Carling Cup - Tottenham win Liverpool thriller

Eurosport - Thu, 13 Nov 10:30:00 2008

Tottenham's recent revival under Harry Redknapp continued with a 4-2 win over Liverpool in an exhilarating Carling Cup fourth round tie at White Hart Lane.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Carling Cup Tottenham-Liverpool Roman Pavlyuchenko - 0

Roman Pavlyuchenko and Fraizer Campbell both netted twice as the holders booked a place in the quarter-finals in a match that was littered with defensive errors.

Damien Plessis and Sami Hyypia replied for a much-weakened Liverpool side, before Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes was carried off with a head injury.

Reds boss Rafa Benitez opted to make wholesale changes to the side that beat West Brom at the weekend with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Robbie Keane rested, while Fernando Torres returned to the starting line-up from his hamstring tear.

But it was two less celebrated strikers who lit up the night, Campbell and Pavlyuchenko making the most of playing up front together in the absence of the rested Darren Bent and Luka Modric, both of whom started on the bench.

The pair effectively settled the match during a blistering seven-minute burst just before the half-time whistle, a period that saw the hosts net three times and Liverpool fall apart.

Pavlyuchenko opened the scoring on 38 minutes, firing a hard, low drive past Diego Cavalieri after Campbell's pull back from the by-line had found the Russian on the penalty spot.

Seconds later Jamie O'Hara could have made it two, but Cavalieri was alert enough to make a smart stop to keep out his low drive.

Campbell then proved his proficiency in front of goal, nipping in ahead of Cavalieri and Andrea Dossena to control the ball on his chest before turning and coolly slotting into an empty net.

And less than three minutes later, Campbell had his second and Spurs' third of the night, heading Aaron Lennon's cross from a standing position back across Cavalieri and into the far corner of the net.

While the strike duo's finishing was exemplary, defensive frailty played a part in all three goals: Sami Hyypia was too easily beaten by Aaron Lennon to cross for Campbell, who was left entirely unmarked, for the opener; Cavalieri and Dossena failed to communicate and took each other out for the second; and Liverpool gave away possession to start the move that led to the third.

Three-nil down at half-time was bad enough, but the truth was that it could have been much worse for the visitors had Pavlyuchenko not glanced a header wide of the mark early on or Dan Agger not denied Lennon a certain goal with a splendid sliding block on 19 minutes.

Liverpool rallied after the break and pulled a goal back on 49 minutes, Plessis heading home from a corner after Gomes once again showed how badly he lacks confidence and form.

The Brazilian came off his line to claim the ball before furiously backpeddling once he realised he was not going to get anywhere near it. The young Frenchman was allowed to head into what was effectively an unguarded net.

The goal briefly lit a flame of hope for the visitors, but Spurs soon found a way through the porous Liverpool back line to net a fourth goal.

This time the breakthrough could not be blamed on poor Liverpool defending, just a good old fashioned strong run from midfield by Didier Zokora who got to the by-line before centring for Pavlyuchenko to side foot home.

Yet more flapping from Gomes - who was later stretchered off with a head injury following a collision with Philipp Degen - saw Hyypia pull another goal back with a header from a corner on 62 minutes.

The goalkeeper's indecision, as it has done already this season, could have cost Spurs dearly; Liverpool had a big penalty shout turned down by Mike Riley when Degen upended Gareth Bale in the box with 10 minutes of normal time remaining.

Replays showed a penalty kick should have been awarded, but a tense final ending to the game, which was extended by nine minutes as a result of Gomes's injury, was avoided.

As it was, Spurs closed out the game without any further problems as Redknapp's presence at the club continues to make a difference.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport

Comment 198 - 217 of 237

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. Ugsy,I agree.Sincerely,good luck to you with the­ season!!

    From jhr881, on Thu 13 Nov 1:50PM

  2. Fielding a so-called weakened side in this type of­ competition means one thing to me.

    "We think we­ are too good to lose against our opponents,regardless­ of who we put on the pitch".Unfortunately,all too­ often,that sort of arrogance bites you in the arse and­ rightly so.You should always respect who you're up­ against,'cause you never know how it'll turn­ out.

