Tottenham Hotspur v Real Madrid – Second half review: UEFA Champions League (Part 2)
After creating several goal-scoring chances in the first half coupled with two critical penalty shouts, Tottenham started the second half on the back foot, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AS-Real-c38478 Madrid forced the home side into a defensive mindset with their offensive approach following
the half time break.
Jose Mourinho and Harry Redknapp fielded the same teams that ended the first half for both the clubs, as no changes were made to the starting line ups.
However, Real Madrid soon made Tottenham pay for their lacklustre start to the second half as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-Ronaldo-c9629 opened the scoring in the 50th minute.
The former Manchester United winger found himself with space just in front of the Tottenham penalty area and the former world player of the year didn’t need an invitation to shoot as he attempted his luck on goal.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Heurelho-Gomes-c16173, the Tottenham goalkeeper had clear sight of the ball but regardless he failed to keep hold of the ball, as it struck his finger tips and ended up in the back of the net due to his handling error.
Ronaldo’s goal came as a massive setback for Tottenham to concede an away goal due to Gomes’ mistake as they were already trailing the Spanish outfit by four goals to nil from their defeat in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal against
Real Madrid.
The mood quietened down in White Hart Lane after the Portuguese winger’s goal. The home crowd, who had kept up the atmosphere in the first half, became subdued as Jose Mourinho decided to withdraw http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Esteban-Granero-c12919
came on for the Spanish wingback.
In the 58th minute, Tottenham had a glorious opportunity to give themselves a lifeline in the encounter as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roman-Pavlyuchenko-c31639 rose above his peers to meet Aaron Lennon’s cross from the right hand side but the Russian forward failed to direct his
header towards Iker Casillas’ goal as the score line remained at 1-0.
In the 60th minute, Tottenham decided to bring about a change in their offensive mentality as they shifted from a long-ball game to a more passing oriented system.
Harry Redknapp substituted Pavlyuchenko and brought on http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jermain-Defoe-c18359. It was evident that the former Portsmouth manager was going for the win with the more speedy and troublesome Defoe replacing the stagnant yet muscular Pavlyuchenko.
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