Tottenham 0 - 0 Manchester United

December 14, 2008

This was truly a game that mattered to both teams for completely different reasons. Manchester United needed to win to close the gap on tile rivals Liverpool, where as Spurs need points desperately to distance themselves from the relegation zone. Manchester United were without the services of Patrice Evra and Wayne Rooney through suspension, where Spurs were missing Ledley King to his troublesome long term knee injury, Giovanni Dos Santos to an ankle injury and Alan Hutton to s stress fracture of the foot.

The game kicked off with sheets of rain blanketing the pitch at White Hart Lane and continued to do so for the duration of the match. Manchester United started brightly and for the first 5 minutes of the match robbed Spurs of any possession whilst moving the ball brilliantly across the pitch and a good tempo. However it was Spurs who created the first real chance of the game in the 10th minute with a looping David Bentley shot from long range having to be saved at a stretch by Van Der Sar diving to his left.

The next action for Spurs unfortunately saw another centre half injured. Jonathan Woodgate had to be helped from the pitch after landing uncomfortably after challenging a header. Spurs were forced into their first substitution just 11 minutes into the game with Huddlestone coming on and moving into the centre of midfield, Zokora moving to right back and Corluka moving into the centre of defense with Dawson. United must have considered this fortuitous with the man marking Christiano Ronaldo playing out of his preferred position.

For all United’s beautiful footballing interplay, the sad problem they endured was the lack of cutting edge. Rafael spent a lot of time coming forward from right back, but a lack of any real end product ensured this was wasted effort. The next real chance fell to Spurs in the 30th Minute with Aaron Lennon collected in ball in midfield and making a penetrating run through United final third to unleash a low drive to Van Der Sar’s near post forcing a save at full stretch. The ball was spilled to the on rushing Pavlyuchenko who had his follow up effort saved, despite being pulled up for offside.

Carlos Tevez then created a chance for himself by arrowing directly into the Spurs penalty area, beating two defenders on his way. The end product was not up to standard of the work he did to get there. Up the other end, Modric was able to get in front of Ferdinand after a Didier Zokora cross and sent a diving header just wide.

Christiano Ronaldo and Tevez then combined in the Spurs penalty box with some slick one two passing for Ronaldo to cut the ball back into the path of the gaunt looking Dimitar Berbatov. Gomes though in the Spurs goal reacted quickly to the situation and cut the ball of before it could find its target. That surely would have ended up in the back of the net if not for his intervention. It is worth mentioning that until this point Gomes was largely a spectator.

The last mentionable action from the half was Tom Huddlestone collecting the ball just outside United’s penalty area and thumping an out swinging short towards goal. Unfortunately for both Tom and Spurs, all he managed to collect was a Russian striker who was clearly worse for wear after not scrambling quickly enough to get out of the way.

The second half started with less precision from both sides but as time wore on, the tempo started to increase. United broke quickly in the 47th minute, Ronaldo looked to slot the ball to Berbatov, however his ball to Tevez was poor. David Bentley was wasteful for a free kick opportunity won by Aaron Lennon 35 yards out, with Van Der Sar collecting his over hit ball.

In the 54th minute Ji Sung Park delivers a corner which fell to Ronaldo near the penalty spot who promptly put the ball in the back of the net with a well stuck finish, only for it to be ruled hand ball despite his best protests. Replay’s clearly show the ball hitting his forearm, well done referee.

Huddlestone becomes the first player booked in the game after some niggling in the 56th minute, which according to Spurs is also a great time to sub Pavlyuchenko for Darren Bent. Not long after Rafael chopped down Lennon on one of his trademark mazy runs through United’s midfield to also earn himself a place in the referee’s book. Spurs then substitute Jermain Jenas in the 65th minute with calf trouble for Jamie O’Hara.

In an attempt to change the landscape by United, Sir Alex rolled out the grand old men of the United stable. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes made their appearances replacing Tevez and Fletcher. Giggs’s impact was instant with a pinpoint cross to Vidic in the spurs box led to a goal ward bound header that Gomes had to hold.

United had really started to pile on the pressure by this point, forcing corner after corner. It was looking like only a matter of time before United found the back of the net legitimately. The tempo had gone up another level again.

Ronaldo was clearly feeling frustrated and in the 80th minute on the wrong end of a robust challenge from Michael Dawson, clearly kicked out at the defender after the fact. Reluctantly the two players shook hands on it and the game continued.

The last few minutes of the game were frantic with Modric breaking in the united half to unleash a shot from the edge of the box which took a threatening deflection just clearing the bar. Michael Dawson then conceded a free kick out 35 yards with who else but that man Ronaldo to step up and take it, fortunately for Spurs his shot deflected behind for a corner.

In a final moment of madness, Corluka conceded a free kick only 22 yards out from his own goal. 4 weeks ago, many spurs fans would have considered this a disaster of the highest order with a keeper low on confidence, however Gomes was equal to the task of saving both the ball and a point from this game with a spectacular one handed save.

Despite the 0-0 score line, this match was highly entertaining. It keeps the Rednapp revolution on the roll with spurs now taking points off all the big 4 clubs so far this season. Sir Alex will feel his side was unlucky, but for all their beautiful build up, they required end product that they were not provided today by the likes of Berbatov and Tevez. I think I can still hear the booing ringing in my ears every time the Bulgarian touched the ball……
Spurs: Gomes; Corluka, Dawson, Woodgate, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Zokora, Jenas, Bentley; Modric; PavlyuchenkoSubs: Cesar, Bale, Huddlestone, Bent, Gunter, Boateng, O’Hara

United: Van der Sar; Rafael, Ferdinad, Vidic, O’Shea; Park, Fletcher, Carrick, Ronaldo; Berbatov, Tevez.

Subs: Kuszczak, Neville, Anderson, Giggs, Nani, Scholes, Evans.

Referee: Mike Dean

Cam Will

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