Tottenham 1-1 Blackburn

Three games in one week (again) was probably one of the reasons for Martin Jol to give Robbie Keane a rest and Jermain Defoe a long coveted start. Anthony Gardner made another emergency appearance at left-back and Hossam Ghaly made a much talked-about appearance as a substitute. Neither team controlled the game in the first half, a sparring-match more than anything else. There were some nice moves between Berbatov, Lennon and Defoe, of course, but headed efforts from Gardner and Chimbonda were about as close as we got to trouble Blackburn’s well organised defence. When Malbranque had to be substituted, injured by a tackle, after half an hour there was a further loss in fluency. Blackburn had similar problems, but found the target when a lovely cross from Pedersen was headed into goal by McCarthy on 30 minutes.

As the second half threatened to be a repeat of the first, Jol decided that the game needed Robbie Keane after all; the choice between Ghaly, who wasn’t having a great game and Lennon, who was a little, but not much, better, fell on Ghaly, who tore off his shirt, threw it to the ground and stormed off. This added a little drama to the evening, but not of the pleasant kind. The fans were disgusted. (Ghaly has since apologised and been forgiven, but speculations about his future are, predictably, rife.) Again Jol’s attacking substitution paid off and Keane made an instant impact on the game by energising his team mates; Spurs now were truly the stronger side. Some minutes later Keane sent a clever pass to Berbatov, who brilliantly worked the ball around the box and sent a low shot at goal which Friedel only managed to parry. Defoe, the third man in the attack, was in perfect position to tap in the rebound. After that we controlled the game, had several chances and should really have had a winner in injury time when Keane hit the post and Berbatov hit a free kick just over. Oh, well, point taken.

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, Dawson, King, Gardner, Lennon, Zokora, Tainio, Malbranque (Ghaly 29), Berbatov, Defoe, Ghaly (Keane 60).
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Huddlestone, Ifil.
Goals: Defoe 67

Blackburn
Friedel, Emerton, Samba, Nelsen, Warnock, Bentley, Kerimoglu (Gallagher 90), Mokoena (Derbyshire 76), Pedersen, McCarthy, Roberts.
Subs Not Used: Brown, Henchoz, Berner.
Sent Off: Roberts (90).
Booked: Mokoena, Pedersen, Roberts.
Goals: McCarthy 32

Attendance: 35,974
Referee: R Styles

Charlton 0-2 Tottenham

You have to feel sorry for Charlton, who, due to this result, have now been relegated and who fought for their lives throughout the game. They displayed passion and commitment and had spells of threatening possession as well as a fair amount of chances, but in the end lacked both cutting edge up front and solidity at the back.

Starting the game with some minutes of near complete possession, Spurs were put ahead by an astounding solo goal by Dimitar Berbatov in the seventh minute: gets the ball at the halfway line, flicks it past El Karkouri, who is unable to get past or stop him and takes his shot at the perfect moment. Unbelievable. See video below.

Charlton, fired up by this, came into the game after about 20 minutes, but were unable to cut through the Spurs defence completely. They tried to expose the soft spot that was left-back (Rocha filling in for Lee), and were nearly rewarded when Darren Bent’s cross found Alexandre Song’s head. The midfielder, however, headed out and Bent had a shot which also just failed to hit target. At half time, Ricardo Rocha, who had picked up an injury, had to be replaced by centre-half Anthony Gardner, recently back from injury. Alan Pardew replaced Song and Marcus Bent with Lloyd Sam and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, the latter forcing Robinson to diving save with a few minutes to go.

Spurs continued to pose a threat with elegant play, and Charlton continued to respond in what was an entertaining and clean game – no bookings and few free kicks. Berbatov had ample opportunity to showcase his skill with clever little balls and mazy runs – and also provided the best comedy moment of the game. Apparently forgetting who was playing left back, he sent a ball up the side which would have been excellent for Lennon or Lee, but which was impossible for Gardner to get near. The look of exasperation on the face of the big defender was priceless. A perfect ball to Jermain Defoe, who had replaced Keane with 6 minutes to go, became the final say in the game. The England striker timed his run, got past the defenders and sent the ball in a perfect arch over Carson and into the net. The UEFA cup beckons for Spurs, while Charlton are headed for a season in the Championship

Charlton
Carson, Young, El Karkouri, Diawara, Hreidarsson, Zheng (Hughes 84), Holland, Song Billong (Sam 71), Ambrose, Marcus Bent (Hasselbaink 71), Darren Bent.
Subs Not Used: Randolph, Bougherra.

Tottenham
Robinson, Chimbonda, Dawson, King, Rocha (Gardner 46), Lennon (Malbranque 60), Zokora, Jenas, Tainio, Keane (Defoe 84), Berbatov.
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Huddlestone.
Goals: Berbatov 7, Defoe 90.

Attendance: 26,339.
Referee: M Halsey