BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 16TH JANUARY, 2010
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0 (0) HULL CITY 0 (0)
Referee:- Mr. M. Atkinson
Assistants:- Mr. P. Kirkup & Mr. P. Sharp
Fourth Official:- Mr. M. Russell
Attendance:- 35, 729
Teams:-
Spurs (4-4-2):- Gomes; Corluka, Dawson, Bassong, Bale; Modric, Huddlestone, Palacios (sub Jenas, 55), Kranjcar; Keane (Capt.) (sub Crouch, 62), Defoe
(Armband to Dawson)
Subs not used:- Alnwick; Naughton; Bentley, Rose; Pavlyuchenko
Booked:- Palacios, Bassong, Huddlestone, Jenas
Hull (4-2-3-1):- Myhill; McShane, Zayatte, Gardner (Capt.), Dawson; Geovanni (sub Vennegor of Hesselink, 75), Boateng; Garcia (sub Mouyokolo, 83), Barmby (sub Kilbane, 65), Hunt; Fagan
Subs not used:- Duke; Mendy, Ghilas, Carney
Booked:- Barmby (Time wasting), Fagan
Spurs fail to conquer Myhill
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has already described this game as “one of those days”. It must be at least the fourth of such days when Spurs have failed to beat opposition that a side aspiring to the top four should manage. The home defeats to Stoke and Wolves come to mind, along with the draw at Goodison Park when a two goal lead was surrendered. Somehow, because Manchester City lost today at Goodison, Spurs are fourth, thanks to their superior goal difference attained on the back of the Wigan game and the 5-1 win at Hull, which makes today’s result all the more frustrating.
It is a fact that today Spurs came up against a goalkeeper for whom everything went right, and who just could or would not be beaten. Welsh International goalie Boaz Myhill did not have to over-stretch himself in my view, he just managed to position himself exactly right every time a Spurs player fired a shot at him. There were surely times when the home side could have aimed more intelligently.
One or two quirky statistics remain. Hull have yet to be defeated in a Premier League game at White Hart Lane, and still Gareth Bale has to start a Premier League game for Spurs, which we win. That is not to criticise Bale, who made a bright start, and who was one of the better players for Spurs, as he got stuck in and won some good challenges, sheltered the ball well from rare attacks, and took the ball forward repeatedly to good effect.
Spurs badly missed the speed of Aaron Lennon. In his absence, Redknapp is choosing Modric on the right and Kranjcar on the left. Kranjcar has enjoyed considerable success from the left flank, when covering Modric’s injury, but Niko can also play on the right and Modric tends to play more freely and incisively from the left side. With Huddlestone well below par, and somehow surviving the 90 minutes, Spurs seemed a little out of kilter, and not playing with their usual style and gusto.
Hull of course came with a game plan to get 10 men behind the ball as much as possible, hope to score on the break, and use up as much time as possible at every opportunity. Former Spur Nick Barmby was shown a yellow card for time-wasting within the first half-hour of the game, but the visitors still got away with a lot of delaying tactics, although there was a total of 10 minutes added time in the game. (4 minutes in the first half, and 6 minutes at the end of the 90 minutes)
Spurs had been making little headway in the early stages but after 9 minutes, and a decent bit of play, Modric laid the ball up for Kranjcar whose shot went well over the far corner of the goal in front of the Park Lane stand. Referee Martin Atkinson had words with McShane and Huddlestone after a spat following a 17th minute Hull corner. Spurs started getting a bit of joy down the right flank, thanks to Corluka and Modric’s efforts, but they were giving no final product.
Myhill made a double save after 37 minutes. Gareth Bale had done well to win and retrieve the ball in his own half, before leading the attack which ended with a cross by Corluka. Palacios hit a low shot that Myhill saved well, then the keeper saved Keane’s follow up effort. Bale got caught in a defenders’ sandwich just outside the area and Kranjcar took a curling free kick which was saved and cleared. Kranjcar had another shot on target following a Huddlestone ball. Again Myhill saved, as he did from Jermain Defoe’s added time effort.
Two minutes after the break Modric led a Spurs attack after being fed by Huddlestone. Defoe won a corner from which a Hull defender virtually cuddled the ball with his back to the referee in the area. No penalty was given. Myhill was the double saviour again after 53 minutes, when he stopped Modric’s rasping low drive. The ball fell for Keane who surely should have put it away, but somehow the ball was magnetically drawn to the keeper’s hands. By now Keane was getting stick from the crowd, and yet I have to say he had been contributing more to the game overall, than his strike partner. Ultimately Keane was replaced by Crouch, and Spurs did look more threatening with the combination of the tall and smaller striker, which only makes you wonder why Harry didn’t start with such a set-up.
Jenas replaced Palacios not long after Wilson took his fifth domestic booking of the season. Hull had a chance and I fell to Barmby after a woeful mistake from the Spurs left flank. Barmby received the ball from Hunt, but thankfully screwed his kick miles off target. Gomes was not bothered all day.
Crouch won a header from a 66th minute long ball and headed it down for Defoe who returned it. Crouch’s shot was hit into the ground and bounced over the bar out of harm’s way. At the other end, after Crouch lost the ball Garcia was away on a run, but he also fired the ball high and wide. Jenas put in a high ball, and Crouch won the header for Modric to take a shot, but that man Myhill was in the way again, and being cursed by more than one Spurs fan, including me! Myhill made an even better save – again from Modric 4 minutes later. With one minute of normal time left, Kranjcar put in a free kick, and Crouch got power onto his header, which did make Myhill stretch to his left to save again. During the 6 minutes of added time, Crouch was clearly pulled to the ground, but the referee was having none of it, and after one more Myhill save from Crouch, the Hull goal remained intact for a precious point for the team fighting relegation and an unsatisfactory point for Spurs.
However, that point was enough to put Spurs back in fourth place, and they could still get all three at Anfield on Wednesday night!
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