rivals in the 94^th minute.

Spurs captain Ledley King was back to bolster the defence, allowing Ricardo Rocha to deputise on the left. Arsenal started Cesc Fabregas on the bench, and with no van Persie or Henry had Fredrik Ljungberg partnering Emanuel Adebayor up front. Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov were the front men for the home team, and the latter had a chance after only a few seconds when, in position in front of goal, he managed to control a ball with his head, bend his body and nearly chip it on target. Spurs piled on the pressure and Arsenal only managed to respond with an attack of their own in the 7^th minute. On 10 minutes Adebayor scored without realising that a flag had been lifted for offside on Ljungberg, who had fed him the ball with a nice move.

Both teams enjoyed spells of possession, the home team perhaps even more creative with them than their visitors. Some lovely efforts by the front men and Aaron Lennon came close and Didier Zokora, eager to put a ball past his Ivory Coast friends in the Arsenal defence, made a run and tried an ambitious shot from 30 yards. A skilful attempt by Berbatov yielded the corner kick which put Spurs ahead. Michael Dawson won the ball and nicely headed it down to Keane, who headed it past Lehmann. Clichy, who had lost his man, could only watch. A few minutes later afforded another chance as Keane and Berbatov set up Zokora; the midfielder went for a wide shot rather than passing it back to Berbatov, however, and a later weak shot by Keane into the arms of Lehmann was as close as it got. At the very end of the first half Eboue and Hleb combined nicely to create Arsenal’s best chance, but Eboue’s shot hit the post and Adebayor, free in front of goal, headed the rebound away.

The second half saw an increase in Arsenal pressure, testing the solidity of the Spurs defence as well as the solidity of the goalposts with chances for Toure, Rosicky, Adebayor and Fabregas. Spurs found it difficult to get back in the game and were soon punished for a weakness in defending against set pieces. Rosicky was adjudicated to have been brought down and Fabregas, who had replaced the injured Ljungberg, took the ensuing free kick well. Toure, waiting at the far post and having escaped Chimbonda, was able to tap it in past a bewildered England goalkeeper. 15 minutes later it was time again: substitute Tom Huddlestone was harshly punished for a challenge on Toure and Fabregas again found a good mark for his free kick – Adebayor powerfully headed it into goal.

With 10 minutes to go, Martin Jol made an attacking substitution, putting Jermain Defoe on for Zokora, in an attempt to salvage something from a game that had started so well. Steed Malbranque, who had replaced an injured Teemu Tainio, looked lively and forced Lehmann to a save, but despite considerable effort, the game seemed lost for Spurs. A great chance in injury time came to nothing, but with what was going to be the last kick in the game, in the 94^th minute, Jermaine Jenas came up with an answer. Chimbonda passed the ball from the right, Jenas played one-two with Malbranque and got his 25 yard shot on target. The fans were ecstatic and, as sometimes happens, in that moment, the equaliser felt like a winner.

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, King, Dawson, Rocha, Lennon (Huddlestone 72), Zokora (Defoe 82), Jenas, Tainio (Malbranque 60), Berbatov, Keane.
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Ifil.
Booked: Berbatov, Zokora.
Goals: Keane 30, Jenas 90.

Arsenal
Lehmann, Eboue, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Hleb (Senderos 90), Silva, Diaby, Rosicky (Julio Baptista 66), Ljungberg (Fabregas 39), Adebayor.
Subs Not Used: Almunia, Denilson.
Booked: Lehmann, Diaby.
Goals: Toure 64, Adebayor 78.

Attendance: 36,050
Referee: M Dean

Jermaine Jenas and Robbie Keane, goal scorers for Spurs (Image from www.tottenhamhotspur.com)

Tuesday Thoughts

Right. NOW we have a left-back problem. It has been mentioned before, there have been doubts about Young-Pyo Lee (who I like) and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (who we haven’t seen that much of yet, really), but now that they are both injured – along with Paul Stalteri – we had to give Phil Ifil the job: Wigan away was his 3^rd Premiership start ever. Pascal Chimbonda had looked uncomfortable on the left; in order to have one strong attacking side it seemed wise to let him take the right. Not that Phil is a terrible football player, but at this stage in the season… he was a poor replacement for Lee. Aaron Lennon, playing on the left against Wigan, did not get as far as he would when linking up with our little Korean, who we have now lost for the rest of the season. Oh well, another challenge to overcome – and the mentality seems to be there. We concede goals, but we score goals, make attacking substitutions and push on. It can still happen. And in the summer there will be set piece revision: defending against as well as scoring from.

Michael Dawson said that “we've got a full week's training now, we won't know what to do with ourselves!”. Darling, apart from getting a little well deserved rest, y’all can practice set pieces. Corners especially. Tottenham Hotspur football club have yet to score from a corner this season; the closest was when Juan Pablo Angel of Aston Villa (apparently on his way to the US) scored an own goal at a Spurs corner kick. Anyway, having a full week to train and prepare has been a rarity this year, and the team has looked strong when they have had one.

Portsmouth, Everton and Reading all won their games over the weekend, which makes the draw against Wigan sting that little bit more. But, as sometimes is the case, after that game a draw ended up feeling like a decent result. Spurs have really found the formula for entertaining neutrals: attacking flair and defensive insecurity. Which means goals. Against a team like Wigan, who also can’t defend and were hungry in attack, the end result is quite spectacular. Any number of goals could have been scored in that game, it is surprising it ended at 6. So, neutrals entertained but fans’ nerves in tiny little pieces. So, who have we got next week…? Yup, looks like another “entertaining” game.

