Premier League - Spurs battle to beat Stoke

Eurosport - Sat, 20 Mar 16:58:00 2010

Tottenham Hotspur moved a step closer to securing fourth place in the Premier League with a 2-1 win over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.

2009-10 Premier League Tottenham Hotspurs' Eidur Gudjohnsen scores his sides first goal of the game at Stoke - 0

Eidur Gudjohnsen scored his first goal for Spurs just 20 seconds into the second half, and soon after his side were playing against 10 men as Dean Whitehead was sent off. Despite being a man down, former Spurs winger Matthew Etherington equalised from the penalty spot for the Potters, before Niko Kranjcar fired home the winner for the North London side.

The win puts Spurs four points clear of fifth-placed Liverpool and five ahead of sixth-placed Manchester City, who have two games in hand. Aston Villa are also five points behind, with one game more to play than Tottenham.

With striker Jermain Defoe joining Aaron Lennon on the Tottenham injury list on Friday, Spurs lacked a cutting edge up front. Their cause was not helped when Roman Pavlyuchenko limped off injured in the first half, the in-form Russian striker being replaced by Eidur Gudjohnsen on 36 minutes.

The visitors struggled to cope with Stoke's physical approach, and it was the home side that had the better of the scant first-half opportunities.

Although Spurs managed on the whole to repel Rory Delap's long throws, one such delivery was met by a flick-on from Dave Kitson, and goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes had to get down low to palm the effort away.

Stoke skipper Abdoulaye Faye headed an effort over the bar after Gomes pawed at a cross, and had a shot on the turn blocked by Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

Gareth Bale was often Tottenham's best attacking outlet, although he had to deal with some typically rough treatment from the home side. The Welshman was on the receiving end of a clumsy challenge from Whitehead, for which the Stoke midfielder picked up his first booking of the afternoon.

Thomas Sorensen was only called into action once in the first half. The Denmark keeper spilled a Niko Kranjcar shot but managed to pounce on the loose ball before Peter Crouch could follow up.

Having been denied any clear-cut chances during the whole of the first half, Spurs took the lead right from the restart. Gudjohnsen played the ball to Crouch and latched on to the return pass lifted over the defence, and stayed strong under pressure from Faye to blast a rasping finish into the roof of the net and open his Tottenham account.

Two minutes later Stoke were down to 10 men when another awkward challenge from Whitehead - on Luka Modric this time - led to Mike Dean showing him a second yellow card and a subsequent red, the sixth shown to a Stoke player this season.

At that point it looked as though Spurs were going to run away with the match, as Modric and Gudjohnsen combined well for the Croatian to force a save from Sorensen.

However, Benoit Assou-Ekotto contrived to allow the Potters back into the match. First the Cameroon defender had an on-pitch row with team-mate Vedran Corluka, calling for Ricardo Fuller to step in and separate the pair. Then, just minutes later, he conceded a penalty for a foul on Dave Kitson, which Etherington clinically despatched on 64 minutes.

Tottenham were clearly rattled by letting their lead slip, and they should have gone behind when a loose ball broke for Fuller on the edge of the six-yard box, only for the striker to fire over the bar with one of the worst misses of the season.

The visitors regained their composure, and Assou-Ekotto earned partial redemption by creating the winner, as Gudjohnsen dummied over his low cross allowing Kranjcar to fire into the top corner for his first goal since December.

Yet still Stoke could have pulled the rug from underneath Tottenham's top four ambitions when Sebastien Bassong's suicidal header back to Gomes fell right into the path of substitute Mamady Sidibe, but the striker slipped over at the crucial moment.

Spurs withstood a late barrage of Delap throws and Etherington corners to hang on for a vital three points.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport

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  1. I have to say, speaking as an Arsenal supporter, just­ how much I admire what Harry Redknapp has done for­ Spurs. I love the competition between the two teams,­ and it doesn't really work if one of them is too­ superior to the other. I don't know any more than­ any-one else does whether or not Wenger will keep up­ his success or Redknapp will ever come close to­ matching it; but to see how close they are to each­ other now at the top of the table is really refreshing­ when you think where Spurs have been for the last few­ seasons. It's just a shame you have your moaners­ who can't see a good thing when it's staring at­ them (e.g. Andrew, 23), just the same as we do. North­ London, capital of football! Good luck all.

