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.