Aaron Lennon, by the way, turned 20 yesterday; no longer a teenager and already one of the most important players for his club and country. Also up for the PFA player of the year award, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba. Well done, Aaron.

The FA-cup final will, of course, feature Chelsea and Manchester United after they overcame their opponents in the semis. Credit to Watford, who did their utmost to give Man U a hard time, and to Blackburn, who forced Chelsea into extra time and nearly made it. But these winning machines just will not be stopped. Will the universe implode when they start facing each other?

Wigan 3-3 Tottenham

Another exhilarating game involving Tottenham Hotspur: great for the neutrals, nerve-racking for fans of both sides. Wigan struggle for Premiership survival, Spurs needed to come back from their harrowing UEFA-cup exit – and come back was what they did, three times. Martin Jol’s men showed great spirit, even if the game was also another display of the defensive frailty that is fast becoming as characteristic of the team as attacking flair. Spurs were in possession of the superior skill and style; Wigan the greater hunger. Had the Latics played like this all season they would not be having relegation worries. The point places them just above Fulham in the table, 6^th from the bottom on 35 points. Spurs slide down to 8^th, below fellow Europe candidates Bolton, Everton and Portsmouth, albeit with a game in hand.

Defending against set pieces (as well as scoring from them) has been a problem for Spurs, and this proved the case again. A free kick within the first minute of the game turned into a peculiar heading circus, the ball bounced off several heads before finally being forced into goal by Emile Heskey. Spurs may have been mentally strong, but weak headers became something of a theme in the game, for the first and second Wigan goal as well as many of their chances. The visitors were not behind for long, however, as Robbie Keane made a nice run, dribbled past his opponents and fed the ball to Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian expertly controlled the ball, found his way around the defenders in the box and finished beautifully with the outside of his right foot.

Wigan had a good attempt from a corner, which was blocked by Robinson – Spurs responded with a similar attempt: Berbatov’s header, however, went out. A lovely attack by Berbatov and Keane ended in a slightly weak shot which was saved by Filan. The clever and elegant attacking moves by Spurs were matched by the direct and effective play by Wigan who, on the half hour, managed to capitalise on another weak header. Dawson’s clearance went to Baines who struck a marvellous half-volley into the far corner from 25 yards. A few minutes later Jermaine Jenas, who was having a very good game, broke free with a one-two with Lennon. After receiving a push from Baines he was brought down by the advancing Filan and awarded with a penalty, which, coolly converted by Keane, put Tottenham level again.

The final ten minutes of the half saw plenty of action, with some elaborate attacks from Spurs and more heading problems on the other side. The pattern of feeble clearances falling to the feet of expectant Wigan players emerged again and the home team looked threatening in the Spurs half throughout. A save by Robison and a misfired header by Kilbane closed the first half; the second continued in the same vein with the two sides attacking in alternation. Another set piece awarded Wigan with the lead again as Kilbane rose to meet Taylor’s corner and headed the ball past Robinson. A free kick from Jermaine Jenas moments later nearly became the equaliser, but Filan pushed it out of the top corner with his fingertips. After a few minutes the visitors did level again, as a long kick from Robinson found Keane who managed to cut through the defenders and fabulously lob the ball over Filon from 30 yards.

The score line stayed at 3-3, but not for want of trying from either team. Jermain Defoe, who had come on for an uncharacteristically anonymous Aaron Lennon, tested Filon, as did Pascal Chimbonda, who was booed ferociously at his old club. Jenas made another nice run, as did Berbatov, in a situation which looked to replicate his White Hart Lane goal against Wigan – this time, however, the defenders did a better job. Wigan also kept the pressure on, forcing Robinson into action – the most spectacular effort being a chanced 40 yard lob volley from Scharner which the England goalkeeper did well to intercept. Both managers seemed somewhat relieved that this exciting contest ended in a point each; the result reflecting a game between two sides bent on attacking and unconvincing in defence.

Wigan
Filan, Boyce, Jackson (Skoko 73), De Zeeuw, Baines, McCulloch (Taylor 40), Landzaat, Scharner, Kilbane, Heskey (Folan 66), Camara.
Subs Not Used: Pollitt, Aghahowa.
Booked: Filan, De Zeeuw, Scharner.
Goals: Heskey 2, Baines 30, Kilbane 60.

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, Dawson, Rocha, Ifil, Tainio (Malbranque 65), Jenas, Zokora, Lennon (Defoe 75), Berbatov, Keane.
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Ghaly, Charlie Lee.
Goals: Berbatov 4, Keane 35 pen, 68.

Attendance: 16,506
Referee: G Poll

Dimitar Berbatov scores Tottenham's first goal (image from www.tottenhamhotspur.com)

England, Spain and the battle for Europe

So, another Europe fortnight over. Next up are semi-finals in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup, with two countries dominating the proceedings.

