Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa – Analysis of the first 45
It was a battle between the two rivals from London that was supposed to decide who will dominate the top half of the English Premier League as Tottenham Hotspurs lined up against Aston Villa at White Hart Lane.
Spurs have been performing poorly since their campaign from last season where they secured the 4th position and the chance to play in the Champions League.
This season however they are trailing at the 8th position having played 6 matches and scored 8 points.
On the other hand, the Lions have continued to improve as they proceed from last season’s 6th finish in the domestic league to this season’s 5th. They have played 6 matches and gained 10 points and are only
trailed by the top notch teams in the English League.
In the match at White Hart Lane that was refereed by M. Clattenburg the score line ended in a 1-1 thriller.
The lineup for Tottenham Hotspurs was 1 Gomes (Goal keeper), 32 Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Centre Defender Left), 19 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/66657/sebastien-bassong (Centre Defender Right),
6 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/27736/alan-hutton (Right Back), 11 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/76762/luka-modric(Left Midfielder),
8 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/38213/roman-pavlyuchenko (Centre Forward Right).
Substitutions: 10 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/26740/niko-kranjcar, 7 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/93145/wilson-palacios and 30http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/147337/sandro.
The lineup for Aston Villa was 1 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/8210/richard-dunne (Centre
Defender Left), 29 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/7687/luke-young(Right Back), 19 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/21094/nigel-reo-coker (Centre Midfielder
Right), 7 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/132107/marc-albrighton(Right Midfielder) and 18 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/7955/emile-heskey (Forward).
Substitutions: 10 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/28541/carlos-jimenez-cuellar,9 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/129754/ciaran-clark and 25http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/130079/barry-bannan.
The match started with the guests dominating the game as they pounded on the inexperienced and unstable Spurs’ defence with attack after attack.
In response to that Roman Pavlyuchenko, Luka Modric and Peter Crouch were the only men that seem to be playing as they planned offence and tried to score goals.
This lack of commitment in Harry Redknapp’s men eventually resulted in a 16 minute goal by Aston Villa’s new star midfielder this season, that is Marc Albrighton with Emile Heskey assisting him.
The new strategy by former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier who has just arrived at Villa Park seemed to be working. Houllier has started playing Albrighton as a second striker and this seems to be working for both Albrighton,
and Heskey who is due to score in his fourth consecutive match. They both seem in brilliant form this season with rejuvenation of the club.
Rafael Van der Vaart and Gareth Bale then decided that it was shameful indeed to be outdone by their bitter rivals at their home and joined in the action. The possession of the ball and plays made were definitely more by the Whites
but the Villains matched it with what they did with their feet when they had the ball.
Jermaine Jenas and Peter Crouch’s performances are also commendable as 15 minutes from the break they went on rampage mode and drilled shot after shot at Aston Villa’s post but the defence seemed impregnable.
The Aston Villa star Ashley Young was at his starry form and also made plays along the wings.
Eventually in the 45th minute Stiliyan Petrov gave away a corner on which Peter Crouch gave an intelligent pass to Rafael Van der Vaart who headed it from six yards into the box. This is not the first time the duo has
made onlookers witness such understanding in a play.
Eventually the whistle blew at 1-1 each.
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