Manchester City 3 Tottenham Hotspur 2

Spurs came back from conceding two goals in three minutes in the second half to draw level within six and in the second minute of added time were inches away from winning the game only for City to be awarded a match winning penalty with fifteen seconds remaining.  So nearly a great day for Spurs - a performance to be proud of but ultimately they are now eight points behind City in the title race.

City Make Spurs Pay the Penalty

Manchester City 3  Tottenham Hotspur 2

                           Scorers: Nasri, Lescott, Balotelli (p)            Defoe, Bale 

Team: Friedel; Walker, Kaboul, King, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon (Pienaar), Parker, Modric, Bale; Van der Vaart (Livermore), Defoe  Subs: (unused) Cudicini, Bassong, Dawson, Kranjcar, Pavlyuchenko

Jermain Defoe

With the match in added time my prediction that Spurs could win against Manchester City was within inches of becoming a reality only for Jermain Defoe to knock the ball wide of the far post as he stretched to reach a cross from Gareth Bale.  Then with fifteen seconds remaining Ledley King gave away Tottenham's first penalty of the season for City to win the game and increase their lead at the top of the Premier League.

Spurs had shown remarkable powers of recovery to come back from the shock of conceding two quick goals with half an hour remaining but had drawn level within six minutes and from then on looked comfortable and capable of taking all three points.

Spurs had started the game with King in central defence and Defoe replacing the ineligible Emmanuel Adebayor and throughout the first half contained City who were defending a 100% home record this season in the Premier League, having conceded only four goals.  The first half was fairly even with City quick to confront any Tottenham forward movement while Spurs tended to allow City to run with the ball before cutting out the danger as they closed in on the penalty area.  Brad Friedel was quick to come out to meet any dangerous through ball and in this game was taking more responsibility for meeting crosses and corners - punching them clear to relieve the danger.  City had spells of possession but Spurs stood up to the threat and with patience were dangerous through the pace of Bale, Aaron Lennon and Kyle Walker.  Defoe worked hard up front on his own but the team did miss the ability of Adebayor to compete for high balls and hold up possession until support arrived.

At the interval Spurs would have been the happier of the two teams although their attacking threat had been minimal but they had coped with any threat City had created.  The first fifteen minutes of the second progressed in a similar fashion but then the game came to life just before the hour.  On fifty six minutes City had possession just inside the Spurs half and this time were given too much time to pick out a pass as Silva found Nasri who had come in from the wing ahead of Walker to hammer a shot past Friedel.  

City suddenly came to life and three minutes later from a corner they reacted quicker to a ball that had been flicked on with Lescott being stronger than Scott Parker as he bundled the ball over the line.  Suddenly, memories of the game at White Hart Lane in August were resurfacing but a minute later Spurs were back in the game.

Younes Kaboul played a high ball forward out of defence and Savic misdirected his defensive header allowing Defoe to run on into the area and as Hart came out he played it past him to score from a tight angle. 

Spurs belief had been restored and they were level within five minutes as Lennon held up the ball on the left and played it across for Bale to strike a beautiful curved shot past Hart from twenty yards.  In five minutes Spurs had increased the number of goals City have conceded at home in ten games this season by 50%.  It was now time for City to have doubts.

The game continued from end to end but neither goalkeeper had a save to make and a draw looked the most likely outcome until those final agonising moments in added time. 

Spurs had been keeping possession well and in the second minute of added time hassled City into a mistake which allowed Bale to run at the defence with Defoe free to his right.  Bale put in a cross which beat the defender and goalkeeper but as Defoe stretched to reach it at the far post he could only knock it just outside the goal.  Spurs had missed a golden opportunity to take all three points. 

The match was drawing to a close but with fifteen seconds left City got the ball forward to Balotelli in the penalty area and as King challenged for the ball both players went down.  The referee could only award a penalty - the first Spurs have conceded this season.  Balotelli scored and City had the three points.

What an unfortunate way to lose - especially after being so close to winning.  What an unfortunate time to concede the first penalty of the season - especially for Ledley King who had played so well in his first game back after injury and brings such authority to the Spurs defence. 

A disappointing result but Spurs know that they can compete with the best and there will be many more good days through the rest of the season.                     

Senior Players Let Harry Down

Last night's defeat to PAOK Salonika in the Europa League has almost certainly brought to an end Tottenham's European campaign for another year.  Harry Redknapp fielded his most experienced side so far in the group stages so what went wrong that they couldn't overcome a team reduced to ten men from late in the first half?

Throughout the Europa League Harry Redknapp has successfully rotated his squad to ensure that the first team players were well rested for the next weekend's Premier League fixture.  The teams comprised of a mixture of squad players and youngsters and for the most part they have acquitted themselves well.  The younger players have shown considerable ability and have worked hard throughout the campaign.  Most importantly from the manager's perspective, the first team has maintained their form in the League matches and Spurs have climbed to third place.

