Well where do I start on a game that was billed to be a battle for one of the three UEFA Cup spots with plenty of goals??? To put it bluntly there was only 2, with one in either half. Tottenham set out with a bit of an un-balanced midfield and they didn’t look settled in the 1st half.
Rovers set out with 2 strikers but often had only Jason Roberts up front as Benni McCarthy was found playing deeper in the middle. This meant that Spurs were out numbered in midfield and struggeld to make any real use of the ball when in possesion.
Malbranque had come off with what looked like an ankle injury in the 28th minute and was replaced with Ghaly (there will be an article for the Egyptian coming shortly). This meant Spurs had a change in tactics and Lennon switched to the left while Gahly felt like playing wherever his legs would take him!!
Neither side really threatened the ‘Keepers until a deep cross from Pederson found Benni McCarthy near enough un-marked and planted his header to Robbo’s far post. This made the travelling support make a little bit of noise (it was quite hard to hear as there must of beeen only 300 of them) as I could see them dancing in the top tier.
The rest of the 1st half fizzed out with not a lot of action going on in either 18 yard box. Nayim was the highlight for everyone at the Lane to listen to, and he is still considered a bit of a cult-hero after a certain long range effort against a flapping Seaman in a european final in the mid 90’s.
The 2nd half started similar to the 1st with Blackburn playing 10 men behind the bal and trying to hit Sours with any break aways for Roberts or McCarthy to chase the ball down either flank. Spurs had no real penatration around the box and the final ball was really lacking on a wet night in North London. Lennon did have a few good runs, winning a couple of corners and beating his man on occasions but that was about it. Berbatov had a free kick from about 20 yards which Freidal had to have 2 attempts to catch properly. A few fans in the ground tried to convince the Ref it went over the line but I think we all knew it hadn’t really; and that was about it as far as excitement went, on a fairly dismal display up until that point. The crowd started to call fro Keane to come on and hopefully deliver that final ball or killer shot we were lacking. They got thier wish in the 60th minute. Everyones 2nd favourite Egyptian (after Mido of course) Ghaly was the man to be replaced. After playing little more than half hour over the course of both halves, lets just say he wasn’t happy about it.
Blackburn immediately had a chance to double their lead when Samba’s header from a Pederson free kick hit the bar at the Park Lane end. From there Spurs rallyed and realised it was do-or-die time as UEFA was concerned and put Rovers under pressure.
A couple of minutes later, the 3 strikers (who have now managed 61 goals between them this season) combined with Defoe getting on the end of a parried shot by Berba and finishing from a couple of yards out!! May I just add 2 goals in 97 mins for JD now…..thank you.
From there on Spurs tried and tried to grab a 2nd but it just wasn’t to be. Blackburn were getting a bit frustrated and when the ref decided to open his eyes would give us the occasional free kick. Jason Roberts in particular ended a bad night for Rovers by getting sent off after already being booked for a foul and then for what I presume was ‘not keeping his gob shut’. Keane had a great chance to win it in the 89th minute, Chimbonda slid the little Irishman in the box and his effort hit the post and rebounded into the big American goalkeepers hands. Keane did make a difference coming on as he opened up the Blackurn defence a lot more than any of our midfielders did in the previous hour, however I feel it was only fair for Jol to start Defoe after scoring his goal on Monday night. Berba had a free kick to steal it in the last minute but his effort sailed over the bar by a couple of yards.
Player Ratings
Robinson 7
Robbo didn’t have a lot do to be honest. Possibly could of sone better with the goal but otherwise did a decent job all round.
Chimbonda 6.5
At times looked good going forward and managed to keep Pederson fairly quiet for most of the game. The new hairstyle has dropped him half a mark. SORT IT OUT PASCAL!!!
Gardner 6.5
Had a steady game, didn’t really put a foot wrong but never really done too much exciting either.
Zokora 7
Had a pretty good game. Made some of his now trademark froward runs and as usual was always there to pick it up off the back four. Feel some of his work does go un-noticed by others though
Dawson 7
Kept Roberts fairly quiet, and frustrated him to the point where he was bickering away at the Ref constantly in the 2nd half. Made a brillaint tackle on Pederson mid-way through the 2nd half in the box.
King 8
Though Ledley had a brilliant game. Again we were never really troubled a lot. But made some crucial tackles early on and let the strikers know he was there!!
Lennon 7
Drifted in and out of the game like we often seen from the young Engaldn international this season. Seemed to play a bit better in the 2nd half once settled in on the Left wing.
Tainio 7.5
Was involved in a lot of things Spurs did either going forward or stopping them on the break. Solid display by the Finn.
Berbatov 7.5
What more can you say about him, got the touch of an angel!!! Had a quieter game than normal but was always a threat as Nelson and Samba were always within a a couple of yards of our new hero!
Defoe 7
Tried and tried and shut a lot of balls down being played out of thier defence. Typical poachers goal and unlucky on a few dodgy offside decisions.
Malbranque 6
Never really made an impact on the game. Subbed after 28 mins.
Ghaly 3
Will never wear the shirt again!!!
Keane 7.5
Gave the midfiled that missing link from them to attack. Played a pivotol role in creating the goal and was unlucky not to get on the score sheet himself.
Martin Jol has said after the game:
‘We would have preferred to win, but it wasn’t to be,’
‘It was deserved for them as well, they defended very well.
‘Maybe we could have nicked it because we wanted to win. I can live with it.
‘Now we have to have a result on Sunday.’
We should manage at least a point against a struggling City side, but stranger things have happened in football (3-0 up in a certain FA Cup game a couple of years ago. Against 10 men in the 2nd half and…..well the rest is history).
However i believe we will win and then we can all enjoy the transfer merry go round in the Summer!!!
COYS!!!