Tottenham drew Fulham 0-0 in their Boxing Day derby. While they were looking for all three points, everyone at Spurs was happy with sharing the points. After the match Harry Redknapp had to say, “We have defended well. The keeper has been excellent when called upon and everyone had worked well as a unit. Overall it was a good point.”
On Monday, they turned the draw around into three points when they met West Ham in another London derby. Luka Modirć made his first start since August after an injury and Ledley King returned from injury with a start as well. Modrić opened the scoring early on in the 10th minute, scoring his first goal of the season and setting the tone of the match.
From there on out, Spurs dominated the game. West Ham’s offence was relatively quiet except for a good start to the second half and a fast break in the end. In the 81st minute, Jermain Defoe sealed the game with his 14th goal of the season and Spurs’ second of the evening. The win put them back into the top 4, two points above City and Villa, who are even on points, and 1 point below Arsenal.
Happy manager Redknapp explained, “It was a game we dominated but we needed a second goal. We hit the inside of the post at 1-0 and had some great chances. No disrespect, but they (West Ham) hadn’t really created anything and you feel sooner or later that something could drop in the box, they could stick one away and suddenly it’s a different game. We played some great stuff in the second half, really opened them up and we eventually got that second goal…We played well and were always in control,” he finished.
Upon his return and goal, Luka Modirć said, “It was good to start the game and hopefully this sort of time will give me a chance to get back into the shape I was in at the start of the season. My goal and the win overall will help my confidence, so now I need to keep going and working hard.”
He continued, “Early goals are always important. We managed to get one and it helped us play with confidence, as well as making them more open when they had to come out and attack us. We needed to score a second goal and JD did a great job in getting it. That killed the game off and it was a great win for us. That’s three wins from four games now, and we haven’t conceded a goal in those four games either, which is very important. We just need to keep this form going. We’ve got to put what has been a great year behind us and hopefully make 2010 just as successful.”
Jill Guthrie