Manchester United’s historical annihilation of AS Roma paired them with Milan, who managed to beat Bayern Munich in Germany, and Chelsea’s Spain victory over Valencia will be rewarded with a semi-final against Liverpool. At least one English team in the finals, then, and my money is on two. In fact, we have been presented with a situation which could quite conceivably see Manchester United and Chelsea battling for the FA-cup and the Champions League as well as the Premiership title. Greek authorities are already in panic about the prospects of an all-English final, especially one between Liverpool and Manchester United which could see crowd trouble erupting as early as the flights from the north-west of England. But despite Liverpool’s form and ability I just do not see Chelsea losing at the moment – and in a different style the same goes for Man U. The only game between them so far this season was a 1-1 draw; what will happen in the subsequent game(s) is anybody’s guess. I’m not even going to venture one. For that reason, and that reason only, I am reluctantly interested; essentially, however, it would be an awful bore to think that this is indeed as good as it gets and these two teams are to dominate everything.

Of course, Blackburn could win the FA-cup and Milan the Champions League. It’s not even strictly speaking a mathematical impossibility that Liverpool could win the Premier League. It’s just highly unlikely on more levels than seem pertinent to dwell on. Needless to say, a Champions League final between Liverpool and Milan, which, unlike Liverpool winning the League, is far from impossible, has been quite entertaining before…

In the UEFA cup, Sevilla knocked out Tottenham, as we all know, and now take on fellow La Liga team Osasuna in the semi, while Espanyol, who beat Benfica, are to play Werder Bremen, the only non-Spanish side left in the competition. Osasuna ended up beating Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 on aggregate, Espanyol overcame Benfica 3-2 and Bremen ended up overwhelming AZ Alkmaar 4-1, after their first meeting had ended in a 0-0 draw. My money, had I been of a betting persuasion, is on a final between Bremen and Sevilla – and do forgive me for preferring Bremen at this stage.

A Fairly Honourable Defeat

"What though the field be lost? All is not lost…"

Well, most of it is, really. This was “our” cup, unlike the domestic ones – the one we actually did stand a chance at winning after a valiant unbeaten run. Small consolation that it was the cup holders who knocked us out. Were Sevilla the better side? Yes. Could we have beaten them? Yes, actually, we could have.

Honourable defeat is fast becoming the catchphrase of the season, much to the chagrin of anyone able to identify the potential in the team. More potential than result, basically. Potential is a bit of a catchphrase as well. Now, I am a patient fan of long-term development in general and like what Martin Jol is doing, hence I can take some comfort in the idea that things have improved and will continue to do so if he is allowed to keep at it. Conducting three quite successful cup runs and suddenly playing a very large amount of games took its toll on this young team; in the greater perspective it is all part of the learning curve. By that logic, next season, or perhaps more realistically the one after that, will see Spurs (as in the current squad) starting to beat the bigger teams and challenge their places. Or it will fall to pieces. Time will tell. We are getting closer. A little more confidence and consistency in the big games and who knows what could happen.

Two things stand out about this game for me. The first is the availability of defenders. It is easy to moan about injuries and make excuses but I cannot help pondering the implications. A right-back on the left, a midfielder on the right, one central defender rushed back from long term injury, the other having played all games of the season… This particular injury crisis struck at the worst possible time. There were mistakes, we conceded a silly own goal and the proper goal by Kanouté was great. But that was it. For a while it looked like we were going to be on the receiving end of a 7-1 beating rather than, as we had hoped, administering one. After the initial chaos and shock, however, the makeshift defence looked better and better and there were no more goals in it for Sevilla, who may of course be forgiven for thinking, quite correctly, that it was in the bag and putting on less pressure. By that time, of course, the damage was done. The return of Ledley King did not become the spectacular raising of a defensive wall we had hoped for, for above mentioned reasons, but what a pleasure to see him play again.

The second, which made this defeat another “honourable” one, was the way the team came back. It truly was a game of two halves, as we have had a few earlier in the season, with the novelty that the second one was the great one. During the famous “slump”, and in certain games earlier in the season (Arsenal away, anyone?), loss of confidence in the face of adversity was at the heart of the malaise. Bright start, concede a goal, then decline and comprehensive, horrible (and possibly muddy) defeat. Today, however, the team came back from the interval, regrouped, swapped positions, scored two goals and could have scored more. In fact, there were enough good chances in the second half to win the game – something which of course mainly adds to the frustration of not winning the game, but also shows development. This wasn’t West Ham, it was Sevilla. The lads, who looked absolutely gutted after conceding two early goals, did not lose it completely and rather than allowing it to become a massacre came back and turned it into an honourable defeat with victory potential.

Call me naïve, I know you will and I often do it myself, but I believe in their ability to start turning the honourable defeats with victory potential into actual victories against the big teams. Until then, this is quite painful. And for all my “looking on the bright side” reasoning, the almost realised potential of everything, the shots that so narrowly became the needed goals, the fact that we could, perhaps even should, really be there now, almost hurts more than having to bow to a far superior team. Were Sevilla the better side? Yes. And despite the injury crisis, despite the dismally chaotic opening, we still could have beaten them.

UEFA cup: Tottenham 2-2 Sevilla (Agg: 3-4)

In terms of openings the tables were turned: this time Sevilla had the bright start and, just like Spurs did in the first leg, scored before the defenders knew where they were. Steed Malbranque tried to clear Poulsen’s header from a corner but only managed to slice it into the net, putting Sevilla in the lead after only two minutes. The visitors kept piling pressure on and soon added injury to insult when Kanoute and Kerzhakov outplayed the Spurs defence and the former Spurs striker expertly tricked and put the ball past Paul Robinson on seven minutes.

