FA BARCLAYS PREMIERSHIP
SATURDAY 22ND OCTOBER, 2005
MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (1) TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 (1)
Man Utd scorer:-
Silvestre, 7
Spurs scorer:-
Jenas, 72
Attendance: - 67,856
Referee: - Uriah Rennie
Teams:-
Man Utd (4-4-2):- Van Der Sar; Bardsley (sub Rossi, 81), Ferdinand, Silvestre, O’Shea; Fletcher (sub Ronaldo, 74), Scholes (Capt.), Smith, Park; Rooney, Van Nistelrooy
Subs not used: - Howard; Miller, Pique
Booked: - Rooney, Bardsley
Spurs (4-4-2):- Robinson; Stalteri, Dawson, King (Capt.), Lee; Lennon (sub Keane, 64), Jenas, Carrick, Davids; Defoe (sub Mendes, 84), Mido
Subs not used: - Cerny; Naybet, Kelly
Booked: - Davids, Jenas, Stalteri
The draw was the least we deserved. A year ago today (October 23rd) the greatest man in Spurs’ history passed away, and he surely would have been as proud of this performance as any by a Spurs team. After all, even the great man himself lost 9 consecutive league games here when he was at the height of his powers in the 60s and early 70s. Bill’s spirit continues to shine upon us all, as his and our beloved Spurs continue to make progress that even the pundits (and no longer begrudgingly) happily endorse.
Having confirmed his arrival at Spurs last week, with match winning contributions, Jermaine Jenas trumped that contribution with a stunning free kick to level the scores in the 72nd minute. Jenas’s kick easily matched the best of any that a former Old Trafford legend – David Beckham – scored at the Stretford End.
Of course United were missing several big names, such as Heinze, Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs, but two, if not three of these are on the wane nowadays, and certainly Keane and Giggs were not automatic choices for Ferguson before their injuries this season. Whilst United’s squad might not be as strong as it once was, there are just the sort of occasions when it was surely envisaged that Alan Smith would carve a regular niche for himself Ji-Sung Park on the left made plenty of impact too, and Darren Fletcher is not exactly a rookie, is he?
Enough though about the hosts, who now have failed to win their last three Premiership games at Old Trafford, where they plan a further expansion to make room for another 7,500 next year.
Spurs fielded an unchanged starting line-up, which is unusual in itself, but maybe Martin Jol has found his best available 11, fitting his chosen strategy. That will have to change next week, sadly, as Edgar Davids got booked by Uriah Rennie, who had a phase during the second half of carding everything on sight, having been lenient for a long time. Davids will now miss next week’s crucial North London Derby, as it was his fifth booking. Martin Jol was critical of the referee, who had thanked Davids for not making a fuss of a foul by Smith minutes before carding Edgar for a similar challenge
United got off to the best possible start in the seventh minute. Dawson was adjudged to have fouled Rooney as he darted down the Spurs left. Replays show that Dawson in fact pulled out of his challenge and the contact upon Rooney was minimal at best. Scholes floated the free kick to the back of the area, Van Nistelrooy headed down and Paul Robinson made an uncharacteristic error as he fumbled what should have been an easy pick up, and Silvestre got ahead of Dawson to poke home from short range. The Spurs fans immediately hailed “England’s Number One” to pick up his spirits, and two minutes later, he was equal to a sterner test, when Smith had two great touches in the area, before unleashing a decent left foot shot that Robbo saved.
It took a while before Spurs broke out of their own half to any good effect, but it was Lee that made it into the box with a good run, after a 1-2 with Davids. Lee went flying after Bardsley’s challenge, but Rennie was having none of the Spurs penalty appeal. Clearly he did not feel that Lee was cheating, as there was no card, but the contact had been minimal. However, that had been enough to give Mr Rooney a free kick, hadn’t it?
After 19 minutes, Ledley King intercepted in his own half and sent a good long pass to Mido, whose shot definitely touched Ferdinand’s hand, thus taking the sting out of the effort, but in fairness it did look like ball to hand. United then had another good chance after Fletcher’s cross reached O’Shea, ahead of Lennon, at the back post. O’Shea really should have wrapped it up, but half hit the shot at Paul Robinson.
Much as some like to hate him, I feel that you have to admire Wayne Rooney. His performance was typified by a great run back into his own half to chase the breaking Lee, and to win the ball off the Spurs defender, just as he looked like piercing the remaining defenders. Rooney then raced into attack, and won a free kick after Stalteri’s challenge.
Jenas had been out-shining Carrick in midfield, I felt, making many good tackles, and one win in the middle led to a ball to Defoe, a cross over the defence and a poor first time attempt by Mido. Two minutes before the break, Spurs finally tested Van Der Sar, and won a corner. Again, Jenas led the move (started by Lee), chipping to Mido, who headed across for Defoe, whose shot from 20 yards was saved for a corner in front of a 3,000 strong Spurs section, who despite being a goal down, really felt that there was something in the game for their heroes.
And so it was to prove, as Spurs dominated the early possession, winning several corners, without getting too much in the way of direct chances. After 53 minutes, it was Rooney who nearly made the difference again for the home side. His skilful short back-heel to Van Nistelrooy exuded class, but so did Michael Dawson’s great goal-saving tackle just inside the area to take the ball off the Dutch striker’s feet! Lee went down in the Man Utd area yet again, but this was an even less convincing appeal, and now, as the midfield got more combative, Mr Rennie started dishing the cards out at will, as Rooney, Davids, Jenas and Stalteri were booked in quick succession. Rooney’s was possibly the most cynical of all the challenges as he stopped Aaron Lennon in his tracks.
Lennon was replaced by Keane, and with just under 20 minutes to go, Ferdinand was penalised for a foul on Defoe just outside the box. Defoe wanted to take the kick, but “Boss” Davids clearly indicated this was to be for Jenas (who had been practising for just this occasion). The intention was well disguised, and Van Der Sar was correctly positioned, with his wall supposedly protecting the left of his goal. Jenas stepped up and planted a superb 20 yard kick over the wall into the top left corner. Beckham would have been proud of it. Spurs certainly were as they celebrated ecstatically in front of the Man Utd dug-out.
Ronaldo replaced Fletcher, predictably to boos and certain chants related to this week’s allegation from some of the Spurs fans, but he couldn’t swing the game back United’s way. In fact Michael Carrick beat Van Der Sar with a “Ronaldhino” style free kick from the left that landed on top of the bar to go out of play. There was some pressure from United towards the end, but the Spurs defence held firm. Their best effort came from an on target Park shot, that Robbo saved with confidence, but Ronaldo did have a free header from a corner that he put wide.
Hero of last season’s game, Pedro Mendes got on for a short time, and received the “Mendes from the half way line” chants from the away fans, who were rewarded with a point that keeps Spurs above United, and only behind Charlton on goal difference. Martin Jol wisely under-states Spurs true potential, as he insists that if we can keep up our form, we can be a “Top Six Side” If we can win next Saturday’s test at home to Arsenal, then surely we must be regarded as genuine Champions League contenders?
As a post-script to this report, let me just mention that Steffen Freund was in the Spurs section with his son. I got the chance for a brief word at half-time, and shall report separately about that, with pictures.(Details here)
· Squad numbers,appearances,bookings & goalscorers
· Read the preview for this game.
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