Tottenham 3 - 2 Blackburn
Robbie Keane celebrated the end of a perfect week by firing a brace as Tottenham edged Blackburn in a pulsating Barclays Premiership encounter at White Hart Lane.
The 25-year-old marksman was unveiled as the new Republic of Ireland skipper in midweek and he followed the good news up by signing a new four-year contract with Spurs on Friday.
His first strike was a magnificent solo effort which he created out of nothing and finished with ruthless ease, while he displayed his predatory instincts for number two.
Controversy shrouded both goals with Blackburn claiming they should have had the throw-in which preceded the opener and replays suggested Keane handled the ball before hitting the second.
But given the week he was having, it came as little surprise when fortune favoured him, and his finishing justified his inclusion in the starting line-up ahead of Jermain Defoe.
Keane was deployed alongside Mido, who is hoping to agree a new contract himself at White Hart Lane with his spell on loan from Roma set to expire in the summer.
• 'We played them off the park'
The Egyptian striker did his cause no harm by scoring the 70th-minute winner in a result which strengthens Spurs' grip on fourth place in the Premiership.
Martin Jol's side had to battle hard for victory and defeat was tough on Blackburn, who arrived in north London on the back of four successive defeats but looked anything but a team having trouble on the road.
They controlled the match for long spells with strikes from Florent Sinama Pongolle and Craig Bellamy pegging back a 2-0 deficit, but Mido pounced to snatch the points.
A weak effort from Bellamy had been the only meaningful action from a dull opening but a piece of individual brilliance from Keane lit up the match in the ninth minute.
Keane, with limited space to work in, picked up a throw-in from Mido close to the byline and some sublime footwork swept him past Robbie Savage and Andy Todd and into a scoring position.
From six yards out he still had Brad Friedel to beat but he managed to stab his shot past the outstretched arms of the American.
Savage bundled out a dangerous cross from Mido after Michael Carrick had released the Egyptian hitman and Friedel nervously cleared again after 25 minutes.
Spurs doubled their lead with Keane this time showing his predatory instincts.
A handball by Emerton inches outside the area saw Mido step up and take a free-kick which he curled around the wall and towards the bottom right corner.
Friedel brilliantly saved the effort but the ball fell into the path of Keane who took one step forward before prodding home.
Blackburn reduced the deficit two minutes before half-time, however, when Bellamy finished a superb run - initiated by Emerton - with a perfect cross to Sinama Pongolle who was on target with his diving header.
Blackburn struck a deserved equaliser in the 68th minute when an attempted clearance by Ledley King fell to Sinama Pongolle, who squared the ball to the onrushing Bellamy and the Welshman finished clinically.
But there was a fresh twist just two minutes later when Spurs regained the lead, Lennon making ground down the right before slipping the ball through a static defence to Mido, who made no mistake.
Blackburn's determination to notch the equaliser meant they could never relax and Spurs fans were forced to endure a nail-biting finish before the final whistle sounded.
• Hughes 'devastated'
Blackburn boss Mark Hughes revealed his players were 'devastated' after refereeing blunders helped Tottenham to a 3-2 victory at White Hart Lane.
'We're scratching our heads and can't believe we've lost that game. We conceded two poor goals,' he said. 'We aren't happy with the assistant referee on the first one as we didn't get the decision on the throw-in.
'Mido touched it three times before the ball went out. I can understand if he touched it once and the referee missed it, but not three times.
'The second goal was an obvious handball and we were 2-0 down, which was frustrating because we were the better side even at that point.
'Once we'd got our noses back in the second half I thought we were magnificent. We were still on a high from getting the equaliser and they scored from what was their only chance of the second half.
'Their three goals were poor but I can't criticise our players in any respect as they were absolutely magnificent. We've come to play a side fourth in the league and played them off the park.
'They were fortunate to get the three points. I didn't see the Stalteri handball but I've heard it was a blatant handball.
'You'd hope the officials would get decisions like that. These decisions affected the result.
'It sums up our day as we haven't got any reward. The best team lost - we made a good team look very ordinary.
'The players are devastated because they've given everything in the second half. We put on a performance that a lot of people felt we weren't capable of.'
Tottenham boss Martin Jol agreed that Blackburn, who trail the north London club by one place and six points in the Premiership, deserved to win and revealed his admiration for the impact made by Bellamy.
'Blackburn are a marvellous team. They beat Manchester United twice and Arsenal once. We know they are a great team with great balance,' he said.
'But they still have 43 points and we have 49, so what can I say? I understand their disappointment.
'I could saw we were very lucky with the handball from Paul Stalteri. But it's always the same in football. Bellamy caught us at a bad moment just before half-time which is always a bad time to concede.
'Bellamy is one of the top three strikers in the country at running the channels. He's lively and a fantastic player.