The bewilderment of being 2 goals down, and therefore 4 goals away from victory, was visible in the home team, who spent the rest of the first half looking shell-shocked. The makeshift defence, with a strangely ineffectual Pascal Chimbonda at left-back and a comparatively effective but out of place Teemu Tainio at right-back, did better throughout and denied Sevilla more goals, even as they kept piling on the pressure in the first half. Offensively the team was in utter disarray and a few near chances was as close as it got for Spurs.

Whatever Martin Jol said to his team in the interval had the desired effect: the team were back on track and recognisable as the attacking side which had reached this stage of the competition unbeaten. Spurs piled the pressure on with some nice moves and the substitution of Didier Zokora, who had had a pretty good game, only looked strange for a few seconds. His replacement, Jermain Defoe, scored with what was practically his first touch of the ball, diverting a Keane volley into the net from close range. A few moments later hope really started spreading in White Hart Lane, as Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane set up Aaron Lennon who pushed the ball past Cobeno.

Sevilla responded and Robinson twice denied Puerta, but the second half saw Spurs with the greater amount of chances. As the ball went narrowly out, into post or even into the arms of Cobeno there were no more goals to be found. The display of the second half turned the game into a less one-sided affair than the first half seemed to suggest and it became a more honourable defeat – even near victory – for Spurs than deemed possible. Even under pressure, however, Sevilla prevailed and showed their quality as one of the best in Europe. The Spaniards have a semi-final to work for, Spurs now simply have to work hard for a new chance in the competition next season.

Tottenham
Robinson, Tainio, Dawson, King, Chimbonda, Lennon, Zokora (Defoe 65), Jenas, Malbranque, Keane, Berbatov.
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Murphy, Ghaly, Taarabt, Barnard, Ifil.
Sent Off: Tainio (90).
Booked: Dawson, Malbranque, Defoe.
Goals: Defoe 65, Lennon 67.

Sevilla
Cobeno, Hinkel, Javi Navarro, Escude, Puerta, Daniel (Renato 55), Poulsen, Marti, Adriano Correia (Aitor Ocio 69), Kerzhakov (Maresca 82), Kanoute.
Subs Not Used: Javi Varas, David, Luis Fabiano, Jesus Navas.
Goals: Malbranque 3 og, Kanoute 8.

Attendance: 35,284
Referee: Konrad Plautz (Austria)

The Decline and Fall of the Roma empire

I just love football. No surprises there, I know. But the fact that there are surprises, always, on all levels makes it such an amazing sport. That and a million other things.

7-1 in a Champions League quarter final? When the winning team had actually lost the first leg? Not only that, but three days earlier looked comparatively feeble? Surely not. I wasn’t going to write about this game, I just watched it because it was on the telly and snuggled up in my sofa, eating grapes and fully expecting to be only moderately entertained. The press had expressed scepticism about United’s chances against an elegant Roma side who had defended well throughout the competition; especially a United depleted by injuries and suspensions. Man U may have had the best league season of any team since the 19^th century, but their cup runs have been less spectacular. I fell asleep during their drab first game against Lille. I was getting used to the idea of having Liverpool as the only remaining English side left, and with a shot at winning the whole thing as well. So how the same group of players, albeit deployed differently in terms of starts and substitutions, that were unable to overcome Portsmouth on Saturday did what they did today is anybody’s guess.

But this was just football at its most bizarrely entertaining, not in the sense that there was any suspense left after 20 minutes, but the fact that this is top level European football, that this is supposed to be a battle of equals and that it just wasn’t. Manchester United ruled the field. Roma had a bright few minutes in the beginning and then went into a steady decline. The famous defence was nowhere to be seen and United repeatedly cut through it like a warm knife through butter on a sunny day. Roma’s elegant build-up attempts looked like slow motion compared to United’s quick responses. Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick worked like terriers, collecting the ball and setting it in motion in the opposite direction where Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney and Smith picked it up and charged, uncannily aware of each other’s movements, towards goal. The perfect mix of aggression, fluency and creativity left Roma utterly without answers and towards the end the tormented Roma players looked like they just wanted to disappear. Who can blame them.

12: Ronaldo, lovely work on the right, perfect pass to Carrick – in position, unmarked and ready to place the slightly curved ball over Doni and into the goal.

17: Rooney passes to Fletcher in the middle, Chivu fails miserably in clearing it and Smith cuts right through the defence and fires it in.

19: Fletcher sends a great ball to Giggs on the right side, Giggs expertly crosses into the middle of the box where Rooney is able to run between Chivu and Mexes and tap the ball past Doni.

44: Giggs sends a lovely pass from the centre of the field to Ronaldo who times a great run on the right flank, does a bit of magic to rid himself of defenders and sends a great shot straight past Chivu and Doni.

49: Great effort from Rooney, wins ball and sends it to Giggs, who crosses in towards the goalmouth from the left wing; Smith blocks Chivu while Ronaldo taps it into goal.

60: Ronaldo works magic on the right hand side, crosses over to Heinze who picks out Carrick in the middle, allowing for another powerful shot from far out for the midfielder.

