Tottenham Hotspur finally managed their first home win in the Premier League as they came back from behind to defeat Queens Park Rangers.
Tottenham hosted Queens Park http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rangers-c40314 at White Hart Lane yesterday evening in a game where all eyes were on manager Andre Villas-Boas as he looked to win his first home game of the Premier League.
The Portuguese had not managed a competitive home win since taking over in the summer, and had come under immediate pressure from critics and the media.
Tottenham had failed to win any of their games up until last week where the team managed an away victory against Reading at the Madejski Stadium. That too had come through hard work and persistence by the side, which eventually paid off as Defoe bagged a
brace and Gareth Bale scored the third.
A home game against Italian side Lazio was up next, and Tottenham again failed to get a result. Many thought the club would finally secure a win at home, but that was not the case. Tottenham had three goals disallowed by the referee and went on to share
the spoils with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lazio-c39775.
Yesterday, Tottenham hosted QPR at home in a game that was considered a must win. QPR had been the better side for long periods of the game, and it took two impressive saves by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Brad-Friedel-c7953 to keep the score level. The veteran keeper once again showed why
he was club number 1 as he kept Frenchman http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hugo-Lloris-c16408 on the bench.
However, the visitors took the lead through Bobby http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Zamora-c40983 just minutes before half time. Tottenham were down by one goal and the pressure was mounting. The goal had been coming after considerable attacking football by the visitors.
Tottenham managed a goal back at the half hour mark through a Steven Caulker header. The goal was unfortunate as it had an element of luck in it, and QPR were unfortunate to have conceded it.
QPR had been shell shocked by the equalizer, and conceded another shortly when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jermain-Defoe-c18359 was
lurking in the box and pounced at the rebound, scoring his fourth goal of the season.
Vertonghen had started the game off at centre back, but later switched to the left as he was given the task of marking http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Junior-c20060 Hoilett. The Belgian defender made an amazing tackle to deny the Canadian winger as he attempted a shot on goal.
From there on, Tottenham improved considerably and contained the game much better than they had in the first half. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gareth-Bale-c14422 looked better as he switched back to his favoured left wing role, and Spurs began to hold the ball better as they attempted to
see the game off.
The team had thrown away leads at home on two occasions before this game, and looked visibly nervous in the last 10 minutes. They managed to hold on and went on to win the game, though it was in unconvincing and far from impressive.
Andre Villas-Boas was delighted with the win, and it was plain to see as the Portuguese celebrated when the referee blew his whistle. The manager would not have cared how his side won the game; at the end of the 90 minutes, it’s the score that matters.
Spurs now eighth in the league, and will take on Manchester United at Old Trafford this weekend.
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