Tottenham Hotspur 1 Chelsea 2 - A belated report

Tottenham Hotspur (0) 1

 

Chelsea (0) 2

 

FA Cup quarter final.

19th March 2007

White Hart Lane

Attendance: 35, 519.

 

After the free flowing, error strewn first match of this tie the supporters inside White Hart Lane and those watching live on BBC 1 were presented with a spectacle more akin to a chess match. On a bitterly cold night in North London Jol and Mourinho placed their pieces on the green White Hart Lane board in an effort to outwit each other in the third meeting between the two teams this season.

 

Spurs had a slight edge going into the match. Having already beaten Chelsea earlier in the season at home 2-1, and having held the Champions to a 3-3 draw eight days earlier there was nothing for Tottenham to be afraid of. They had done it once they could do it again.

 

The atmosphere before the game suggested that the supporters knew this was going to be a tense and tight affair, and so it turned out to be. The first half was cagey to say the least. Neither keeper was unduly troubled during the opening 45 minutes. Ballack snapped one shot wide and another into the arms of Paul Robinson whilst at the other end a well timed Ashley Cole tackle prevented Dimitar Berbatov from taking adavantage. The ball was being pinged around at a fast and frenetic pace but with neither side making too many mistakes much to both sides credit. A Berbatov header went over the bar and at the other end Wright-Phillips lashed a shot over the bar. Getting a sighter perhaps. Space inside the penalty areas was at a premium with Rocha containing Drogba with ease and Shevchenko being forced out wide. At the other end Robbie Keane was having to come deep to see any of the ball and Berbatov was being marshalled very by Terry and Carvalho.

 

The second half started at the same pace as the first had ended only this time it was Tottenham on top. Lennon was strarting to come into the game more and Jenas was beginning to impose himself in the centre of the pitch. Just as it seemed Spurs would make the breakthrough Chelsea came up with a match winning piece of genius. With 54 minutes played Shevchenko cut in from the right hand side of the pitch and unleashed an arrow of a shot which found the back of Paul Robinson's net with unerring accuracy.

 

Tottenham attempted to rally and still looked in good touch when the second, and killer goal came just six minutes later. Drogba released Wright-Phillips on the left and the former Manchester City man delivered a dipping volley past Robinson. The Champions were ahead by two and surely there was no way back now for the Lilywhites. But fight on they did.

 

With Zokora and Jenas driving on the team from midfield Jol made the first of his changes by taking off Malbranque and bring on Defoe for some extra fire power up front. Chelsea began to squeeze the game by sitting back, protecting what they had, and breaking up any serious Spurs attack before the could develop.

 

Finally, in the 78th minute, some clever play on the edge of the Chelsea penalty area saw Berbatov break free. As he pulled back his foot to shoot his was hacked down by Carvalho and the referee awarded the penalty. Surprisingly, no card of any sort was issued to the Chelsea defender despite him being the last defender and clearly denying Berbatov a goal scoring opportunity. Despite some mind game tactics from the Chelsea players Keane cooly dispatched the penalty past Cech sending him the wrong way.

 

Rocha then left the field, substituted for Stalteri and Jol then sent up Michael Dawson to try and cause some panic in the Chelsea ranks with minutes ticking away. But try as they might it was not to be. On the final whistle the Chelsea players celebrated as if they had already won the famous old trophy, such was their relief at overcoming a tricky tie. For one Spurs 'supporter' it was all too much and he ran onto the field of play and attempted to punch Frank Lampard. The teams aim had been just off all night,and so was the 'supporters' as his wild swing missed a ducking Lampard and he was restrained. The Drogba and Cole decided that a kicking was in order for the supporter especially as he was being restrained by at least 3 stewards. Well done lads, very brave. The supporter has since been banned for life from White Hart Lane and will appear in court later this week. Sadly neither Cole nor Drogba will be banned from the ground.

 

All in all Spurs had done their supporters proud. They had battled for 180 minutes and given no quarter but in the end two pieces of sublime finishing has proven to be the difference. Martin Jol had proven that he could go toe to toe with one of the World's premier football coaches and give the Portugese coach an almighty scare. His tactics over the two matches were clever and intelligent. I'm not surprised that Jol and Mourinho get on so well. They are both like minded, clever football men. Hopefully Jol will be able to take his team into pushing Chelsea all the way in the league next year as well.

 

I for one was proud of my team and once again they and Jol have given us alot to look forward to. In one off matches at least Spurs have shown that they can stand tall with the best in the country. They just need to do it on a more regular basis. As supporters we still have the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup to look forward to when Martin and his team take on a very good Sevilla side in April and our quest to get to 6th place or higher in the Premiership remains on course. Our season still has so much to offer, and I think that's why Monday nights result did not disappoint me as much as I thought it would. I mean it's not like our seasons over. It could be worse. We could support Arsenal or Newcastle.

 

I'm going to enjoy the international break and will be back with renewed vigour for the Reading match at home on Sunday the 1st of April.