Spurs Pav-ing the Way to Europe
March 15, 2010
Despite a game of rather inconsistent refereeing, Spurs kept their cool at The Lane and fired home for a 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers. The visitors kicked off the match Saturday afternoon and early attempts from both sides promised a close game. Spurs were just off on several occasions, as Blackburn had the same kind of luck on their counter-attacks. Blackburn took a knock in the 24th minute as former Spurs keeper Paul Robinson limped off the pitch with what is believed to be a calf injury, receiving a warm reception from the home side.
Spurs bagged the first goal on the half-time mark off a corner taken by Kranjčar. A run and flick on from Ćorluka left Defoe unmarked at the back post and he took advantage of the situation. Spirit was high in North London as just 10 minutes into the second half Spurs cushioned their lead through Pavlyuchenko. The ball was collected at midfield as Modrić broke away and found Defoe who then gave Pav the scoring chance. A penalty appeal was merely waved away by Howard Webb for a goal kick to Blackburn after Bale was clearly taken down in the box.
Shortly after, with ten minutes to go, Blackburn found their feet as Samba beat Dawson in the air to head in a deep corner from Pedersen. Pavlyuchenko again cushioned the score to 3-1; after missing a perfect opportunity, the ball was recollected and a brilliant ball in from Bale across the face of goal ensured the win.
As Pavlyuchenko added to his tally of seven goals in five games, Defoe scored his seventeenth goal in PL this season. Spurs happily go home with three more points, and get ready to do the same at Stoke next weekend.
A delighted manager explained after the win, “It’s a great win for us. You get a feeling about games, and driving to the stadium this morning, I just felt it was going to be difficult day for us against Blackburn because they are so strong. We watched re-runs of their match against Liverpool and they gave them a lot of problems, so to pick up the three points was great for us.”
“I know their away form hasn’t been that good but they are strong on set-plays and we knew we would have to do well to defend against that. They started well as well and for the first 10, 15 minutes they were on the front foot. We got on top in the last 25 minutes of the half, really dominated and the goal (at the end of the half) was the icing on the cake. To come in 1-0 up was a real boost for us.”
“We felt that if we could get the ball down and play that we could cause them massive problems and it was a great result in the end. They are a good team and they will win plenty of games, so it’s a great three points for us,” he finished.
After a draw from Aston Villa-Stoke on the same day, and also a draw from Man City-Sunderland, Spurs wait for Liverpool to play Pompey on Monday. While Spurs lead on goal difference and by two points, City have a game in hand. Harry Redknapp seems to believe that City are the favorites to finish fourth, but there is definitely no reason why Spurs shouldn’t be able to. However, coming up, is a difficult string of games, with the likes of Man United, Chelsea, and Arsenal at the end of the season. And with eight games left in the season, they really have to keep a winning composure if they are to make it to the Champions League.
Jill Guthrie
Premiership Results Weekend 13th to 14th March
March 15, 2010
Saturday 13 March
Tottenham Hotspur 3 - 1 Blackburn Rovers
Birmingham City 2 - 2 Everton
Bolton Wanderers 4 - 0 Wigan Athletic
Burnley 1 - 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Chelsea 4 - 1 West Ham United
Stoke City 0 - 0 Aston Villa
Hull City 1 - 2 Arsenal
Sunday 14 March
Manchester United 3 - 0 Fulham
Sunderland 1 - 1 Manchester City
Wneger Commits Future To Arsenal
March 12, 2010
Arsene Wenger has ruled out a move to Real Madrid this summer by pledging his commitment to Arsenal.
Wenger has long been targeted by the Spanish giants and he’s now being linked again after Real’s early exit from the Champions League.
Current manager Manuel Pellegrini is under fire at the Bernabeu but Wenger has revealed he he’s not planning to leave Arsenal.
“I am always going to the end of my contract and I am going to 2011,” he said. “There is no way.”
Wenger joked that Real ought to “leave me alone” when the subject of him potentially being chased by the club was broached, and said that he preferred to focus on his next task when asked to give the details of Florentino Perez’s approach to him last summer.
“For me it is the worst moment to come back on that,” he said, with a smile. “At the moment I focus on Hull City. Maybe it’s less glamorous than Real Madrid but they are much more important in my life at the moment.”
Perez spent £240 million on new signings last summer, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, as he hoped to push the club to the Champions League final in May, which will be staged at the Bernabeu. But Wenger, once again, pointed out that a large transfer budget does not guarantee silverware.
“£240 million doesn’t buy you the Champions League necessarily,” he said. “If you can spend it every year, you will get there but it is the first year of Perez back and you have to give him time. He only has to invest again next year, so I think they will be a force again. But at the moment it’s difficult to take for them.
“In the last five years we have been in the Champions League final, the semi-final, two times the quarter-final. It is the consistency that is the most difficult to achieve at the top level because you have so many teams that want to be in there. When you just turn up regularly, in England, we don’t rate that any more because we are used to it. But it’s not easy.”
Palcios aiming for Madrid move
March 10, 2010
Tottenham midfielder Wilson Palacios has admitted that he is keen on a move to Real Madrid.
The 25-year-old joined Spurs in a £12million deal from Wigan last January and has become a key player at White Hart Lane.
He told The Sun: “I am really happy at Tottenham but I will continue working for a future move to a bigger club.
“I would like to play for Real Madrid.
“Today, many people respect me in England. That’s because of my hard-working attitude.”
Manchester United have previously been linked with a move for the Honduran midfielder.
Lampard saya Terry is tough enough to take it
March 9, 2010
Frank Lampard said the verbal abuse directed at John Terry by Stoke fans during Chelsea’s 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final win would make his club and England colleague all the stronger in a World Cup year.
Terry, 29, is still being taunted by opposition fans for his alleged affair with Vanessa Perroncel – the ex-girlfriend of his former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge.
The fall-out from the British press revelations led Fabio Capello to strip Terry of the England captaincy although the Italian manager stressed the centre-back remained part of his plans for this year’s World Cup in South Africa.
Sunday’s match at Stamford Bridge saw Terry respond to the jeers by setting up the opening goal for Lampard before scoring the second with a header that sent holders Chelsea on their way to an FA Cup semi-final against another Premier League side, Aston Villa, at Wembley next month.
“Sometimes the abuse oversteps the mark,” said Lampard. “Strong players react in positive ways and that’s what John did. These things happen but we’ll just move on. That’s a good answer to it really.”
Terry celebrated his goal by making it clear he was still Chelsea’s captain – Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti has, unlike compatriot Capello, no problems with the defender in a leadership role – and said after the match: “I was just giving the Stoke fans a bit of banter. That was all.
“They were giving me a bit of stick and I was just giving a bit back and that is what football is about. They are entitled to do what they do and so am I on the pitch as long as they take it in the right manner. I am sure they did.
“You just get on with it as a player. One way to get through it is to play well and to score was the icing on the cake.
“It has been a good week. It was good to get away with England, play 90 minutes (in the 3-1 friendly win over Egypt at Wembley) and then come back here and show the fans how disappointed we were by how we played in the 4-2 defeat by Manchester City last week.”
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