Tottenham 3-1 Portsmouth
Tottenham's late show ended Harry Redknapp's first game back at the helm for Portsmouth in anguish.
Egyptian striker Mido converted a harshly-awarded late penalty after referee Uriah Rennie gave handball against Gary O'Neil seven minutes from time, and substitute Jermain Defoe finished his own barren scoring run in the dying seconds.
Redknapp now knows the full extent of his task to steer Pompey, second from bottom, out of the Premiership relegation zone.
But he knows for sure he has players who will fight to the finish for him.
He picked nine survivors from his first reign, which ended a year ago, and somehow they survived a near non-stop grilling by Tottenham for more than 80 minutes.
But after shocking their hosts with a goal after four blanks in previous matches, Pompey were denied a famous victory in Harry's homecoming.
Redknapp, who lost 5-1 with Southampton at Tottenham in his first away match with them a year ago, looked the miracle worker as Lomana LuaLua's spectacular 24th-minute strike put Portsmouth ahead.
And such was the grit and determination of their defending that it was not until 12 minutes into the second half that Spurs skipper Ledley King headed an equaliser from Michael Carrick's corner.
It was largely a one-sided, ill-balanced game with Spurs making almost all the running, but long before the end they were tossing long balls into the penalty area aimed at Mido and were forced to bring on Defoe for Robbie Keane in the last 20 minutes, hoping the England striker would end his goal drought which had lasted since September.
When Andy Reid also came on as a substitute for another one, Wayne Routledge, his first touch was a free-kick which seemed to strike O'Neil on the hand, but Rennie felt the contact was deliberate and pointed to the spot and Mido drove home.
Defoe celebrated his first goal in three months right at the end but the end result was flattering to Spurs, who lacked creativity against a side imbued most with effort and spirit.
LuaLua's finish was stunning, but England number one Paul Robinson should have saved it. And what surprised most was that fourth-placed Tottenham were not well in control by that 24th minute. He made amends with a marvellous save from Matt Taylor at 1-1 in the second half.
Spurs should have been ahead in three minutes but Keane's effort was tame and straight at goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown after the Portsmouth defence virtually ushered the Irishman, still preferred to Defoe, through a malfunctioning offside trap.
It became a siege as Pompey, just two previous wins all season, employed only the willing Vincent Pericard, back early from loan at Sheffield United, as a designated striker and dropped back in numbers to guard the edge of their own penalty area.
There was no stopping a lovely run by Edgar Davids in the 11th minute, though. The Dutchman tricked his way past two opponents to feed Mido, whose shot was well held by Ashdown.
Portsmouth's luck was in again when Davids won the ball and set up Keane, whose shot was too near the goalkeeper to cause real anxiety six minutes later.
Little was seen of Pompey as an attacking force in the first 24 minutes but their defenders and midfielders tackled like demons.
Amazingly they went in front with a spectacular strike by LuaLua, who drilled in a shot from O'Neil's crossfield pass from 25 yards. It flew past Robinson in the 24th minute and the DR Congo star did his trademark treble flip to celebrate this most unpredictable turn of events.
It should have been 2-0 a few minutes later but Pericard fatally delayed his shot and was crowded out as he penetrated the penalty area.
Spurs took a deep breath and tried to hit back but Keane's header was way off target after he lost his marker and Mido poked just wide in a scramble before the half-time whistle, following two half-hearted penalty claims when the Egyptian went down under challenge by first Linvoy Primus and then Dejan Stefanovic.
Few thought they would have had to wait until so late after King's unstoppable equaliser to close out the game, but there was certainly a touch of fortune about the decisive penalty.
Harry Redknapp's second coming at Portsmouth ended in a furious first night after he rapped referee Uriah Rennie for the penalty award which enabled Tottenham to take the lead against his relegation fighters seven minutes from time.
Pompey opened the scoring through Lomana LuaLua's spectacular 24th-minute strike and though Ledley King equalised (57) were on course for a point until Andy Reid's free-kick struck Gary O'Neil in Pompey's defensive wall, and Rennie awarded a spot-kick for handball.
'(Rennie) has made three wrong decisions and it has cost us a point,' fumed Redknapp after the 3-1 defeat at White Hart Lane.
