Sunday 19th November, 2000, FA CARLING PREMIERSHIP

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR    2 – 1    LIVERPOOL

Ferdinand 31                                    Fowler 18

Sherwood 41

Spurs (3-5-2):- Sullivan; Perry, Young, Thelwell; Carr, Anderton, Sherwood (sub Freund, 84), King, Clemence; Rebrov(sub Armstrong, 84), Ferdinand
Subs not used:- Walker; Vega; Korsten
Booked:- Anderton (foul)

Liverpool (4-4-2):- Westerveld; Babbel, Henchoz, Hyypia, Traore (sub Gerrard, 64); Murphy (sub Carragher, 79),McAllister, Hamann, Smicer (sub Barmby, 61); Owen, Fowler
Subs not used:- Arphexad; Vignal
Booked:- Smicer, Babbel

 

Attendance:- 36,036
Referee:- M. Halsey

 

An excellent game at the Lane where a spirited Tottenham came back from a goal down to beat a genuine top five team

I've given the evil goon plenty of stick when his ineptitude has deserved it in the past, but today he deserves some qualified praise. First of all he dropped Vega and played Young, King and Thelwell. He also kept faith with the progressive 3-5-2 system that was effective against Sunderland but lost against Villa and managed to make the players use the system more effectively. It can be no co-incidence that no Fatcha and we have our first assists from the left wing since you know who departed in the summer

The reason the praise is qualified is because it has taken him this long to give the youngsters a proper chance and why why oh why can we not play as positively as this away from home. We now have the best home record in the league and the worst away record

I watched the game as a refugee in the upper West (an area I last visited on a sunny day in Sept 1990 when a certain fat bloke scored three past Shilton in a 3-0 win against Derby, Great view but no atmosphere and even some bloke moaning about Carr!! (twat)

The game started with both sides having good possession, with Thelwell and King getting huge receptions for every pass and tackle. Liverpool had the best early chances with Murphy shooting tamely when in a good position. Their goal came out of a nothing ball to Murphy on the edge of the box. He managed to flick it sideways and wrongfoot everyone giving Fowler an almost open goal

Spurs battled back and had attacking options on both sides of the pitch. Rebrov won the ball near the left touchline and put Clem in with a neat back heal. Clem then excelled himself with a perfect cross and for once Ferdinand moved his fat arse and got on the end of it and slid it home.

Most of the game was played in an open attacking way that has characterized recent encounters between the two sides at the Lane. The goal that proved to be the winner came from a long ball from Young which seemed to find Ferdinand offside in the middle but as the Scousers stopped, Clem ran on to the ball on the left wing and with plenty of time delivered his second perfect cross on to the massive head of Sherwood who thumped the header into the top corner

Piggy Barmby was introduced along with Gerard midway through the second half but Liverpool despite having lots of possession in the Tottenham half but did not take any of the half chances that fell to them. Spurs had a few chances, the best of which was an audacious chip from Steve Carr which hit the inside of the post with Westerveld stranded and Anderton could only hit the rebound straight at the keeper

The board indicating 5 minutes of added time was greeted with groans, but Spurs played out the majority of this in possession in the Liverpool half and a great cheer greeted the final whistle

Sullivan 7/10 - Good performance from Sully (despite being a bit out of position for their goal) with a couple of crucial saves from Hyypia header and Owen shot and he managed to mix up his distribution between the aimless oofs to upfield to throws to the back players

Perry - 6/10
Played another decent match defensively but the crowd seem to have little patience with his ordinary distribution which is a little unfair imvho as Perry is a capable Premiership defender.             Young 8/10 - A fine match from Youngy who nearly two years after making his debut at Upton Park is fulfilling the promise expected of an England U-21. Today he demonstrated good reading of the game, good heading ability, with a number of excellent tackles and decent passing. He deserves an extended run in the team, even when the Sol man returns at the expense of Perry     Thelwell 6/10 - After being an unused sub almost two years ago at Upton Park when Young made his debut, Thelwell made an impressive first team debut at the left handside of a three man defence. It drives me mad that Graham has chosen to wait to Liverpool at home live on Sky to give Alton his debut, but Alton rose to the occasion with a spirited display and even when he got caught by Owen, Sully produced a good save to rescue the day. A debut full of promise which should relegate Ramon and Fatcha further down the pecking order

