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At last, a dramatic last gasp goal went Tottenham's way for their second
win on the road in the North-West this season thanks to Jermaine Jenas.
The first half started with Spurs having to
defend a number of corners, which luckily were not too threatening.
What was threatening was the Everton tackling, with Anichebe going into
Uriah Rennie's book for a clattering of Gardner, while Phil "Pretty BOY"
Neville followed suit for going in late on Berbatov. From the
latter's free-kick, Chimbonda got around the back, but was too deep to
head goalwards and his header nestled in the side-netting.
Most of the shooting opportunities in the
first period seemed to be from distance, with Anichebe Fernandes and
Leon Osman firing wide at the Spurs end and Robbo making a low save to
another Osman effort, while Aaron Lennon hit Howard from 25 yards at the
other. It was Spurs who took a 35th minute lead when Teemu Tainio
won the ball in midfield, as it was hoped he would against the
hard-working Everton middle four. The ball was picked up by
Lennon, who attacked the line and pulled the ball back low to Dimitar
Berbatov, who struck the ball into the top right hand corner past Howard
for 1-0. It was a well-crafted goal and one which gave Spurs
confidence.
However, what didn't give Spurs
confidence was Rennie's reading of his linesman's flag. The
assistant ref was clearly signalling for a foul by Anichebe on Dawson,
but the referee gave the decision the other way and then booked the
Tottenham centre-half for the privilege. To add further insult to
injury, Arteta whipped in the dead ball from 20 yards out and his shot
was powerful enough to beat Robinson into the bottom corner of the goal.
Coming three minutes before the break it was a blow, but Tottenham had
played well in the first half and should have taken that forward
into the second half. However, bringing Naysmith on for Anichebe
freed Osman to push forward more and this gave Spurs problems. His
shooting brought a good stop from the Spurs keeper and then another flew
just wide, while Mikel Arteta twice tried his luck again from free-kicks
but got it too high and then too wide. That was something
Chimbonda did when he won another header in the Everton box from a
corner, but got underneath it to put it over the crossbar.
The game was opening up a little and
Spurs hit on the break with Berbatov bringing a save out of Tim Howard
before Osman once more had a chance, but put his header wide of the goal
from around the penalty spot. Malbranque was introduced to replace
the tiring Lennon and his astute play helped the side settle down and
start moving towards the opposition's goal. Berba hit a shot from
the edge of the box that went wide, then Robbie missed the target when
put in just six yards out. However, the missed chances were not
going to be rued tonight, as Steed passed through to Jenas, who showed
his scoring prowess with a curler from 20 yards past Howard and in for
the winner. Coming just after David Moyes had taken Manuel
Fernandes off and put on a defender in the shape of Hibbert, it sent the
crowd into a chorus of boos as the Spurs fans cheered the goal that came
late enough to prevent the Toffees getting anything back.
A good win and one which was most
unexpected, but hopefully, it will launch a good run-in to the end of
the season to push the team up towards the top six places in the league.
MEHSTG TOP MAN : - DIMITAR BERBATOV
BRUCE GROVE |
Everton
(Away)
