STOKE CITY 2-1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
JUANDE RAMOS was left clinging his job after a hard working Stoke display saw them claim a vital second victory of the season at the Britannia Stadium and open a gap between themselves and their under performing opponents
Even at this stage of the season you get six-pointers and this was certainly one of them, a must win given our recent dry spell of points, despite the at times encouraging performances.
The Potters started the game much brighter than their beleaguered opponents, who were facing the prospect of their worst start to a season in their history as well as being left adrift at the bottom of the table were they to lose. Spurs were never allowed to settle with the likes of Seyi Olofinjana and Salif Diao snapping into tackles in the middle of the park, whilst Mama Sidibe was proving to be a nuisance up front winning everything (as ever) in the air.
This should have lead to the opening goal within the first ten minutes, when Stoke, a side which can only play football in the air if you listen to some parts of the media, produced a flowing counter attack on the left involving Dave Kitson and Rory Delap, with the later providing home debutant Tom Soares with a chance to instantly make a name for himself, however he shot tamely across Gomes who made a reasonably comfortable save low to his right.
Spurs finally worked themselves some space and almost punished Stoke for their earlier miss when Luka Modric slid in Darren Bent who may well have scored had it not been for a superb block by the recalled Ibrahima Sonko.
Despite the earlier miss, Soares was providing a welcome addition of pace and creativity to a side which particularly when without Ricardo Fuller had been lacking in this department somewhat in recent weeks, and so it proved when the former Crystal Palace man was involved in an incident which exploded the game into life. A long ball forward saw Sidibe flick on to Kitson who immediately tried to release Soares coming in from the right. Welsh defender Gareth Bale was the last defender and made a mess of trying to bring the ball under control, allowing Soares to gain half a yard on him and head for goal, only for the left back to haul him down in a last ditch attempt to make up for his error.
Referee Probert immediately pointed to the spot and produced a red card for Bale. It was down to Danny Higginbotham to give the Potters the lead from the penalty spot, and despite having to re-spot the ball four times due to the strong winds around the stadium, he held his nerve and drove the ball into the bottom corner to send the crowd into raptures.
If ever a team were there for the taking it was surely Tottenham at this point, rock bottom in terms of league position and confidence and now down to ten men in a crucial game, many may have expected them to roll over.
However, much to the home crowd’s annoyance Stoke reverted to their old tactic of sitting off their opponents when ahead and allowed Spurs to get themselves back in the game.
Right-back Alan Hutton was allowed to get forward unchallenged and let fly with a strike from the edge of the box which found its way to Bent, via a deflection, who re-adjusted himself to fire through Sorensen’s legs and bring Spurs level.
It was a goal Stoke had brought on themselves, and were almost punished again when Sorensen was forced into a good save down low to his right following a strike from Jermaine Jenas.
Despite the man advantage it was Stoke who were the happier to hear the half-time whistle. After re-grouping they came out fired up for the second half, and quickly regained the advantage when the impressive Soares found Sidibe wide on the right. The big Malian produced a cross of high quality which found its way to Delap at the far post to prod home and once again give the Potter the lead.
From then on there was only ever going to be one winner as Spurs struggled to get back into the game and the introduction of Ricardo Fuller from the bench for the ineffective Kitson, gave Stoke a new dimension to their game.
Stoke won a series of throw ins which Delap, in trademark style, launched into the box giving keeper Gomes , already struggling with injury, more problems as Stoke threatened to extend their lead.
Against the run of play Tottenham should have equalised when a slip by Sonko on the edge of the box provided Modric a free pop at goal, but the far from impressive Croatian international fired well over.
You could argue Spurs were fortunate not to be reduced to nine men moments later when Hutton challenged Sorensen and appeared to leave his foot in the challenge which left the Danish keeper with a nasty cut above his eye, forcing Stoke into a change with Steve Simonsen making his second successive appearance in the first team.
A long stoppage followed when Spurs defender Vedran Corluka suffered what looked like a nasty injured when he was knocked unconscious after being clattered by his own keeper. Thankfully Corluka regained consciousness whilst on the way to hospital.
The now desperate Spurs threw on Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko in an attempt to get back into the game and would have been encouraged by the forth official signalling for eleven minutes of stoppage time as a result of the injuries to Sorensen and Corluka.
Stoke’s defence looked comfortable with everything Tottenham threw at them, Andy Griffin controlled the threat of the dangerous Aaron Lennon whilst Abdoulaye Faye produced yet another faultless display in the heart of the defence.
Despite being ahead it was Stoke who were doing all the attacking and should have wrapped things up when Soares missed a further chance for a deserved goal when he blazed over when well placed in the box. Soares’ trickery had caused the Spurs defence problems all afternoon, and after nut megging Didier Zokora, Jonathan Woodgate bundled over the youngster to concede another penalty and give Ricardo Fuller the chance to finish Spurs off.
Incredibly Fuller’s penalty struck both posts before Delap crashed the rebound against the bar as Tottenham clung to a hope of salvaging something from the game.
Spurs’ afternoon went from bad to worse when substitute Michael Dawson saw red for a high challenge on Sidibe, before Fuller missed the chance to rub further salt into the wound when he smashed a shot against the bar following a mazy run through Tottenham’s depleted defence.
All in all a deserved win for Stoke, and a vital one not just in terms of the league position, but more so that the victory restores a sense of belief that the Potters can be competitive and pick up the points needed for survival. This was far from a perfect performance but its games like this that the result is so much more important.
Man of the Match – Tom Soares - Added a spark to Stoke’s play and deserved a goal for his efforts.
Attendance – 27,500
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