'First he has given a free-kick against us down at our own end which was not a foul and then a soft free-kick when Jermain Defoe went down. And when the free-kick hit Gary O'Neil on the arm he has pointed for a penalty, even though he swears he never raised his arm.'
Redknapp lost his temper over the side's late collapse.
Defoe came on as a substitute to end his own goal drought in the closing seconds with a first strike since September 26 after dominant Spurs had taken until 11 minutes into the second half to level LuaLua's special through skipper King.
Egyptian striker Mido notched his sixth goal from the spot - following Robbie Keane's miss against Sunderland - and Spurs put daylight between themselves and Bolton in fourth place in the Premiership.
But while Pompey stayed second bottom, Redknapp said he was delighted with the spirit and work-rate his team showed.
'We have been robbed of a point tonight but if they keep playing like that, for me we will have a chance to stay up. It is hard isn't it? I've inherited a team that is in relegation trouble and I've only promised to do my best to keep us up.
'They were fantastic. They worked their socks off. We had a chance to go 2-1 up when the Spurs `keeper (Paul Robinson) made a world-class save from Matt Taylor and Lomana LuaLua accidentally kicked one off their line from Dejan Stefanovic's header.
'But I thought Spurs had run out of ideas before they got the penalty.'
Martin Jol, the Tottenham head coach, said however: 'I think it would have been harsh had (Rennie) not given the penalty. The ball hit him on the arm but there were two previous incidents when I thought we should have had penalties.
'And I thought the team showed a lot of character to come from behind and win for a second week running. We deserved to win the game and I'm not surprised with where we are in the table.
'I don't know if we can go any higher. Chelsea are one on their own and Liverpool don't concede goals any more. There are good sides around like Arsenal and a few others to contend with.'
But Jol was happy to see Defoe back on the goal standard.
He said: 'He showed he wants to be back scoring and he just managed to squeeze one in right at the end.'
Reid, whose free-kick led to the penalty controversy, had replaced winger Wayne Routledge, who had himself earlier taken over from injured Teemu Tainio after sustaining a stress fracture of a foot in the first game of the campaign - at Pompey.
'It was just lucky that I chose the right sub,' said Jol.
'Wayne was getting nowhere against their big defenders but at least he showed he was fit and ready to play.'
Egyptian striker Mido converted a harshly-awarded late penalty after referee Uriah Rennie gave handball against Gary O'Neil seven minutes from time, and substitute Jermain Defoe finished his own barren scoring run in the dying seconds.
Redknapp now knows the full extent of his task to steer Pompey, second from bottom, out of the Premiership relegation zone.
But he knows for sure he has players who will fight to the finish for him.
He picked nine survivors from his first reign, which ended a year ago, and somehow they survived a near non-stop grilling by Tottenham for more than 80 minutes.
But after shocking their hosts with a goal after four blanks in previous matches, Pompey were denied a famous victory in Harry's homecoming.
Redknapp, who lost 5-1 with Southampton at Tottenham in his first away match with them a year ago, looked the miracle worker as Lomana LuaLua's spectacular 24th-minute strike put Portsmouth ahead.
And such was the grit and determination of their defending that it was not until 12 minutes into the second half that Spurs skipper Ledley King headed an equaliser from Michael Carrick's corner.
It was largely a one-sided, ill-balanced game with Spurs making almost all the running, but long before the end they were tossing long balls into the penalty area aimed at Mido and were forced to bring on Defoe for Robbie Keane in the last 20 minutes, hoping the England striker would end his goal drought which had lasted since September.
When Andy Reid also came on as a substitute for another one, Wayne Routledge, his first touch was a free-kick which seemed to strike O'Neil on the hand, but Rennie felt the contact was deliberate and pointed to the spot and Mido drove home.
Defoe celebrated his first goal in three months right at the end but the end result was flattering to Spurs, who lacked creativity against a side imbued most with effort and spirit.
LuaLua's finish was stunning, but England number one Paul Robinson should have saved it. And what surprised most was that fourth-placed Tottenham were not well in control by that 24th minute. He made amends with a marvellous save from Matt Taylor at 1-1 in the second half.
Spurs should have been ahead in three minutes but Keane's effort was tame and straight at goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown after the Portsmouth defence virtually ushered the Irishman, still preferred to Defoe, through a malfunctioning offside trap.