    From RA, on Tue 23 Mar 11:51

  2. Harry, well done the weekend, need to win the next two­ home games to stay within the top four and cup. Harry­ believe in this team the best for years, we can take­ one or two wins against the top three we have to play.­ Go Go Go nothing less than the top four season end­ ??????

    From rron, on Tue 23 Mar 5:37

  3. If we can grind out 4/5 more wins like that this season­ I will be more then happy.

    From Wayne, on Tue 23 Mar 2:58

  4. Poor game but more than happy with the 3 points, shame­ Man City won but other than that, great weekend.­ COYS!!!

    From yidarmy1066, on Mon 22 Mar 23:25

  5. stokes days in the premiership are numbered!!!!
    one­ trick pony's long throw queens

    From changeurgame, on Mon 22 Mar 3:39

  6. darren, I picked up on your phrase "and from what­ i heard." does this mean that you actually­ didn't go to the game?

    i think i'll take all­ your views as invalid then

    From barnz, on Mon 22 Mar 3:11

  7. In addition to what Martin S said, I feel that this­ year we're starting to grind results out of the­ games in which we aren't playing well, our second­ goal was class though! That for me is the biggest­ improvement this season, the mental strength of the­ side. Our defending methods are still nerve-wracking­ though...COYS!! and come on 4th place!!

    From Navid, on Sun 21 Mar 22:58

  8. If we do happen to get fourth this season, we will­ have­ to look back at some of Harry's decisions -­ What a­ move today to put Kaboul in for Palacios who is­ sitting­ on 9 yellow cards! We need Palacios on­ Wednesday for­ the Cup game v Fulham and possibly could­ rest him again­ next Saturday v Pompei. And Kranjcar is­ buy of the­ season - the lad is pure class (thank God­ Bentley is­ injured!). Harry has got Bale playing with­ confidence,­ and using him in midfield as well (well­ deployed in­ current situation) and bringing in­ Gudjohnsen has­ been, and will also prove to be, a­ masterstroke! We­ have a big April (Arsenal, Chelsea­ & Man Utd) but 2­ of these are at the Lane!­ Believe! COYS!

    From Joe, on Sun 21 Mar 13:59

  9. RTE_20 don't worry about money for Jenas. You can­ have him...just send a taxi over and he's­ yours!
    Good result today as we fought back and­ didn't drop points as we have in the­ past.
    Tottenham always make it look so­ "easy."
    Spurs for Life!

    From Mark, on Sun 21 Mar 11:53

  10. We were crap today no doubt but we still won which is­ the most important thing :)..
    The thing about this­ result is that we all know we can play 100 times better­ that said we did also have alot of key players out but­ thats no excuse in the PL every team has their injuries­ its how the squad as a whole deals with it and I think­ we have a great squad Bale, Dawson, Bentley,­ Pavlychenko were all warming the bench at the start of­ the season even Tom Huddlestone was nearly on his way­ out in the summer but these players have stood up and­ shown that they deserve a place in the team.
    COYS

    From Mark, on Sun 21 Mar 10:51

  11. Dont undersatnd why some of you spurrs fans can be­ biggin your team up as i was at the britt today and you­ (and us) played s**t!!!
    As for the throw in comments­ we have to play to our strengths i know and so does­ every other stoke fan its not attractive football but­ it gets us the results and untill we've been in the­ prem for a while and have the cash to buy our­ Crouches,Jennas and lennons we have to use what we­ got!!

