Scorers:-
Crouch, 27
Kranjcar, 41

Attendance:- 35,870

Referee:- Mr. K. Friend
Assistants:- Mr. N. Bannister & Mr. R. Lewis
Fourth Official:- Mr. G. Horwood

Teams:-
Spurs (4-4-2):- Gomes; K. Walker, Dawson (Capt.) (sub Kaboul, 62), Bassong, Bale; Bentley, Huddlestone, Modric, Kranjcar (sub Ekotto, 66); Gudjohnsen (sub Pavlyuchenko, 79), Crouch (Armband to Huddlestone)
Subs not used:- Alnwick; Palacios, Rose, Livermore

No Bookings

Portsmouth (4-5-1):- James (sub Ashdown, 89); Mullins, Mokoena, Hreidarsson (sub Webber, 51), Finnan; Brown, Borre, Basinas (sub Owuse-Abeyie, 84), Hughes, Piquionne; Kanu

Subs not used:- Ward, Sowah, Ritchie

Booked:- Hughes (foul on Modric)

A walk in the park (or down The Lane)

Playing Portsmouth is quite a surreal experience in their present circumstances, and yesterday was no exception. I wouldn’t quite argue that it was easy for Spurs, as the men representing the south coast team did their best, were given some space and had a few chances. However, at the end of the day, manager Harry Redknapp negotiated the match without picking at the bare bones of his former team in a cruel fashion, and in the process preserved Wilson Palacios for another, more testing day. He is getting ever closer to safely passing that bookings amnesty deadline!

Harry also made several changes, forced and unforced, with Kyle Walker making his debut at right back and Ekotto starting on the bench. This gave David Bentley a start on the right wing, with Tom Huddlestone returning in the middle alongside Modric and Niko Kranjcar on the left. Roman Pavlyuchenko also had to sit out most of the game with Gudjohnsen and Crouch the chosen strike partnership.

As for Portsmouth, they really were down the bare bones, with only 6 substitutes named, and several players being required to play out of position, such as Mullins at right back, and Mokoena at centre back. With Spurs loanee Jamie O’Hara unavailable for selection, 22 year old Belgian loanee Anthony Vanden Borre made his ninth league start of the season, playing a central midfield role, and making a few decent moves forward and decent passes as well. Kanu was the lone striker, supported by Piquionne playing from a left of midfield position.

Kyle Walker made an impressive debut in my view. He is fast and is a tight marker, also keeping tight in the tackle. He made one or two stray passes, but as the game progressed looked more and more confident, often over-lapping the slower Bentley down the right flank.

There was little action of note n the first 13 minutes, but we were seeing more attacks from Bale in the left back position, than Bentley on the right side of midfield. Bale consistently played all the way down the line and to the opposition bye-line, giving Mullins and Mokoena plenty to think about. Apart from an early header over the bar by Gudjohnsen, Spurs were not pressuring James, despite dominating possession, and making plenty of crosses. On the other hand, Spurs were allowing the Portsmouth midfield a bit too much room to manoeuvre and to try and create their own opportunities.

Crouch had a header from a Bentley cross after 16 minutes, but it was way outside the target. A minute later Borre forged an opening after a one-two pass with Piquionne, before hitting a shot from the left of the area, which Gomes saved to his left. Bale had a shot from outside the area after a chipped corner from Bentley corner, and this shot was deflected for another corner. After 23 minutes, Bentley sent Walker on a run to the line, and his cross was deflected by a defensive header, which James saved well. Spurs took the lead in the 27th minute, and it came from Bale’s cross to the near post, where Peter Crouch headed in past James’ right hand.

Spurs had chances to increase their lead, such as Dawson’s near post header from another Bentley cross, but the chance was it wide. After 35 minutes, a Bentley corner went to Huddlestone, whose shot beat James, but rebounded off the bar. Then a Crouch shot from an angle on the right also hit some woodwork, and finally Crouch’s overhead kick was held by David James. It therefore came as no surprise when the lead was increased in the 41st minute. Walker got to the line again, and pulled the ball back for Luka Modric, whose half-hit shot was poorly defended, allowing Niko Kranjcar to score against his old team with a flicked shot. Kranjcar acted with restraint in his celebration.

Michael Brown might have scored against his old team at the other end after a cross from the right, but Gomes made the save. Finally Bale crossed again to the near post, where James saved from Crouch.

Early in the second half Hermann Hreidarsson suffered a severe blow to his hopes of playing again this season, as he collapsed in pain with a snapped Achilles tendon. Understandably, Hreidarsson smacked the ground, partly in pain, but also in the knowledge he would be missing his chance of playing at Wembley in two weeks’ time. The defender received generous applause from all sections of the ground, as he was stretchered off. Avram Grant brought on Danny Webber, who supported Kanu from the right flan, and re-adjusted his defence, with Borre moving to right back and Finnan moving inside.

Spurs did not go overboard in their endeavours for the rest of the game, and in fact Portsmouth had two good chances at least. Modric fired a ball to Bentley, whose cross was just ahead of Gudjohnsen, and another cross from Modric just failed to find Spurs feet. Gomes had to scramble to reach a shot by Kanu, and the keeper held the ball at the second attempt. Michael Brown had a golden opportunity in the clear, but put his chance wide.

Michael Dawson went off on the hour, hopefully as a precaution, and was replaced by Younes Kaboul, with Huddlestone being awarded the skipper’s armband. Another Bentley and Walker combination gave Crouch a chance, but he fired high and wide. Now Kranjcar went off in favour of Ekotto, and Bale moved forward, although he seemed to have been playing that position for the whole game anyway! Kaboul made a great saving tackle on Michael Brown, conceding a corner when Brown was advancing on goal.

Spurs started to lose their concentration at times, with Kanu making a mess of a clear chance after a mix up between Walker and Kaboul over a back pass. Kanu’s shot was very poor, and brought hoots of derision for the former gooner from the Spurs fans in the Park Lane stand. Pavlyuchenko got a late appearance in place of Gudjohnsen and was received with great cheers of course. Bassong had a good header well saved by James with a dive to his left after another Bentley corner. Pavlyuchenko had a shot from an Ekotto cross, which was just deflected out for a corner.

Portsmouth’s woes were complete late in the game, when James was hobbling, and Webber was down receiving treatment. Webber had to go off, and James was replaced by Ashdown, using the last substitution and leaving the visitors with ten men.

There was 8 minutes of added time, during which Bale tried an exchange with Pavlyuchenko but was offside for the return pass, and after Bale was fouled on another forward run, the ball reached crouch anyway, who shot wide across the area.

So, it was a low key game, with a good result for Spurs, who have three more points than they had at the same stage of the 2005-06 season, when they narrowly missed out on the Champions League. We’ve got some tough games on the agenda of course, and just need to keep winning!

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