69: Lovely cross from Totti on the right is followed by a sumptuous volley from de Rossi, Roma get a consolation goal.

81: Solskjaer passes to Evra from the right flank, the defender takes a slightly speculative shot which, because that was the kind of night this was, takes a bounce on the post and into goal.

So, basically, after 20 minutes this was already less of a competition than an circus performance. But United kept pushing on, making all kinds of efforts and winning everything – I felt as though I was watching a metaphor for their entire season, something along the lines of having won so much that you just keep on doing it. Psychological momentum and all that. I know I sound like I’m about to pull on a red shirt, but honestly, only the staunchest of Manchester United haters could have helped applauding this performance. Actually, the staunchest of Manchester United haters would have turned off the telly. For those of us who enjoy the game being played with this assertive magical touch it was practically pornography, even when the losing team started giving up.

Oh, and honourable mention to the referee, who had a great game. How nice it is to see an astute referee who actually knows what he is doing and… Sorry, back on that again. Elsewhere, Chelsea did what they do and got a win in Spain. I didn’t see the game but am told that they were good – and that Mourinho did that thing he does and responded with impressive cunning to the situation, again winning a game by tactical adjustments. It’s getting a bit annoying that. And can someone send Steve “I’ll stick to 4-4-2 and the same tactics against any team in any situation” McClaren on an internship with him?

If today was anything to go by, the "goal scoring curse" that has plagued English football over Easter is over. But it wouldn’t surprise me if Manchester United lose to Watford in the FA-cup. Actually it would. But surprises will come. And how wonderful that is.

Easter curses

I hope we will soon be able to stop talking about curses, but I’ll have one more go. Easter being over my own curse has ended too – a host of nice men with scary machines dug up my sidewalk, found the faulty cables and restored my digital relationship with the world. Well done them. Of course they left without filling up the holes, so the front of the house now looks like a WWI trench…

The misfiring curse of Easter, turning everything upside down, seemed to continue on Monday with Pompey, coming from their convincing win over Manchester United, stumbling to defeat against Watford who managed to score more goals in a game than ever before. Manchester City, picking up their form after a long period of goal scoring difficulty, beat Fulham by 3 to 1 in a similarly bizarre result. Charlton and Reading ended 0-0 as did Newcastle versus Arsenal, who, still cursed, barely got close. The injured Shay Given might as well have stayed in his goal and had a cup of tea. (The Championship, incidentally, does not seem to be cursed – the game between Southampton and Sunderland was an entertaining affair with three lovely goals.) Bolton and Everton did us the favour of drawing, meaning that neither have dashed too far ahead and we are now three points behind Everton with a game in hand.

Injuries to our defenders seems to be the biggest problem (Easter curse as well?) at the moment, which is why a goal scoring spree on Thursday would be even more welcome than usual. Apart from Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Anthony Gardner, who have been joining Ledley King in the physio room for a while, and the fact that Ricardo Rocha is ineligible against Sevilla, we now seem to have lost Young-Pyo Lee, possibly for the season. His consistency and work rate on the left will be sorely missed. So rather than being “merely” a brilliant boost, Ledley King’s anticipated return on Thursday starts looking like a must. Having King back in the middle would enable us to put Stalteri and Chimbonda at right and left respectively and that would calm at least my nerves. Without King, and without even Tom Huddlestone, who would have been a defensive option, we may have to start getting really creative with team selection…

And, once more, we will have a different referee for the next game, right? One that is less dizzy? One that is aware of which sport he is refereeing? Honestly, I would rather have a Spanish referee than that bloke. Ok, rant over. And until Thursday, some potentially enjoyable Champions League to glance at… apart from the nervous worry about the injured lads. It is a blessing indeed (and I am touching all available wood here) that our dear heroic Michael Dawson appears to be virtually indestructible.

Image from www.tottenhamhotspur.com

Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham

For Tottenham Hotspur, it was 39 hours after the game in Sevilla and time for another one; the team had stayed and trained in Spain during the Friday before going home. Fatigue understandably being an issue, Martin Jol made relevant changes to his starting XI, with Mido and Jermain Defoe starting up front and Aaron Lennon resting as well. Pascal Chimbonda, versatile as ever, was employed at left-back in place of the injured Young-Pyo Lee. Ricardo Rocha, ineligible against Sevilla, was back to partner Michael Dawson in central defence. José Mourinho, whose team had played in the Champions League, albeit at home, had also made some changes to his midweek team, with Shevchenko and Ballack both on the bench, Claude Makelele back in position and Shaun Wright-Phillips starting on the right.

The latter had a bright start, made a nice run and crossed the ball to Didier Drogba, who just missed it. Chelsea kept the pressure on and forced Spurs keeper Paul Robinson into several saves during the first half, even if this game, in comparison with the previous three encounters between the sides this season, was a subdued affair. A nice run by Hossam Ghaly enabled him to find Teemu Tainio, but the Finn was well blocked by the Chelsea defence. An effort by Frank Lampard was cleared by Michael Dawson and Ricardo Carvalho’s effort on goal was blocked by Robinson. The first half ended goalless and despite Chelsea’s comparative domination it all looked quite open. Neither team was at full speed; the Spurs defence, the busier of the two in the first half, looked solid.