    From rte_20, on Sun 21 Mar 9:40

  12. stoke fans shouldnt be bitter the better team won and­ counted out your only threat,rory delap and his long­ throws.add to that fuller and cos sitters and thats wot­ cost you the game.so we didnt get our normal game up­ and running today but you should be more disciplined­ and your players should control themselves more.instead­ you continually chopped bale and pavlyunchenko down and­ you went down to 10 men.and from what i heard we had­ the better of the game and shouldve been out of­ sight,and the better team with pure quality shone­ through.and as harry said to bent,MY MRS COULDVE DONE­ BETTER THAN THAT!!!!!COME ON YOU SPURS,CHAMPIONS LEAGUE­ AND FA CUP HERE WE COME.

    From Darren, on Sun 21 Mar 9:20

  13. Not sure why the Tottenham fans are raving Sorensen­ hardly had to make a save and apart from the two good­ finishes you were far from convicing. The 10 men should­ have at least got a point just wish our finishing was­ as good as yours.

    From Andrew, on Sun 21 Mar 9:13

  14. Well done Spurs, but what the fook was going on between­ Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Vedran Corluka.
    It looks­ like a bit of piss taking by Corluka after Assou had­ just fired a shot well wide of Stokes goal was not­ found funny by Assou.As seen on tele Assou told Vedran­ to F&$K Off and followed it with a shove in the­ chest.Just handbags I think and no doubt Arry will bang­ their heads together and sort it.
    COYS.

    From eifion.hughes, on Sun 21 Mar 9:09

  15. Spurs WILL win the FA Cup !!

    From Upfront, on Sun 21 Mar 9:05

  16. stoke fans think they shouldve won and they are­ right,part from the fact that you cant score sitters­ and your front men are crap!!!stop moaning as thats why­ were 4th and your 13th and will be fighting­ relegationthis season.buy top players and youl be­ higher up the table,instead of buying our cast­ offs.(etherington ring any bells).!!!and 4th is where­ we should be,weve spent big to get there and now were­ showing how good we are,and also add modric to the mix­ and thats why we beat you.COME ON YOU SPURS!!!!!!!!!!as­ harry said to bent,MY MRS COULD VE DONE BETTER THAN­ THAT!!!!!

    From Darren, on Sun 21 Mar 9:04

  17. GUIDJOHNSON,BALE AND KRANJCAR WERE THE DIFFERENCE TODAY­ AND OUR QUALITY SHOWED.WAIT TILL DEFOE,BENTLEY AND­ HUDDLESTONE RETURN ADD TO THE MIX PAVLYUNCHENKO AND­ THEN WERE A FORCE.WELL DONE HARRY FOR BRINGING­ GUIDJOTNSON TO THE LANE,TOP MOVE OF THE JANUARY­ WINDOW.COME ON YOU SPURS!!!!!!!!

    From Darren, on Sun 21 Mar 8:56

  18. There was no way stoke could handle the likes of bale­ and his pace,guidjohnsons ability and gomes on top­ form.,and it proved to be true.foul after foul from­ stoke on bale and pavlyunchenko and stoke were undone­ as they went down to 10 men and rightly so.the better­ team won but not without a fight from a well organised­ and undisciplined stoke side,and cant wait for bentley­ and defoe to return and huddlestone in the centre and­ then youl see a great spurs side.and add to that­ pavlyunchenko and we should qualify for the champions­ league,and we will have to buy big in the summer if we­ do.COME ON YOU SPURS!!!!!!!!!!!WELL DONE HARRY FOR­ BRINGING GUIDJOHNSON TO THE LANE,GRT MOVE.

    From Darren, on Sun 21 Mar 8:52
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    hey whatever you say about stokes tactics, if you can­ only just about beat us when we were down to ten men­ and we miss two massive sitters towards the end, i­ never saw spurs put together one decent move all the­ match except for their second goal.after matty scored­ from the spot the silence from the spurs fans was­ absolutely awesome until they got the winner.at the­ final whistle i thought they had won the league how­ they was all jumping over each other....

    From paul, on Sun 21 Mar 8:51

  20. STOKES THROWS MY BE LONG ......
    BUT CROUCH IS LONGER!

    From pop, on Sun 21 Mar 8:20
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