'They took the game to us and played better than we did. But we have players like Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe and that's why we've been getting lots of points.'
The 25-year-old marksman was unveiled as the new Republic of Ireland skipper in midweek and he followed the good news up by signing a new four-year contract with Spurs on Friday.
His first strike was a magnificent solo effort which he created out of nothing and finished with ruthless ease, while he displayed his predatory instincts for number two.
Controversy shrouded both goals with Blackburn claiming they should have had the throw-in which preceded the opener and replays suggested Keane handled the ball before hitting the second.
But given the week he was having, it came as little surprise when fortune favoured him, and his finishing justified his inclusion in the starting line-up ahead of Jermain Defoe.
Keane was deployed alongside Mido, who is hoping to agree a new contract himself at White Hart Lane with his spell on loan from Roma set to expire in the summer.
• 'We played them off the park'
The Egyptian striker did his cause no harm by scoring the 70th-minute winner in a result which strengthens Spurs' grip on fourth place in the Premiership.
Martin Jol's side had to battle hard for victory and defeat was tough on Blackburn, who arrived in north London on the back of four successive defeats but looked anything but a team having trouble on the road.
They controlled the match for long spells with strikes from Florent Sinama Pongolle and Craig Bellamy pegging back a 2-0 deficit, but Mido pounced to snatch the points.
A weak effort from Bellamy had been the only meaningful action from a dull opening but a piece of individual brilliance from Keane lit up the match in the ninth minute.
Keane, with limited space to work in, picked up a throw-in from Mido close to the byline and some sublime footwork swept him past Robbie Savage and Andy Todd and into a scoring position.
From six yards out he still had Brad Friedel to beat but he managed to stab his shot past the outstretched arms of the American.
Savage bundled out a dangerous cross from Mido after Michael Carrick had released the Egyptian hitman and Friedel nervously cleared again after 25 minutes.
Spurs doubled their lead with Keane this time showing his predatory instincts.
A handball by Emerton inches outside the area saw Mido step up and take a free-kick which he curled around the wall and towards the bottom right corner.
Friedel brilliantly saved the effort but the ball fell into the path of Keane who took one step forward before prodding home.
Blackburn reduced the deficit two minutes before half-time, however, when Bellamy finished a superb run - initiated by Emerton - with a perfect cross to Sinama Pongolle who was on target with his diving header.
Blackburn struck a deserved equaliser in the 68th minute when an attempted clearance by Ledley King fell to Sinama Pongolle, who squared the ball to the onrushing Bellamy and the Welshman finished clinically.
But there was a fresh twist just two minutes later when Spurs regained the lead, Lennon making ground down the right before slipping the ball through a static defence to Mido, who made no mistake.
Blackburn's determination to notch the equaliser meant they could never relax and Spurs fans were forced to endure a nail-biting finish before the final whistle sounded.
• Hughes 'devastated'
Blackburn boss Mark Hughes revealed his players were 'devastated' after refereeing blunders helped Tottenham to a 3-2 victory at White Hart Lane.
'We're scratching our heads and can't believe we've lost that game. We conceded two poor goals,' he said. 'We aren't happy with the assistant referee on the first one as we didn't get the decision on the throw-in.
'Mido touched it three times before the ball went out. I can understand if he touched it once and the referee missed it, but not three times.
'The second goal was an obvious handball and we were 2-0 down, which was frustrating because we were the better side even at that point.
'Once we'd got our noses back in the second half I thought we were magnificent. We were still on a high from getting the equaliser and they scored from what was their only chance of the second half.
'Their three goals were poor but I can't criticise our players in any respect as they were absolutely magnificent. We've come to play a side fourth in the league and played them off the park.
'They were fortunate to get the three points. I didn't see the Stalteri handball but I've heard it was a blatant handball.
'You'd hope the officials would get decisions like that. These decisions affected the result.
'It sums up our day as we haven't got any reward. The best team lost - we made a good team look very ordinary.
'The players are devastated because they've given everything in the second half. We put on a performance that a lot of people felt we weren't capable of.'
Tottenham boss Martin Jol agreed that Blackburn, who trail the north London club by one place and six points in the Premiership, deserved to win and revealed his admiration for the impact made by Bellamy.
'Blackburn are a marvellous team. They beat Manchester United twice and Arsenal once. We know they are a great team with great balance,' he said.
'But they still have 43 points and we have 49, so what can I say? I understand their disappointment.
'I could saw we were very lucky with the handball from Paul Stalteri. But it's always the same in football. Bellamy caught us at a bad moment just before half-time which is always a bad time to concede.
'Bellamy is one of the top three strikers in the country at running the channels. He's lively and a fantastic player.
'They took the game to us and played better than we did. But we have players like Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe and that's why we've been getting lots of points.'
posted by dgarden at 8:34 am
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