Spurs opened the second half with a nice opportunity for Mido, when Chimbonda’s cross and Ghaly’s head found the Egyptian. His powerful header was, however, saved expertly by Petr Cech. A few minutes later Carvalho managed to find an opening and fired a hopeful but forceful shot at goal from 40 yards, which went past Ricardo Rocha and Robinson to make it 1-0. Chelsea had awoken and Robinson had to save from Mikel soon after; Rocha, again employed to make life difficult for Drogba did a good job with just that as the Ivorian charged towards goal.

Spurs started replying more and more, as the second half became much more energetic than the first. On 65 minutes Jol substituted Tainio with Adel Taarabt, Spurs 17 year old loan signing from Lens, who immediately made his presence known. Mido passed to the Frenchman and his shot was on target but saved by Cech. Dimitar Berbatov, replacing Mido soon after, combined with Defoe to free Steed Malbranque, whose effort was cleared. A free kick afforded the Bulgarian with an opportunity to head nicely towards goal, but again, Cech managed to save, pushing the ball over the bar. Spurs continued to go for an equaliser, with efforts from Taarabt and Berbatov, but to no avail. At 1-0 it was to stay.

Two defeats in 48 hours cannot be said to reflect the performance of Spurs; rather than being a cause for despair and a worry that the team has ended up in another “slump” their play and composure inspire hope for the remainder of the season.

Chelsea
Cech, Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Bridge, Makelele, Lampard, Mikel (Joe Cole 83), Drogba, Wright-Phillips (Ballack 71), Kalou (Shevchenko 74).
Subs Not Used: Hilario, Diarra.
Booked: Drogba, Joe Cole.
Goals: Carvalho 52.

Tottenham
Robinson, Stalteri, Dawson, Rocha, Chimbonda, Jenas (Zokora 81), Tainio (Taarabt 64), Ghaly, Malbranque, Mido (Berbatov 69), Defoe.
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Ifil.
Booked: Ghaly.

Attendance: 41,864
Referee: R Styles

Sevilla 2-1 Tottenham

Peculiar refereeing decisions and disturbing crowd violence permeated that which should have been, could have been and still in many ways was an evening of exciting football. Tottenham opened in the brightest way possible; Dimitar Berbatov taking a shot at goal with a few seconds gone and then setting up Robbie Keane who, when goalkeeper Palop saved his shot, tapped in the rebound and made it 0-1 with 68 seconds on the clock. Spurs kept the pressure on, but also afforded Sevilla an opportunity when a backwards Stalteri header hit Pascal Chimbonda (filling in at centre-half for the ineligible Ricardo Rocha) instead of Paul Robinson and fell to Adriano. The Sevilla midfielder charged towards goal forcing Robinson to make a courageous dive at his feet to take the ball. This he did, with both his hands, but Alain Hamer, Luxembourg’s finest referee, astonishingly pointed to the spot and showed Robinson yellow for arguing about it.

Former Spurs striker Fredi Kanouté, eager to score after the build-up to the game, walked up and expertly converted the penalty. The decision incensed the visiting fans and their agitation about it may have been the spark which prompted police to enter the stands; whatever happened to start it, violence soon erupted and added to the confusion of the game. Throughout the game the referee awarded a surprising number of free kicks, for challenges which seemed perfectly good; Martin Jol spoke of the ‘different culture’ which saw the Spanish players collapsing easily, but even Spurs got a fair few of the free kicks which only managed to achieve disrupted play. As the crowd violence peaked behind Robinson’s goal Sevilla were able to capitalise on another defensive mistake as a corner kick clearance became less of a clearance and instead enabled Alexander Kerzhakov to head the ball in the net on 35 minutes.

After the interval, when the trouble in the crowd had been subdued, the Spurs players regained full focus and put the pressure on. The second half saw some good chances narrowly missing out and at 2-1 it was to stay; by no means a hopeless result for Spurs, who, away goal in bag, stand a decent chance to turn it around at the Lane. We saw Jol’s tactics for closing down Sevilla’s play working well, with Daniel Alves for instance not threatening to his full potential, and considering it took a controversial penalty to secure Sevilla’s win the outcome of this game leaves the next open. All in all, the lads put in an admirable performance, retaining composure in disruptive circumstances and never giving up.

Sevilla
Palop, Javi Navarro, David (Dragutinovic 68), Daniel, Escude, Renato (Marti 60), Poulsen, Adriano Correia, Kerzhakov, Kanoute, Jesus Navas.
Subs Not Used: Cobeno, Duda, Chevanton, Hinkel, Maresca.

Booked: David.
Goals: Kanoute 19 pen, Kerzhakov 36.

Tottenham
Robinson, Stalteri, Chimbonda, Dawson, Young-Pyo Lee, Lennon (Malbranque 80), Zokora, Jenas, Tainio (Ghaly 84), Keane, Berbatov.
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Mido, Defoe, Taarabt, Ifil.
Booked: Robinson, Tainio, Young-Pyo Lee, Zokora.
Goals: Keane 2.