Carr 7/10
- Another barnstorming display from our hero -fierce in the tackle, excellent going forward and an exquisite chip which hit the inside of the post in the second half which would have made the last few minutes a bit easier on the nerves 

King 7/10 - Every time Ledley gets a start in the first team it seems to be in a different position. This time he was back to play the central midfield role he played so well during the away win at Derby last season, and he played another fine match good tackling and interceptions with simple accurate passing when in possession. Another player who deserves to keep his place for the Leicester match and beyond hopefully          Anderton 6/10 - At the heart of all the good passing moves and did a fair job when we did n't have the ball. Could have used dead ball situations better in the opposition half.             Sherwood 6/10 - Another better display in his more familiar role further up the pitch where he seems happier. Scored what proved to be the winner with a thumping header from a Clemence cross               Clemence 6/10 Did a good job in what is proving to be a problem position without Treacle. Provided two excellent crosses for our goals, the first after a neat Rebrov back heel and the second running onto a long crossfield pass by Carr which wrong footed the scousers who were appealing for offside against Fat Les

Rebrov 6/10
- Produced a better performance as the team tried to pass the ball a lot more and had his usual excellent link ups with Carr and Anderton. He seems to thrive on being involved in the game and its up to the rest of the players to utilize his undoubted ability. No one can doubt his commitment as a crunching tackle in the second half proved and its up to the other players and management to get the best out of him, although I'd like to see him shoot more. I would also like to see him play in Sherwood's position (the front man of the central midfield three) as I think this would give his skills greater opportunity, esp. if we had two forwards in front of him (and if these forwards were ones that did n't stand still all the time)
Ferdinand 6/10
- Another decent match from Les, capped with a good goal when getting on the end of Clemence's inch perfect centre to slide home the equalizer. While he may not be the player of the mid 90's, while he has this level of commitment, he still has something to offer

 

Kick off (16.00 GMT)               Liverpool set the ball rolling in rainy conditions in North London.

1 min                Spurs work the ball down the right flank but Sami Hyypia cuts out the danger.

4 mins               Despite Tottenham having most of the early possession, the first chance of the afternoon falls to Michael Owen who drags his shot wide of Neil Sullivan's goal.

7 mins               Spurs again try to force the pace down the right flank but Sergei Rebrov's attempted cross is blocked.

9 mins               Darren Anderton breaks past Markus Babbel on the left touchline but nobody is in support and he sends in a weak cross.

10 mins             from a rightwing cross the ball breaks for Danny Murphy in the Tottenham penalty area but he too makes a poor connection and his shot rolls tamely to Sullivan.

11 mins             Tottenham again look to prosper from the right but Rebrov's cross breaks off Owen for a corner, the first of the game.

13 mins             At the other end Babbel drives in a low cross from the left which is half-cleared to Dietmar Hamann who fires in a shot which takes a deflection for Liverpool's first corner.

14 mins             having failed to fully clear the danger, the ball breaks for Robbie Fowler who in attempting to twist clear of Chris Perry falls under the challenge but referee Halsey waves play on.

15 mins             Tottenham earn another corner on the right and Rebrov meets Anderton's better delivery but sends his volley wide of Sander Westerveld's left post.

18 mins             Danny Murphy touches a long ball forward onto Robbie Fowler who side foots the ball beyond Sullivan from the edge of the area for his first Premiership goal of the season.

Tottenham 0-1 Liverpool

20 mins             Fowler gathers the ball on the edge of the Tottenham area laying it off to Owen who sees his effort half-blocked allowing Sullivan to comfortably gather the ball.

22 mins             Tottenham string a good passage of possession together but from a promising position in the Liverpool half they work the ball back to Sullivan in goal.

23 mins             Babbel and Smicer combine near the by-line before the German drives in across which Fowler swivels onto but his snap-shot is just wide of the post.

26 mins             Tottenham continue to probe but cannot breach the Liverpool defence and their patient build-up comes to nothing when Luke Young sprays a pass over the touchline.

29 mins             Vladimir Smicer is the first name in the referee's book for a late challenge on Stephen Carr.

30 mins             the resultant free-kick from the right flank is over-hit for a Liverpool goal-kick.