Having lost in Russia Spurs slipped from the top of the group to third and so needed a result against PAOK at White Hart Lane to maintain their interest in the competition.  A win or a draw would suffice but a defeat would make things very precarious for the final match in Dublin.  Harry Redknapp duly sent out an experienced team with numerous internationals and only three younger players - Jake Livermore, Harry Kane and Danny Rose.  He even added additional strength to the side with the inclusion of first team regulars, Luka Modric, Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe.  As backup he named Gareth Bale and Kyle Walker among the substitutes - to be called upon in case of an emergency if the game wasn't going as planned.  The rest of the team consisted of another four internationals - Heureulho Gomes, Vedran Corluka, Sebastien Bassong and Steven Pienaar.

Observers were surprised at the strength of the side selected for the game as it was much stronger than any other sent out in the Europa League so far with the exception of the first match in Scotland against Hearts.  So what went wrong that the first sign of the need to call on the backup was as early as the fifteenth minute when Bale and Walker were sent out to do a 'warm up'?

Excuses can be made that some of the players were returning from injury and were not match sharp but as experienced players they should have been able to produce a better performance than was seen last night.  Spurs were two goals down within thirteen minutes and both goals were the result of theor own casual, sloppy play.  Whereas in the previous matches the younger players had worked hard and kept good possession of the ball through careful passing and movement, last night Tottenham's passing was going astray from the opening minutes which gifted PAOK the ball.  The visitors were well organised and were set up to be patient and wait their opportunity to step in and take the ball away from a Spurs player and they were presented with many opportunities to do that.

After five minutes William Gallas ventured into the PAOK half and was caught in possession, PAOK broke quickly before Spurs could recover and a simple cross was delicately headed past a flat-footed Gomes.  The PAOK forward was totally unmarked in the centre of the penalty between two defenders.  A bad start, self-inflicted, but there was plenty of time to recover.  Tottenham, however, continued in their ponderous ways and when PAOK put a ball behind Vedran Corluka after thirteen minutes, he was so slow that there was no way he was going to prevent a cross going into the area and so Spurs were two down.

Misplaced passes, even simple ones, over hit or misdirected, continued as the order of the day from Spurs while PAOK waited and took every opportunity to pick up a loose ball or catch someone in possession.  It was half an hour before Spurs gathered some momentum and that was inspired by the crowd's encouragement.  In this period they were helped back into the game by the referee who awarded them a harsh penalty and sent off the defender.  Modric scored and surely that would ignite the recovery especially against ten men.  PAOK got through to the interval comfortably and then in the second half set out their stall to defend.

For the whole of the second half Tottenham huffed and puffed but couldn't blow the PAOK defensive wall down.  Spurs had all the possession and it was wave after wave of attack but no end product in either chances or goals.  Bale and Walker eventually were brought on but it was too late - the momentum was with the visitors and while they defended heroically, they weren't really in very much danger of conceding a goal.  They stopped Spurs in front of the penalty area and if Tottenham did manage to break through that barrier there was usually so many men around them that it came to nothing.

Vedran Corluka expressed the view during the week that as he wasn't playing regular football he would have to consider leaving in January to protect his international place with the Euros coming up in the summer.  From last night's performance it was clear why Kyle Walker has replaced him in the team.  He has never been the quickest of foot but last night he was slow and ponderous in every aspect of his game and his passing was poor.  The purpose of including the squad players in these games is to enable them to show the manager that they deserve an opportunity in the Premier League team.  Last night Redknapp had it confirmed that he had made the right choice in selecting Walker.

William Gallas was at fault for the first goal and his partnership in central defence with Sebastien Bassong was non-existent.  They looked as if they'd never met before, never mind played together.  Bassong has been low on confidence for the past eighteen months and again last night his defending was lacking.  The weakness of last night's pairing in central defence once again proves the point that Tottenham's best central defensive partnership is Ledley King and one other, Dawson, Kaboul, Gallas or Bassong, such is the importance of King to Spurs.

Steven Pienaar who is also recovering from injury was also well short of the required standard - his passing was poor and he was regularly caught in possession with no idea of what he was going to do with the ball.  He has had a difficult time with injuries since joining Spurs last January and has played very few matches.  He worked so hard and effectively for Everton but it will be some time before he is pushing for inclusion in the first team going on last night's performance.

In some ways the sending off made it more difficult for Spurs as PAOK decided at half-time to defend and hold what they had.  They did this very successfully but Spurs had enough experience in the team and should have been able to turn the game around.  Spurs lost because of casual play and poor defending in the first half which gave the visitors the encouragement they needed to get a positive result and the mistakes, as in Russia, came from experienced players.  A team can only perform in  all competitions if the squad players do their part.  Harry Redknapp has never been overly enthusiastic about the Europa League or Cup competitions but on this occasion he was let down very badly by the more experienced squad players.

