English Premier League – Half Time Report: Tottenham Hotspur versus Fulham
Both the English clubs got the match underway at the White Hart Lane stadium in London with great energy as Tottenham were the team who did the early pressing. In the 5th minute of the match, it was Aaron Lennon who burst into action as he was
played in by Luka Modric. However, the winger's cross was a wayward one as Fulham regained possession of the ball through a goal kick.
In the 10th minute of the match, Fulham put together a cracking offensive move of their own as they strung a few passes together in the middle of the park. It was Simon Davies who released his midfield partner Dickson Etuhu inside the Tottenham
penalty area but http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/William-Gallas-c36874 showed a great turn of pace to match the Fulham midfielder as the Frenchman cleared the ball away eventually.
Tottenham started with Gareth Bale on the left wing with Roman Pavlyuchenko and Rafael Van Der Vaart in attack. In midfield, Palacios played alongside Luka Modric whereas Gallas and Michael Dawson played in central defence for Harry Redknapp’s side.
For Fulham, it was Mark Schwarzer in goal whilst Andy Johnson and Clint Dempsey played as the front two men for Mark Hughes’ team. In midfield, Etuhu and Davies marshalled the midfield area alongside http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Danny-c10193 Murphy. In the 15th minute of the encounter,
it was Assou Ekotto who tried to play in Gareth Bale down the left hand side of Tottenham’s attack but the full back was unsuccessful in finding the Welsh youngster as the move broke down for the home side.
In the 16th minute, it was http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Luka-Modric-c22857 again who played in Lennon down the right hand side of the field. The winger found Alan Hutton as the right back had a shot on goal. However, the effort was well wide of the mark as Fulham regained possession.
In the 17th minute of the match, it was Gareth Bale who was fouled by John Pantsil, despite the fact that the followed was a particularly bad one, the referee let the ex-West Ham player off with just a warning.
In the 19th minute of the match, Etuhu broke through for Fulham in the midfield territory. The midfielder then played in Clint Dempsey, the U.S.A national unleashed a deadly shot which had Gomez scrambling inside the Tottenham goal. In the end,
the shot was well wide of the target but it was a warning call for Tottenham. In the 20th minute, Tottenham fired a long ball towards Pavlyuchenko, the Russian striker piled pressure on Aaron Hughes who gave Tottenham their first corner of the match.
The set piece was thus taken by Bale but it was easily defended by Fulham as they cleared the ball. However, the clearance fell to Modric near the half way line. He tried to find a penetrating pass towards Lennon who had temporarily switched wings with Gareth
Bale. Nonetheless, Hughes was in the way as the centre back cleared Fulham’s lines as the attacking move broke down. In the 23rd minute of the first half, Tottenham surged up field via Modric’s pass to Gareth Bale. However, Bale’s weak touch let
him down as Pantsil sneaked in to regain control of the ball for the visiting team.
In the 25th minute of the match, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Dawson-c25288 tackled Clint Dempsey near the half way line to stop Fulham from embarking on a counter attack. It was a clever foul by the English defender but the referee spotted the offense and brandished the
first yellow card of the match as Dawson went into the book. The ensuing set piece was taken by Danny Murphy but the free kick was too close to the keeper as Gomez punched the ball away with authority.
In the 27th minute of the match, Tottenham were forced into making their first substitution of the match. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vedran-Corluka-c35947 who replaced the injured Scotsman. Hutton broke down due to an aerial challenge with
Johnson as he landed very awkwardly in his ankle following the tackle.
In the 29th minute of the match, it was Fulham who broke forward but their move was stopped due to a silly handball by Damien Duff just in front of the Tottenham penalty area. It was a lucky foul for Tottenham who looked to be in trouble as Johnson
and Dempsey were making their way inside the Spurs penalty area.
In the 30th minute of the match, Tottenham blitzed into action as Gareth Bale played in Luka Modric. The Croatian playmaker switched the play towards http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Aaron-Lennon-c3062 who cut inside from his right wing position and then tried his luck on goal but
the eventual shot was blocked by Fulham’s defence as Mark Schwarzer gathered the ball. In the 32nd minute, it was Lennon once again as he tried to cut the ball back to Modric but Duff intervened to save his team.
Tottenham pressurized further up the field in the 33rd minute of the match as Assou Ekotto tried his luck on goal with a brilliant long range effort but Schwarzer was up to the task as he foiled the effort with ease to keep the score line at 0-0.
In the 34th minute of the match, Tottenham benefitted from an error of judgment by John Pantsil as Bale streamed up the field. The Welsh wizard played in Rafael Van Der Vaart who tried to find http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roman-Pavlyuchenko-c31639 with his pass but Fulham’s defence
blocked the ball.
In the 36th minute of the match, it was Damien Duff down the right hand side of Fulham’s attack who was played in by Dempsey but the Irish winger’s final cross was a particularly disappointing one as it evaded the Tottenham penalty area and went
out of play for a goal kick. In the 37th minute, Modric tried to play in Bale yet again but this time the midfielder was unsuccessful as Tottenham maintained their grip on the match. Despite having their fair share of the possession, Spurs found
it hard to fashion any clear goal scoring opportunities throughout the majority of the first half against Fulham.
In the 41st minute of the match, Corluka passed the ball to Lennon who almost went past http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chris-c9006 Baird in the Fulham defence. But much to the credit of the Fulham defender, he came back to take the ball off the Englishman. However, Fulham didn’t
have the ball for an extended period of time as the referee blew for a foul in Rafael Van Der Vaart in the 42nd minute. The free kick was taken by Van Der Vaart himself and he produced a majestic delivery inside the Fulham penalty area where Gareth
Bale was waiting to pounce on the cross as the Welsh man netted his first goal of the 2011 calendar year in the English Premier League.
It was a fantastic header by Bale which clipped the cross bar on its way inside the Fulham goal. Mark Schwarzer tried his best to keep the header out but couldn’t get a touch on the ball. In the 44th minute, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gareth-Bale-c14422 was once again involved
for Spurs as Luka Modric played in the winger clean through on the Fulham goal. Bale tired to beat Schwarzer with a powerful shot but the Fulham goal keeper denied his nemesis a second goal as the score line remained at 1-0 to the home side.
Just before the half time whistle was blown by the referee, Fulham squeezed a corner out of the Tottenham defence. It was Duff who took the set piece but once again his delivery was inaccurate as the half came to a close with the score line at 1-0 to Tottenham
Hotspur due to Gareth Bale’s wonderful header via a Rafael Van Der Vaart free kick.
Fulham will look to find their way back into the match in the second half but the way Tottenham were getting about in the first half, such a task is easier said than done. Mark Hughes might look to introduce the likes of Moussa Dembele in the second half
to give his team more striking options in the final third of the field.
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