31 mins             Henchoz plays Babbel into trouble by the left-hand corner flag where Rebrov steals the ball. The Ukrainian flicks a back-heel to Stephen Clemence who fires in a low drive which Les Ferdinand connects with to bring the home side back into the game.

Tottenham 1-1 Liverpool

37 mins             A scrappy passage of play in midfield is broken when the referee deems that Fowler is fouled by Tim Sherwood.

39 mins             Smicer's cross is cleared and from the edge of their box Tottenham break the length of the pitch but on the edge of the Liverpool area Stephane Henchoz blocks Carr's path.

40 mins             Young sends a deep raking pass to the left-hand by-line where Clemence whips in a cross, from an identical position to the first goal, which Tim Sherwood meets with a firm header.

Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool

41 mins             Owen breaks past Chris Perry but in trying to work the ball onto his rightfoot misses the opportunity of getting a shot in and Tottenham instead concede a corner.

42 mins             Hyypia rises at the far post but Sullivan is equal to the challenge and tips his header over the crossbar.

44 mins             McAllister again finds Hyypia with a corner from the left but the Liverpool captain fails to meet it with the same force and Tottenham clear the danger.

Half-time: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Liverpool

45 mins             Owen spins and races away from the Tottenham defence but Sullivan goes down low to his right to beat away the effort.

47 mins             The game is stopped so that Traore can receive some attention from the physio after a clash with Tim Sherwood as they went for a 50-50ball.

53 mins             Anderton tries to inject some pace into Tottenham's play and wins a corner deep by the right-hand corner flag.

54 mins             Anderton plays the resultant corner to Rebrov on the edge of the area and the Ukrainian wins a free-kick.

55 mins             Anderton's free-kick ricochets off the wall to safety.

57 mins             Anderton continues to be a magnet for the action and earns a yellow card for a late challenge on Fowler in the centre circle.

60 mins             To a chorus of jeers, Tottenham old boy Nick Barmby is introduced to the action at the expense of Smicer. Murphy receives attention from the physio for a cut by his eye.

62 mins             Liverpool win a free-kick on the edge of the Tottenham area after Perry pulls back Owen.

63 mins             A gaggle of Liverpool players are lined up behind the ball before Fowler steps up, but the captain cracks his effort straight into the wall.

64 mins             Gerard Houllier makes a second change bringing off Traore for Steven Gerrard.

65 mins             Liverpool have a half-hearted call for a penalty as Owen stumbles and goes down under a challenge from Clemence.

66 mins             A fluid counter-attack down the Tottenham right ends with Carr's cross drifting over Westerveld onto the post. The ball breaks for Anderton but Westerveld makes amends and is solidly behind the shot.

70 mins             Gerrard wriggles through on the right-hand side of the penalty area but pulls back his cross behind on the on-rushing Fowler.

71 mins             Babbel is the third player to earn a yellow card after a challenge from behind on Ferdinand.

73 mins             Babbel sneaks in ahead of Ferdinand in the six-yard box and clears the danger from a Carr cross to keep Liverpool in the game after a good Tottenham move.

75 mins             Owen again goes down in the area under a challenge from Thelwell but the referee ignores his claims for a penalty.

77 mins             The ball's bobbling around the midfield and Rebrov goes in with a two-footed challenge on Murphy, who stays down.

79 mins             Murphy is stretchered off to be replaced by Jamie Carragher.

83 mins             Sherwood heads away an inswinging McAllister free-kick from the left as Liverpool search for an equalizer.

84 mins             George Graham makes a double substitution with Chris Armstrong and Steffen Freund coming on for Rebrov and Sherwood. The German takes the captain's armband.

86 mins             Liverpool continue to urgently push for an equalizer and win a corner as Perry clears Gerrard's deep cross.

87 mins             Babbel meets the corner but his header is wide of the mark.

90 mins             The fourth official signals that there will be five minutes of time added on.

91 mins             Gerrard gifts possession to Tottenham and from the halfway line Carr ambitiously shoots for goal.

92 mins             From half the distance to that of Carr's effort, Hamann shoots high and wide of the Tottenham goal.

95 mins             Instead of pushing for an equalizer Liverpool are pegged back in their own half defending a series of corners before the referee blows the final whistle to the delight of the majority of White Hart Lane.