UEFA Champions League FT Report: Tottenham thump four past hapless FC Twente
Tottenham Hotspur completed an excellent 4-1 win against FC Twente in their 2nd match of the UEFA Champions League group stage. This was the first win for Harry Redknapp’s team in Europe as that this is their first European
campaign.
The first half of the match had been considerably dull. FC Twente, surprisingly, were the team making most of the noise, while Spurs looked considerably hesitant. Tottenham looked as if they did not know whether to go on the attack
or hold back and wait for their opportunities. There was clearly a need for some reshaping.
Harry Redknapp, who is also known as ‘Harry Houdini,’ maybe really does have a magic wand that he used in the half time team talk. As soon as the home side came out in the 2nd period they looked determined to get a goal.
Spurs had earned a penalty just before the break and the Dutch Midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart, stepped up but failed to convert. A miss like that would often devastate a player. Not VdV though, as he bounced right back after the
restart. The man who made it to the World Cup final with the Netherlands got on the end of Tom Huddlestone's deep cross which was headed down by Peter Crouch and controlled the ball on his chest before slamming in a powerful shot. Spurs finally had the lead.
The game suddenly had more life to it. Spurs were going all out against Twente and the Dutch champions looked short of answers. Five minutes later there was another penalty. Gareth Bale ran into the box and was scythed down by
Roberto Rosales. This time Roman Pavlyuchenko stepped up and sent Nikolay Mihaylov the wrong way from the spot.
A 2-0 lead in Europe is a dangerous score-line for Spurs - remember Bremen, where they went from 2-0 to 2-2 in the end? Tottenham had been living a bit dangerously since their second goal, with Marc Janko seeing a header land on
the roof of the net. The Dutch champions did not have to wait long to pull a goal back. After a spot of pinball in the box, the ball broke for Nacer Chadli and he smashed his shot past Gomes. All of a sudden you could see flashbacks of Bremen in the eyes of
the Spurs defence.
Soon there were more problems for Spurs. Rafael van der Vaart jumped into Roberto Rosales - needlessly and recklessly as they challenged for a high ball. That was a second yellow card for the Dutchman, and he was given his marching
orders.
There was a moment of panic, but as usual a goal was needed to calm the nerves. Roman Pavlyuchenko's long-range shot hit Brama on the arm, but he was just trying to get out of the way of the ball and had his back
to it. The referee though harshly pointed to the spot. Pavlyuchenko stepped up again nonchalantly chipped the ball into the net. There was a clear sense of calm all over White Hart lane as soon as the 3rd goal went in.
Although down to 10 men, Spurs looked by far the better side. FC Twente, it seemed, had lost the motivation after the 3rd goal. Spurs then managed to get one more to cap off a fantastic performance. Next they will face
the trophy holders Inter Milan at the San Siro in 3 weeks’ time.
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