Harry Redknapp and Rafael van der Vaart salute Tottenham spirit post 2-1 win against Aston Villa
Tottenham Hotspur played their hearts out in a 2-1 win against Aston Villa in their Boxing Day Premier League encounter. Rafael van der Vaart said that he admired the spirit in the team that enabled them to win despite being down
to 10 men for most of the match.
The Dutch midfielder had been out with a hamstring injury for a month, and scored in his first game back. The left footer was on the score sheet after just 23 minutes. Soon after, Jermain Defoe was given his marching orders (a
red card in the 27th minute) and the Spurs were down to 10 men. However, the team showed a gutsy performance and held on for a win. It was Van der Vaart who got the 2nd goal and secured the win for the Spurs. Villa did get a late goal
in 9 minutes from time, but despite their concerned pressure it proved to be just a consolation goal.
Post the match, Rafael van der Vaart said: "It's always a difficult game, they've a very good team. It was very good win away with 10 men. It was difficult, we were down to 10 men, but we did a great job and fought to the end."
As to which of the two goals he enjoyed the most, Rafael responded: "The second one. It was really important and then I had a feeling we were going to win this game."
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 by just one point.
Dawson, while talking to a news channel, said “The squad we have is fantastic. We are going places. When you go down to 10 men at Villa and get three points that is a good sign. We had to play with two banks of four with Rafa up
front for so long. It just shows the spirit we've got.” Dawson added that after the red card the team had to reshuffle and the manager asked them to play with a formation of 4-4-1. The defender said that playing away from home with such a formation is never
easy, and the fact that they still managed to win is a great testimony to the tactics of the manager and ability of the team.
When http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jermain-Defoe-c18359 was sent off, it seemed clear that the red card was quite harsh and referee Martin Atkinson could have dealt better with the situation. Spurs manager Harry Redknapp was seen furious on the touchline. However,
after the match he refrained from criticising the referee’s decision. While talking to the media, the manager said: "I haven't seen it (the red card) since, but at the time I didn't have any arguments. I certainly wouldn't say I think he (Defoe) would go at
the player intentionally though. Maybe it was just a little centre forward's challenge. The referee is a good referee, but he had a bad game."
Commenting on the performance of the team, Redknapp said that it is always moments like these that test the mental toughness of the players. He added that he was delighted with the grit his players showed and was also pleased to
be back in 5th place in the table.
Redknapp, who has also led Tottenham to the final 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the first time, said that making the adjustment was not easy with a player down for most part of the match. However, he said that he was impressed
with the way his players carried out the contingency plan and stuck to it.
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