Real Madrid v Tottenham Hotspur – UEFA Champions League: Half time review-Part 2
After Peter Crouch’s sending off by virtue of his second yellow card in the 15th minute of the match, Tottenham adopted a defensive approach to counter Real Madrid’s numerical superiority. Harry Redknapp made a tactical shift with Peter’s dismissal,
as he pushed Rafael Van der Vaart further up the field in order to allow the Dutchman more freedom with his off-the-ball movement.
This change worked in Real Madrid’s favour as they had more time on the ball in the middle of the park. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Xabi-Alonso-c37045 and Mesut Ozil became Real’s main midfield playmakers, as the half progressed with them spreading the play effectively to maximize their numerical
advantage.
In the 20th minute, Tottenham’s frustration was evident when Van der Vaart was booked by the referee for his protests, after the match official awarded Real Madrid a free kick following Sandro’s late lunge on http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-Ronaldo-c9629. Sandro was not
booked in the aftermath of the tackle, which saw Real’s Portuguese winger withering in pain.
In the 22nd minute, Cristiano Ronaldo almost doubled Real’s lead as he blitzed past http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vedran-Corluka-c35947 down the left hand side of Tottenham’s attack. The former Manchester United player, then unleashed a powerful shot at Hotspurs’ goal but his effort
was expertly gathered in by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergio-Ramos-c33096 into the Real Madrid penalty area.
However, the Welsh winger failed to hit the target with his ensuing shot as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Iker-Casillas-c16815 was left untroubled due to the lack of accuracy on Bale’s effort. Nonetheless, Madrid soon responded with a counter attack of their own as Marcelo led their offensive
charge. The Brazilian full back whipped in a wonderfully timed cross into the Tottenham penalty area.
Marcelo’s cross was met with a powerful diving header by Sergio Ramos but Gomes palmed the ball away to keep the score-line at 1-0. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Dawson-c25288
as Tottenham survived yet another scare. In the 36th minute, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pepe-c29670 was booked by the referee for his late slide on Gareth Bale.
In the 42nd minute right before the first half came to a close, Real Madrid had a genuine penalty appeal as Angel Di Maria’s shot was blocked en route to goal by Michael Dawson. The Tottenham captain appeared to stop the effort with his hands
rather than his body but the referee failed to spot the infringement as Spurs were let off the hook once more. Regardless, the first half came to an end with the score-line at 1-0. Peter Crouch’s sending off also had a huge impact on the match but Emmanuel
Adebayor’s goal in the 4th minute was the only difference between the two sides at the half-time break.
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