    If it means instead that teams are going in to­ competitions,without being too interested in the trophy­ that's at the end of it,then don't enter the­ comp!!

    From jhr881, on Thu 13 Nov 1:48PM

  3. Jhr881 - cheers, we're just enjoying the moment.­ After our 1st league 8 games, we needed all the help we­ could get! Think we'll be ok now - as long as we­ don't get complacent. Can't see HR allowing­ that.

    From GW, on Thu 13 Nov 1:40PM
  4. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    the so call benitez is an idiot, to have rested all­ the top players.to allow spur set such a beautiful­ record,bitting liverpool twice in a week, is enougth­ for any manager to be in seven heaven,benitez has not­ dont us good.he has bring shame and disgrace to the­ face of all the kop fans,go to hell with your­ excuses BENITEZ,i have been a liverpool fan for the­ pass 10 yrs, i have never been digrace like­ this................

    From esueni, on Thu 13 Nov 1:31PM

  5. To katiesparrey,mullins837,ugsy etc.Thanks for the­ comments.Can't say I enjoyed the loss,but­ fair's fair.Liverpool have been credited with­ taking a fantastic undefeated home record away from­ Chelsea,but the fact that it was a deflection was luck­ rather than quality.

    No point in moaning about­ yesterday.The better team won on the night!!

    From jhr881, on Thu 13 Nov 1:20PM

  6. Here's a thought, if the Carling Cup is so­ unimportant to them, why don't the so-called big 4­ withdraw from next year's competition and allow,­ say, 4 conference teams to have a crack at it?­ It'll avoid them so much trouble, having to field­ weakened teams in order to deliberately lose...etc­ etc...

    From GW, on Thu 13 Nov 1:12PM

  7. Liverpool fielded a weakened team granted but so to did­ Spurs and lets be honest were it not for 2 corner kicks­ it would have been even more convincing, Liverpool were­ harried and not allowed to play while Spurs passed the­ ball beautifully, as a spurs fan I am delighted with­ the upturn and yes there will obviously be defeats. A­ new striker and Keeper are essential and who knows a­ top 6 finish may be possible, which should be seen as a­ success after the start we had. Liverpool may say they­ were not interested but like Arsenal a serious lack of­ silverware in recent years means that all competitions­ are important (European Cup apart). Rafa needs to­ strengthen too, to many of his reserves are not up to­ it Plessis, oh please!!! Go on Harry!!

    From william, on Thu 13 Nov 12:46PM

  8. Bale did touch the ball...very slight..might have even­ just been his studs..but he did alter the path of the­ ball

    From Nathan, on Thu 13 Nov 12:29PM

  9. Roguein - I wonder if RB shared his view of the Carling­ Cup with the LFC fans who journeyed to WHL last night?­ And you could tell by his demeanour after the game how­ delighted he was he'd lost the game. You, sir, are­ a @#$%.
    Jhr881 and 205 - well said!

    From GW, on Thu 13 Nov 12:20PM

  10. Wagner Love scored 17 goals in 20 games. He wont be­ playing for 3 months or so from the end of this month­ because it is closed season in Russia get him on loan­ Benetiz

    From not printable, on Thu 13 Nov 11:14AM

  11. love it when liverpool and arse say they field weak­ sides to concentrate on champs league and pl, cracks me­ up