It became a siege as Pompey, just two previous wins all season, employed only the willing Vincent Pericard, back early from loan at Sheffield United, as a designated striker and dropped back in numbers to guard the edge of their own penalty area.
There was no stopping a lovely run by Edgar Davids in the 11th minute, though. The Dutchman tricked his way past two opponents to feed Mido, whose shot was well held by Ashdown.
Portsmouth's luck was in again when Davids won the ball and set up Keane, whose shot was too near the goalkeeper to cause real anxiety six minutes later.
Little was seen of Pompey as an attacking force in the first 24 minutes but their defenders and midfielders tackled like demons.
Amazingly they went in front with a spectacular strike by LuaLua, who drilled in a shot from O'Neil's crossfield pass from 25 yards. It flew past Robinson in the 24th minute and the DR Congo star did his trademark treble flip to celebrate this most unpredictable turn of events.
It should have been 2-0 a few minutes later but Pericard fatally delayed his shot and was crowded out as he penetrated the penalty area.
Spurs took a deep breath and tried to hit back but Keane's header was way off target after he lost his marker and Mido poked just wide in a scramble before the half-time whistle, following two half-hearted penalty claims when the Egyptian went down under challenge by first Linvoy Primus and then Dejan Stefanovic.
Few thought they would have had to wait until so late after King's unstoppable equaliser to close out the game, but there was certainly a touch of fortune about the decisive penalty.
Harry Redknapp's second coming at Portsmouth ended in a furious first night after he rapped referee Uriah Rennie for the penalty award which enabled Tottenham to take the lead against his relegation fighters seven minutes from time.
Pompey opened the scoring through Lomana LuaLua's spectacular 24th-minute strike and though Ledley King equalised (57) were on course for a point until Andy Reid's free-kick struck Gary O'Neil in Pompey's defensive wall, and Rennie awarded a spot-kick for handball.
'(Rennie) has made three wrong decisions and it has cost us a point,' fumed Redknapp after the 3-1 defeat at White Hart Lane.
'First he has given a free-kick against us down at our own end which was not a foul and then a soft free-kick when Jermain Defoe went down. And when the free-kick hit Gary O'Neil on the arm he has pointed for a penalty, even though he swears he never raised his arm.'
Redknapp lost his temper over the side's late collapse.
Defoe came on as a substitute to end his own goal drought in the closing seconds with a first strike since September 26 after dominant Spurs had taken until 11 minutes into the second half to level LuaLua's special through skipper King.
Egyptian striker Mido notched his sixth goal from the spot - following Robbie Keane's miss against Sunderland - and Spurs put daylight between themselves and Bolton in fourth place in the Premiership.
But while Pompey stayed second bottom, Redknapp said he was delighted with the spirit and work-rate his team showed.
'We have been robbed of a point tonight but if they keep playing like that, for me we will have a chance to stay up. It is hard isn't it? I've inherited a team that is in relegation trouble and I've only promised to do my best to keep us up.
'They were fantastic. They worked their socks off. We had a chance to go 2-1 up when the Spurs `keeper (Paul Robinson) made a world-class save from Matt Taylor and Lomana LuaLua accidentally kicked one off their line from Dejan Stefanovic's header.
'But I thought Spurs had run out of ideas before they got the penalty.'
Martin Jol, the Tottenham head coach, said however: 'I think it would have been harsh had (Rennie) not given the penalty. The ball hit him on the arm but there were two previous incidents when I thought we should have had penalties.
'And I thought the team showed a lot of character to come from behind and win for a second week running. We deserved to win the game and I'm not surprised with where we are in the table.
'I don't know if we can go any higher. Chelsea are one on their own and Liverpool don't concede goals any more. There are good sides around like Arsenal and a few others to contend with.'
But Jol was happy to see Defoe back on the goal standard.
He said: 'He showed he wants to be back scoring and he just managed to squeeze one in right at the end.'
Reid, whose free-kick led to the penalty controversy, had replaced winger Wayne Routledge, who had himself earlier taken over from injured Teemu Tainio after sustaining a stress fracture of a foot in the first game of the campaign - at Pompey.
'It was just lucky that I chose the right sub,' said Jol.
'Wayne was getting nowhere against their big defenders but at least he showed he was fit and ready to play.'
posted by dgarden at 8:55 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home