Att: 32,000
Ref: Alain Hamer (Luxembourg)

Image from www.tottenhamhotspur.com

The misfiring curse

It was an entertaining weekend of giants killed; Manchester United stumbled to defeat in Portsmouth, Arsenal lost, for the first time at the Emirates - to West Ham United (!) and Chelsea managed to beat the mighty Spurs... ok, slightly facetious with the last one and that was less spectacularly entertaining anyway, but the "curse" of not finding the goal which you, dear readers, have pointed out, certainly seems to have spread. Arsenal have a very bad case of the misfiring curse; they may have outplayed West Ham and had an amazing number of efforts on target but West Ham got their only one in. And that counts. It has to be said though: Robert Green was heroic on an epic scale. (And apart from the microsecond of hesitation at Carvalho's shot, our own Paul was quite heroic as well.)

Portsmouth did Chelsea (well, yes, and themselves) a great favour by beating Manchester United in an amusing fashion, a Man U which also seemed unable to find the back of the net. Well, the back of the opposition net, anyway. After Paul has somewhat redeemed himself and his part in the "Croatia incident" by scoring a "freak" goal of his own and coming back in form, we now have a new pair of own goal culprits to taunt. Gary Neville's club and country partner Rio Ferdinand's miscontrolled ball went back towards an uncomprehending Edwin van der Sar who, not expecting the pass, just calmly watched it roll back into his own goal as if, by some magic, a ball kicked by his own defender could never go that way... Injury time injury expert John O'Shea tapped in a loose ball, but the own goal still meant that no points for Manchester United were to be had from this encounter and IF, just IF, Chelsea grab the title because of this loss the own goal will be historical. It is already hysterical.

Oh, and in Spain even the great Barca were unable to score. Teams that I wouldn't mind inflicting some misfiring curse on, say Everton and Bolton, of course did nothing but score all weekend. Let's hope that this is all part of some freakish Easter bunny voodoo and that, come Thursday, at least Spurs have been cured...

Happy Easter all - I'll be back with more serious stuff actually relevant to Spurs as soon as my internet server has been cured of its curse... a more paranoid person would see a pattern.

Technical difficulty

No, alas this is not an interesting entry about technical aspects of the game or anything at all related to football. My internet provider has decided that Easter was a brilliant time to have the lines go down, so I shall be off-line for a week - posts to follow when I manage to get back on line...

Whereas I don't want to write reports while in an internet café I feel a strong need to put out my first "referee-rant" ever. Anyone who watched the Sevilla-Spurs game - can you tell me where they found him, why he was there and which sport he thought he was refereeing? Golf? I just don't know. Anyway, still not a catastrophic result for the lads and we can look forward to the next game.

COYS!

Giants, Riots and Davids

Europe week, and while the main event is of course yet to come, this very evening, the Champions League has been rather entertaining as well...

Liverpool destroyed PSV Eindhoven in Holland, heaping further humiliation on Arsenal by convincingly dealing with the team that kicked the London side out of the competition. As PSV now have to go to Anfield and try to turn around a 3-0, few people will doubt that Liverpool are set for the semi-final. Ok, this is football, miracles happen… but no.

Bayern Munich’s at the San Siro was an interesting game, a clash between Milan’s pace and Bayern’s staunch confidence. Initially, Milan looked like the likelier winners and were in the lead after a nice header by Andrea Pirlo in the first half. Every time I wondered where on earth a Bayern goal was going to come from, despite the impressive flank work of Lahm and Schweinsteiger, they equalised. By the clever chance taking of a defender. Daniel Van Buyten managed to sneak two similar goals past Dida, the second in the 93^rd minute. The Bayern defence had done well against Milan’s attacks, not the least goalkeeper Michael Rensing. Oliver Kahn, true to form, was suspended because of an incident with a urine sample (too horrible to contemplate), and had been replaced by his complete opposite, a sweet, seemingly timid lad who looked about twelve. But not only is Rensing more experienced and less timid than his appearance suggests, he is also very good. So, 2-2, and an interesting second leg to look forward to.

Manchester United, ending up with ten men and furthermore facing twelve men, according to Sir Alex (as he apparently considers German referee Herbert Fandel to be a Roma player), did, if that mathematical analysis is to be believed, rather well to only lose 2-1 in Rome. Paul Scholes, adding to his already impressive number of coloured cards, was sent off for two offences and the Man U supporters were involved in combat with riot police. Will there be more hostilities in the return leg at Old Trafford? Or just more pretty goals from Wayne Rooney, who scored his first in the competition with composure and skill?

Chelsea taking on Valencia at Stamford Bridge was an exciting tale of the Davids and the Goliaths. David Villa and David Silva are both tiny, fast and skilful; the latter’s strike was a real beauty. The Chelsea players, by comparison, looked more forceful than quick and despite dominating possession, especially in the second half, found Valencia’s clever positioning hard to get past. But as we all know, Chelsea just refuse to lose at home, and Drogba eventually secured a draw with a nice header. Joe Cole, up for the award as most missed player of the season – at least in the England squad – made his return as a substitute.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and be nervous about the evening: Sevilla FC vs. Tottenham Hotspur. Anything can happen.

Tottenham 1-0 Reading

April Fool’s Day, and our Spurs really fooled us into believing that this was going to be an easy win; a forceful start, a convincing display and enough chances throughout to bag at least a handful of goals. But to no avail. The lads had brought all the skill, style and imagination which has recently become their trademark – but not the finishing touch. Despite not becoming the emphatic victory it could have been it was still three points in the bag for Spurs, meaning that the 50^th game of the season became a fifth consecutive league win, moving the team up to 6^th in the table, and – finally – a first clean sheet since October. The goal, furthermore, finally took Spurs goal difference in the league out of the negative – it is now 0...

