SATURDAY 25TH NOVEMBER, 2000 FA
CARLING PREMIERSHIP
Ferdinand (3), 34,
39, 84
Attendance:- 35,636
Referee:- Rob Harris
Spurs (3-5-2):- Sullivan; Perry (sub
Thatcher, 31), Campbell (Capt.), Thelwell; Carr (sub Freund, 80),
Anderton, Sherwood, King, Clemence; Rebrov (sub Armstrong, 80),
Ferdinand
Subs not used:- Walker; Korsten
Booked:- Clemence
Leicester (3-5-2):- Royce; Rowett,
Elliott, Taggart; Sinclair, Savage (sub Eadie, 67), Lennon, Izzet,
Davidson; Akinbiyi (sub Impey, 67), Benjamin (sub Cresswell, 77)
Subs not used:- Price (GK); Gilchrist
Booked:- Taggart, Savage, Lennon
Sent off:- Taggart
(2nd yellow)
(report from Paul Smith
www.spursodyssey.co.uk)It's official!
Spurs have the best home record in the Premiership after today's
win. George Graham kept faith with youngsters Ledley King, and
Alton Thelwell, and they did not let him down. Alton even proved
his flexibility as he was switched from the left side to the
right to accommodate Ben Thatcher who replace the injured Chris
Perry on the half hour. There was so much good news for Spurs
today, as they welcomed back skipper Sol Campbell to the centre
of the defence, and Les Ferdinand (in his fourth season with the
club) scored his first hat-trick in our colours, to overtake
Sergei Rebrov as the team's top scorer so far this season.
Since the Worthington Cup Final 20 months
ago, this contest has taken on a new meaning, and the hatred for
Robbie Savage has not diminished. Indeed for much of the first
half hour, this was a very physical battle, with no quarter given
on either side. For once Spurs had a referee who leant towards
them, as the Leicester players were more often punished for their
tackles, and the first two bookings (Taggart and Savage) were for
dissent, due to the visitors frustration at the lack of decisions
going their way.
There was an early contretemps between
Savage and Clemence, which set the flavour for the following half-hour.
Leicester were fastest out of the blocks when it came to
threatening moves, and Sol had an early saving block to make,
backed up by a fine tackle by Clemence inside the area. An early
Spurs free kick was pushed to Carr loitering on the right, and
Royce (covering for Flowers) made a super save to tip Carr's shot
out of the goalmouth. Clemence played with real heart today, and
did not flinch in a 50-50 challenge with Sinclair whose crunching
tackle could be heard and felt at the other end of the ground.
Leicester threatened again on 11 minutes
through the anti-hero Savage who whacked a 35 yard effort
straight at Sullivan. Chris Perry and Stephen Carr prevented
Benjamin from making progress with a strong double challenge, and
this was when Perry got his first knock. From the resulting
Leicester throw, Sol only got a half touch, and Akinbiyi failed
to get enough strength behind his effort. Perry had to be
replaced after trying to run off his injury, and on the whole
Thatcher looked more comfortable as one of three at the back. He
did however make one or two errors, and also missed a good
scoring chance in the second half.
Spurs did make more progress through the
middle than I can recall since pre-season, with some decent
movements. Just before taking the lead one such passing move
featuring King, Clemence, Sherwood and finally Anderton resulted
in a shot from Darren that went wide. Then came the first goal.
Ledley King harried Rowett, until the defender was forced into a
mistake, when he pushed the ball back into the path of Les
Ferdinand. Les scored arguably his best goal for the club, with a
25 yard shot that curled round Elliott and inside the right hand
post. Sol Campbell had a good chance to increase the lead from
close range as a Clemence free kick reached him in front of goal.
Royce made a fine save, but the lead was increased from the
resulting corner, taken by Anderton. There was some ping pong in
and around the area, and Sergei Rebrov's powerful shot was
cleared off the line by Sinclair, only to go straight to the head
of Ferdinand who nodded his header into the far corner
After the interval, Leicester were more
threatening, as they tried desperately to get back into the game.
