The Spurs Diaries: 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