A few excellent chances for Spurs opened the game; Dimitar Berbatov and Aaron Lennon freeing Steed Malbranque, who hit the bar, a Berbatov assist for Robbie Keane, who hit Marcus Hahnemann, a shot by Berbatov – saved by Hahnemann. Leroy Lita nearly scored for Reading as he headed a cross from Glen Little towards goal, but he, too, hit the post rather than the net. A lovely pass from Malbranque, at his creative best throughout and man of the match, found Keane who had superbly timed his run – but again the finishing was not quite up to scratch and Hahnemann saved comfortably. Robinson’s only truly meaningful save of the game came when a loose ball from a free kick ended up with Dave Kitson who fired a lethal shot towards goal.

A host of varied attacks by Spurs were all closed down by the Reading defence, which also managed to catch the Spurs strikers offside to an unusual extent. The second half was to see two goals disallowed for offside, as well as a frustrating amount of opportunities thwarted. Reading had done their homework and Coppell’s tactics paid off. Some of Spurs missed chances were just that, misfiring, but some were simply foiled by good defending. It is too tempting to praise the Premiership debutants in a patronising way; they are, quite simply, a good side who work well as a team.

A Spurs attack in the final minutes of the first half finally did yield a goal, as Greg Halford was adjudicated to have handled the ball while trying to take it from Keane. Referee Alan Wiley awarded a penalty and the Ireland striker dexterously placed it into the net. The decision was a bit harsh on Halford, Reading’s record signing from Colchester United, who, apart from that moment, had a very good game – displaying, among other things, his fabulous ability to throw a ball. Far. Very far.

An expertly taken free kick by Berbatov, forcing an equally expertly executed save, closed the first half and Hahnemann’s contribution to the match as injury forced him to be replaced by Adam Federici in the second half. The second half resembled the first, with lovely runs from Lennon, amazing ball control from Berbatov, lovely attacking play by Lee, great moves from Malbranque… Federici too had his shares of saves to make, from Didier Zokora, Berbatov and substitute Defoe, who, with his 15 minutes also managed to contribute to the toll of chances missed.

Reading, who were very effective defensively but essentially played with an attacking mind-set, nearly equalised when Lita sent another header just outside of goal. Their never failing spirit meant that the game was open to the very end, an equaliser never looking impossible. Spurs may have dominated the game and deserved the victory, but the missing ‘clinical’ finishing meant that it really could have gone either way.

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, Dawson, Rocha, Young-Pyo Lee, Lennon, Zokora, Jenas, Malbranque (Huddlestone 80), Berbatov, Keane (Defoe 75).
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Stalteri, Taarabt.
Booked: Rocha.
Goals: Keane 41 pen.

Reading
Hahnemann (Federici 46), Halford, Duberry, Ingimarsson, Shorey, Little (Oster 75), Harper, Sidwell, Hunt (Doyle 65), Lita, Kitson.
Subs Not Used: Bikey, Gunnarsson.

Attendance: 36,067
Referee: A Wiley

Newcastle 0-1 Manchester City

The league goal dearth for Newcastle United continues: the team have not scored since the February win over Liverpool. Despite a greater number of meaningful chances, especially in the final ten minutes, none of them yielded a result. Manchester City, also struggling but coming from the second win of the year last weekend, have had similar problems. Similar responses came from the fans, at the half-time whistle, with the score still at 0-0, fans of both sides were unanimous in their booing. Both managers looked tormented.

Of two teams in comparable crises, Man City showed the greater fighting spirit. Newcastle looked lethargic until their visitors went up; Man City, driven by a hard working Joey Barton, tried to create chances. There was still a familiar lack of finishing, but Man City’s new signing, Emile Mpenza, proved his worth again – once hitting the bar and then, with 11 minutes to go, the net. A lovely cross from the young and impressive Michael Johnson, combined with Mpenza’s perfectly timed run became too much for Shay Given, who until then had had little to do.

Newcastle were lacking in imagination as well as spirit, and found the solidity of the Man City defence hard to penetrate. Kieron Dyer’s well timed movements were to no avail. Despite dominating possession, especially through an energetic Scott Parker, and making threatening moves the team did not become truly fired up until after Mpenza’s goal. The introduction of James Milner with 15 minutes to go on the right wing had cheered the fans as well as play, and Newcastle spent the final minutes of the game in frantic attack. Isaksson had a few saves to make and Martins, Taylor, Butt, Carr and Onyewu all saw their attempts misfire. By that time some of the fans who hadn’t fallen asleep had started to leave the stadium, a hurry to get out which was replicated by Glenn Roeder.

Newcastle
Given, Carr, Moore (Onyewu 73), Taylor, Babayaro, Solano (Milner 76), Butt, Parker, Duff, Dyer (Sibierski 77), Martins.
Subs Not Used: Harper, Emre.
Booked: Moore.

Man City
Isaksson, Onuoha (Trabelsi 85), Dunne, Distin, Ball, Jihai, Barton, Hamann (Samaras 46), Johnson, Vassell, Mpenza.
Subs Not Used: Weaver, Corradi, Miller.
Booked: Vassell, Jihai, Barton.
Goals: Mpenza 80.

Attendance: 52,004.
Referee: G Poll