    From ware685, on Thu 13 Nov 11:05AM

  12. So it seems Benitez fielded not a weak side but a very­ diff side. He has been playing a consistent side this­ season and its paying off immeasurably. He has learnt­ from his previous mistakes. His most consistent team do­ need rest. So using a diff side to the one that has­ been doing great this season is just an unfortanate­ situation. The carling cup aint exactly the big prize,­ but he still wants to win it. All the managers want to­ win it, but not at the expense of the bigger comps. He­ made understandable decision, but it didnt pay off. As­ for Spurs, they got Harry in and now they can see the­ light at the end of the tunnel. Im a Gooner, so i­ shouldnt be backing spurs, but I definitely didnt think­ they would get relegated, nor did i think they should­ be relegated. they are a better team than plenty others­ in the Prem and should be shooting higher. They are­ back on the right track and as long as they dont end up­ higher than arsenal in the table :) I say rock on, and­ keep it going. Let them enjoy their new found mental­ state and lets see what they can do. They were only­ suffering earlier in the season, because the board sold­ Keane. Berb was always gonna leave but loosing keane on­ top of Berb was just foolish. Thats only gonna create­ negative vibes around the squad. Harry has been badly­ beaten by the ugly stick, heh heh, more so than all the­ other managers in the prem put together, but he has an­ amazing ability to inspire and lead teams brilliantly.­ I like the guy. Sorry for Liverpool who are much more­ favourable than Man U and Chelsea, well done Spurs for­ taking advantage of a situation Benitez thought just­ had to be made to focus on the bigger prizes. Thats­ football. C'est la vie.

    From Tom, on Thu 13 Nov 11:01AM

  13. im a liverpool fan and it is sickening to lose to­ spurs, twice now, once with a full strength team, what­ makes it worse its the same spurs team that couldnt do­ its shoe laces up a couple of weeks ago, and now just­ because del boy rednapp has turned up everything is­ great. i think the spurs players should look at­ themselves, are they really that pathetic that they­ need a cuddle before they play a match.

    From mickgabs616, on Thu 13 Nov 10:51AM

  14. we lost, get over it you stupid so called supporters.­ There are NO excuses, there are ONLY results. So­ looking for weak cheap excuses doesnt cut. I am a­ Liverpool fan for 20 years and I hate us loosing, but I­ never ever @#$% about it

    From not printable, on Thu 13 Nov 10:49AM

  15. Four things to note:
    1)Liverpool and Arsenal played­ against premier league teams
    2)Liverpool played away­ while Arsenal played at home
    3)Chelsea played a lower­ classed team at HOME and lost while
    4)ManU played a­ lower classed team at HOME and won

    So the­ classification for the BIG four is as follows:
    1st­ Arsenal 3 points
    2nd Liverpool 2.5 points
    3rd ­ ManU 2 points
    4th Chelsea -1point

    How it­ is calculated:

    Playing at home against a top side a­ win 3 points
    Playing at home against a top side and­ lost 0 point
    Playing away against a top side and win 4­ points
    Playing away against a top side and loss 2.5­ points
    Playing at home against a lower classed team and­ win 2 points
    Playing at home against a lower classed­ team and loss -1 point

    Only Liverpool played away of­ the big four

    And the most shameful award goes to­ Chelsea(minus one point)

    From Michael, on Thu 13 Nov 10:43AM

  16. A weakened side? You could say that........no­ Woodgate,King,Modric or Bentley and bring on our­ top-goalscorer for ten minutes!

    From nick, on Thu 13 Nov 10:14AM

  17. hahahaha seems like I upset the fans from the bottom of­ the table ... jingleballicks ... you're right, I­ certainly am a @#$%, thanks for taking time to notice­ .... I'm still laughing at a comment i just read­ somewhere ... "Europe here we come"!!!­ hahahahhaha my ribs are killing me ....

    If you measure­ your team's success on Carling Cup wins ... well,­ what can I say ... hats off to Spurs for still being in­ the FITH most important trophy worth competing for ...­ now that's some achievement ...

    Like I said, the­ bubble will soon burst and then you'll realise just­ how ORDINARY Harry Redknob and Tottenham are ...

    From Paul G, on Thu 13 Nov 10:10AM

  18. yeah rite!! All the top teams don't play with­ their normal 11 players.....but to lose is still­ bitter.

    From anoushkarm, on Thu 13 Nov 10:10AM

  19. well said jhr881

    From mullins837, on Thu 13 Nov 10:09AM

  20. emmm..guys...on a second thought on Totte...wonder why­ such a tremendous transformation team from the players­ under Redknap?? Any conspiracy maybe, lolz! Imagine,­ the same players and squad,within one day of him taking­ over Totte starting to show their true colours....I­ don't think Redknap is that a gr8 manager otherwise­ he should bring Pompey or his previous team top of the­ table?!

    From anoushkarm, on Thu 13 Nov 10:02AM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account