Spurs v Reading FA Cup 3rd Round

Match Report: Spurs 2 Reading 2 (FA Cup 3rd Round)

A Day of Dodgy Decisions

A game that Spurs should have won comfortably but through individual errors and a casual approach Spurs didn’t take the goal scoring opportunities their play created. Spurs started brightly and Keane missed an early chance but then the game became rather mundane and only after Reading’s goal did Spurs immediately come to life again for Berbatov to equalise.

The match was dominated by a number of dodgy decisions from all sides.

1.Pre-match we heard from Dave Kitson that the FA Cup game meant nothing to him and he was backed by his manager who put out a team including eight reserve and squad players. They gave Spurs plenty of room centre pitch but played two tight lines of four in front of the penalty area to deny Spurs’ strikers any space in that vital area. They then broke quickly to put Spurs’ suspect defence under pressure although they didn’t cause too many alarms.

2.A hush fell over the ground when the referee awarded Reading a free-kick in a dangerous position. Everyone held their breath as Hunt mis-directed it straight to Robinson – a sigh of relief but then mayhem as the goalkeeper stepped back into the goal and the assistant referee awarded the goal. I don’t know if the ball did cross the line but from the television coverage and photographs there’s been no conclusive evidence. Why did I mention Mr Clattenberg and the ‘Mendes goal’ on Friday?

3.Early in the second half having spurned a number of chances from Keane and Jenas, Berbatov scored from a penalty after Keane had been brought down. Juande Ramos then decided to take off Keane and put on Taarabt. Defoe would have been a better choice because although Spurs had plenty of pressure and Berbatov should have made it 3-1 the team lost its shape and their attacking play lacked a cutting edge as they failed to force home their initiative.

4.A mistake by Malbranque allowed Reading to counter attack quickly and although Robinson parried the initial shot, Hunt was on hand to equalise.

5.Huddlestone immediately replaced Malbranque and lasted only four minutes being sent off for lowering his head in the direction of the smaller Convey as the referee took advice from his assistant.

For the last ten minutes it was frantic as Spurs held on for the replay. Spurs were too casual, lacked that winning mentality which has been missing all season and you can’t take liberties with Premier League teams, they’ll make you pay and that’s exactly what Reading did. They frustrated Spurs and struck when they were provided with the opportunity.

It Just Wasn't to Be!

Defoe scored his 13th goal of the season in the 13th minute against Newcastle but it turned out unlucky in the end as Spurs lost 2-3

Well, it's a new day and looking back at yesterday's defeat to Newcastle, it's obvious that for Spurs it just wasn't going to be their day.



Shay Given saved enough shots in the opening quarter of an hour to have seen Spurs safely home and then having taken the lead, admittedly Defoe was offside - about the only slice of luck Spurs had all day, they immediately let Newcastle back into the game.



Even the equaliser had it's share of good fortune - the original header from the free-kick was going nowhere until it hit Siberski on the back of the head and fell kindly for Huntington to have another go and his shot across goal hit Robinson's foot to end up in the back of the net.



Malbranque missed an open goal from way out in the first and in the second half after going ahead Spurs had so much possession that Newcastle were chasing shadows but Spurs could not score thanks to Given, stout defending and their tendency to make one pass too many.



The equaliser was another once in a life-time 'screamer' - why are they always against Spurs?



Even when behind Spurs had a shot blocked on the line and Defore hit the post - by that time the realisation had dawned that this wasn't going to be Spurs' day.



Three points lost and slipping away from the top six - a UEFA Cup place is becoming more difficult to achieve with every dropped point and so there is added pressure for Cup success.



The 'Tottenham way' is about playing with style, regardless of the result, and certainly Spurs played some exciting passing football yesterday and some people are satisfied with that.

I'm still disappointed that they let the three points slip away when they were there for the taking. Newcastle who played their part in an exciting game were an injury hit team but they won't care that they spent most of the game chasing and harrying the Spurs players, allowing Spurs to play the 'attractive' football, because at the end of the ninety minutes they had the three points and are now only three points behind Spurs.



When will Spurs get three points from a performance similar to that of Newcastle?


When did they last get three points from a performance like that?



I can't answer either question - sadly Spurs' just don't seem to have the character to dig deep like that.

On This Day - 14th Janaury, 2007

Spurs Discover Another Way to Lose!!!

Spurs 2 Newcastle United 3 (Premiership)

Frustration, sheer frustration - that's the only way to describe my feelings following this afternoon's defeat at home to Newcastle.

Throughout the game - there was constant irritation - the stream for the game on the internet was constantly buffering, a few minutes or less and it was gone - it even contrived to ensure I missed Defoe's opening goal, created by Malbranque.

Then there was the commentators - going on and on endlessly about the long injury list that Newcastle had and the young team they had to put out - it was painful to listen to.

Then low and behold Spurs having dominated the first fifteen minutes until they scored, managed to concede a goal from a free kick two minutes later - the first time they had got near the Spurs goal. More frustration - another game without keeping a clean sheet.

There may have been frustration among the players at half-time but it was nothing compared to the way I was feeling. The second half improved and after some initial Newcastle pressure Spurs came to life and took the lead with a goal from Berbatov. Great - that helped my Fantasy football team.

For the next period Spurs controlled the game and the pressure mounted on Shay Given's goal but Spurs couldn't score. Then the whole day fell apart - two minutes and two goals - not for Spurs but Newcastle were ahead and no matter how much Spurs huffed and puffed the three points were on their way back to Tyneside.

I hate Sunday matches - I spend all weekend waiting for it and then when they lose my weekend is ruined and I'm still annoyed the next day when I go back to work - at least if they lose on Saturday I've got over it by Sunday.

And so Spurs have added another way to lose to their already lengthy list:

- dominate the game, take the lead twice and lose three goals on the counter attack.

This joins this season's favourite away ploy:

- try to contain for half an hour, then concede and give up, losing by three
(@ Liverpool & Arsenal)

or

- get caught cold and concede three early goals rendering the rest of the game meaningless (@ Newcastle past two seasons)

Last season's favourite was:

- concede an injury time goal

A previous favourite of Glenn Hoddle was:

- go three up by half-time only to lose 5-3 (v Manbchester United)

But then David Pleat had to better that:

- go three up by half-time but lose to ten-man Manchester City (FA Cup)

Under Martin Jol such results seemed to be a thing of the past but this year there has been a decline to the bad old ways of previous regimes - maybe we have got our Tottenham back!

I wonder what excitement next Wednesday holds for the faithful who make the trek to see the Cup replay at White Hart Lane against Cardiff City.