Tottenham 1 PAOK Salonika 2

Spurs' future in the Europa League is no longer in their hands.  Defeat at home to PAOK sees the Greek side qualified for the knock-out stages while Spurs must have a convincing win over Shamrock Rovers and rely on PAOK defeating Rubin Kazin.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 PAOK Salonika 2

Scorers: Modric (p)            Salpingidis, Athanasiadis

Team: Gomes; Corluka, Gallas, Bassong, Rose (Bale); Lennon, Livermore, Modric, Pienaar (Walker); Kane (Falque), Defoe.  Subs (unused): Cudicini, Fredericks, Townsend, Carroll.

Luka Modric - penalty

Tottenham fielded their strongest team yet for a Europa League group game with Aaron Lennon, Luka Modric and Jermain Defoe starting.  Danny Rose and Harry Kane were the only younger players selected with experienced squad players and those recovering from injury making the starting line-up - William Gallas, Sebastien Bassong, Vedran Corluka, Stephen Pienaar and Heurelho Gomes.

From the outset Spurs had the majority of possession but PAOK denied them time and were quick to step in and pick up a loose or misdirected pass.  Spurs were casual in their approach and paid for it after five minutes.  Gallas meandered into the visitors half and was caught in possession which gave PAOK the opportunity to break quickly on the left, from where a nice cross into the penalty area found Salpingidis unmarked and he carefully headed the ball past Gomes.

Tottenham didn't learn from their mistake and found it difficult to make progress into the visitors penalty area as they defended with patience and considerable ability.  On thirteen minutes they broke up a ponderous Spurs attack and with a lovely pass to the left found Corluka lacking in pace and a low cross was hit home by Athanasiadis.  The Tottenham defence was again caught flat footed with Gallas and Bassong looking as if they'd never played together.

PAOK contuinued with their patient defensive work and swift counter attacks which nearly brought further reward while Spurs had a lot of possession without ever threatening on goal.  Much of their passing was slow and frequently fell down through inaccuracy.  On the half hour Spurs gained some momentum, urged on by the crowd.  Harry Kane shot wide and Defoe had a shot saved by the goalkeeper.  Then from the corner Corluka's shot was blocked and fell to Kane whose shot was blocked on the line.  The referee awarded a penalty for handball and sent off the defender.  Modric sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to score and brought Spurs back into the match.

PAOK survived to the interval without much bother and then in the second half set out to defend and deny Spurs which they did heroically.  The whole of the second period saw Spurs attack and the visitors defend with nine men back.  Gareth Bale and Kyle Walker were introduced to add pace but no matter how hard they tried they couldn't break down the stubborn PAOK defence.  The nearest they came to a goal was when Defoe scored but amid confusion, it was disallowed for a foul on the defender who had been lying on the goal line for almost a minute.  In the lead up, Iago Falque had a shot blocked but Defoe had fouled the defender in trying to reach the loose ball.  However, play continued and when the ball came to Defoe he put it in the net.  No-one was sure what decision the referee had given but he had actually made the correct decision even if he'd come to it by an uncertain route.

For all their possession against ten men, Spurs couldn't create any real scoring chances and PAOK worked tirelessly to deny them.  During five minutes of added time the best Spurs could offer was a Bale free-kick which was saved easily by the goalkeeper and then PAOK celebrated as if they'd qualified for the knock-out stages, which, of course, they had.  For Spurs, they must rely on a PAOK home win against Rubin Kazan who are three points ahead of them.  Spurs will then need to win by five goals against Shamrock Rovers to have a better goal difference that the Russians.

The greatest disappointment about this defeat was that the most experienced team that Harry Redknapp has fielded in the group stage has given the poorest performance.  In the other matches, the younger players battled in difficult circumstances and showed a great determination throughout.  The experienced squad players were very ponderous and showed a lack of match sharpness - the passing was poor, there was little urgency to the game and they paid dearly for their early mistakes.  It looks as if Spurs will now be able to concentrate on the Premier League as their continued presence in the Europa League is looking distinctly unlikely.

Only a good result over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday will take away the disappointment of this match.

Spurs in History - 11th April

11th April, 1981

Spurs 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 (aet) F.A.Cup Semi-Final at Hillsborough.

Spurs were on their way to Wembley until the referee intervened and awarded Wolves a last minute penalty for a fair tackle by Glenn Hoddle on Hibbitt who fell to the ground. Wolves equalised and extra time remained goalless.

Spurs had scored through Steve Archibald after four minutes but Wolves equalised a minute later. Just before half-time, Hoddle gave Spurs the lead from a free kick, that could justifiably have been a penalty. Spurs defended resolutely until the referee played his part but then we would have missed the excitement of the replay at Highbury.