Izzet went down in the area, and the away support was baying for
a penalty, but the referee only gave an indirect free kick for
obstruction. Elliott's effort went high and wide. Next up was a
decent cross from Callum Davidson. Akinbiyi headed just past the
post, but Benjamin was offside anyway. Lennon found his way into
Harris's book for a foul on Rebrov, but Thatcher somehow escaped
scot free when he clattered Savage. On 58 minutes Neil Sullivan
made a world class save from a close range shot from Elliott.
Leicester had given their all, but it just
was not to be their day. Stephen Carr went on a great run down
the wing, beating two players, but being brought down by Taggart.
A melee followed, with Taggart raising his arms to Ferdinand, but
he was sent off for a second yellow for the foul rather than the
violent conduct which followed. Obviously facing a ten-man team
helped, but the Spurs midfield played with more gusto, and
confidence. Sherwood seems to have found his form again, and
Darren Anderton is on top of his game for us. He tried a
glancing header after an exchange with Carr, but was well off
target. Peter Taylor rang the changes, including the removal of
Savage as tempers began to flair, and substitute Eadie sent a
left wing cross with almost his first touch that Benjamin failed
to contact sufficiently.
Perhaps the best piece of football today was
when Sherwood passed to Anderton just inside his own half. Darren
slipped the ball between two opponents, and raced through, passed
to Rebrov, who crossed for Sherwood's powerful shot to be blocked
for a corner. Clemence's corner was flicked on by Sherwood, and
Thatcher managed to scoop the ball over the bar from the 6 yard
line.
Davidson seemed to dive at one end (unpunished)
in the area, and then Stephen Clemence seemed to be brought down
inside the box at the other end, but Harris waved play on. Had he
given the penalty which I feel was justified, I suspect he would
never be safe in Leicester again! Les Ferdinand passed up one
chance for his hat trick, when he tried to lay up for Ledley, who
was in a worse position, but the elusive hat trick was complete,
after Royce could only parry Anderton's powerful shot to the feet
of Ferdinand who could not pass up the gift to finish off.
Leicester did have three more decent chances to score, as one hit
the bar, one went over, and Sinclair could only shoot straight at
Sullivan.
Sullivan 7/10 – One brilliant
save from Elliot in the second half and a generally decent
performance
Perry 6/10 – Took a couple of
knocks before having to come off after about 25 minutes
(Sub Thatcher 5/10 – A poor
performance from Fatch, when he was n’t giving the ball away
or missing tackles, he did his best to give away penalties)
Campbell 7/10 – A commanding
comeback from the great man
Thelwell 6/10 – Another good
game from the youngster who was equally happy when switched to
the right side of defence after Perry’s injury
Carr 7/10 – Gave everyone a
great boost by signing an extension to his current contract
before the match and gave another of his cavalier displays as
right wingback. Nearly scored the opening goal when a free kick
was squared to him and his thunderbolt shot was tipped wide.
King 7/10 – Played well in the
central midfield currently favoured for him at the club and
continues to impress with accurate passing and good tackling.
Anderton 7/10 – Was at the heart
of most of the creative stuff offered by Tottenham
Sherwood 6/10 – Played in the
hole behind Rebrov and Ferdinand and had another fair game,
seeming to prefer this advanced position to the more orthodox
central midfield position
Clemence 7/10 – Getting better
with each match at left wing back, endearing himself to the crowd
with an early scuffle with Savage in the first minute.
Rebrov 6/10 – Does what he does
well – his short passing and vision are excellent, but its
not as much as you feel he has to offer
Ferdinand 8/10 – A game Les will
remember for a while. His first was an excellent goal, latching
on to a bad back pass, running at Elliot before smashing a shot
into the corner while his other goals were real strikers goal
– a header from a goal line clearance and a tap in from a
saved Anderton shot. A pity someone in the crowd ran off with the
ball at the end of the match!