Sunday Times 24/1/10
Tottenham pay the penalty against Leeds
Tottenham 2 Leeds 2
David Walsh
MUCH about this cup tie evoked the game of our childhoods, the tumultuous atmosphere, fiercely competitive tackling, the sense that only the cup can produce the ultimate one-off match. The
football, too, was terrific and the suspense sustained to the death when Leeds’ outstanding player, Jermaine Beckford, won a penalty, picked himself off the ground and swept the kick high into the Spurs net.
It was Beckford’s second goal of the match and after his winner against Manchester United three weeks ago, his third against Premier League opposition in two games. There are Premier League strikers who take half a season to do that but Beckford is ready to play at a higher level. He will stay at Leeds until the summer and then the question is whether he plays in the Championship with them or accepts an offer to play in the Premier League.
What is certain is that Leeds are too good a side for League One. They had looked good in winning at Old Trafford three weeks ago but they were better yesterday and fully deserve to be still in the cup. Spurs did not play badly and through a blistering opening 20 minutes they threatened to steamroller Leeds.
Somebody asked Harry Redknapp if that wasn’t the moment to win the game but he saw it as being simpler than that. “We should have settled it with a minute to go,” he said. “We’re 2-1 up, if we keep the ball it is game over.” Teams do what they have always done. Spurs attack, they always have, and after Roman Pavlyuchenko put them 2-1 up in the 75th minute, the last thing on their mind was pulling up the drawbridge.
Instead they were flying into Leeds’ half chasing a third, full-backs overlapping, midfielders sprinting forward and it was so Spurs.
And Leeds, too, tend to be what they’ve always been. Before the game, an army of fans marched along the Seven Sisters Road chanting “Yorkshire, Yorkshire” and it was remarkable one word defined them. “We’ve got the desire to make sure we don’t lose games, that’s in the locker of this team,” said Simon Grayson, the manager.
Two-one down, Grayson’s team didn’t stop believing and with Beckford there was always a chance. He is quick and not lacking in confidence. There wasn’t much on when he received the ball in those dying seconds but he turned it into something, beating Dawson on the outside and tempting the centre-back into a reckless tackle. Dawson will wonder what got into him.
It is not the misjudged tackle we shall recall but the attack and counter-attack of a game that fizzed from end to end. Spurs began with a swagger and Jermain Defoe played with the impish assurance that is generally the prelude to goals. Casper Ankergren had to back-pedal to claw away an exquisite lob from Defoe in the seventh minute and then, a minute later, Spurs had a spot-kick when Michael Doyle was penalised after a collision with Danny Rose. It seemed a harsh decision and perhaps Defoe thought so, too, because his tamely struck penalty was well saved by Ankergren. Soon Patrick Kisnorbo was making fine blocks to stop Defoe atoning for that miss and Ankergren made a good save from a Gareth Bale free kick. Leeds got lucky in the 23rd minute when Jason Crowe’s desperate tackle on Defoe did not result in a penalty and sending off.
The storm abated after that, Neil Kilkenny, Doyle, Robert Snodgrass and Bradley Johnson began to play in Leeds’ midfield and chances came their way. Beckford drove the clearest one wide and Heurelho Gomes made good saves from the striker and Snodgrass. Peter Crouch put Spurs in front three minutes before half-time but Leeds, who could have scored a minute later, got an equaliser though a close-in Beckford effort eight minutes into the second half.
The tackles became sharper, Redknapp sent on Wilson Palacios to boost his midfield but Leeds refused to lie down. Somebody dared to suggest to Redknapp that a replay was probably something he didn't want. It touched a nerve. “No,” said the manager matter-of-factly, “I look forward to it. I really thought it would be a good idea with a minute to go. I thought, ‘Give them a goal because I’d like to go to Elland Road on a Tuesday night. I haven’t been there for a few years’.” All comes to those who give away a penalty in the last minute.
Star man: Jermaine Beckford (Leeds)
Yellow cards: Tottenham: Hutton. Leeds: Bromby, Doyle, Crowe, Kisnorbo, Kilkenny, Johnson
Referee: A Wiley Attendance: 35,750
TOTTENHAM: Gomes 7; Hutton 6, Bassong 5, Dawson 4, Bale 6; Kranjcar 6 (Keane 71), Modric 6, Jenas 6, Rose 5 (Palacios 56, 6); Defoe 7, Crouch 6 (Pavlyuchenko 71)
LEEDS: Ankergren 7; Crowe 6, Kisnorbo 7, Bromby 6, Hughes 6; Howson 6, Doyle 7 (Becchio 80), Kilkenny 7, Johnson 6 (White 88); Snodgrass 7, Beckford 9
Tottenham pay the penalty against Leeds
Tottenham 2 Leeds 2
David Walsh
MUCH about this cup tie evoked the game of our childhoods, the tumultuous atmosphere, fiercely competitive tackling, the sense that only the cup can produce the ultimate one-off match. The
football, too, was terrific and the suspense sustained to the death when Leeds’ outstanding player, Jermaine Beckford, won a penalty, picked himself off the ground and swept the kick high into the Spurs net.It was Beckford’s second goal of the match and after his winner against Manchester United three weeks ago, his third against Premier League opposition in two games. There are Premier League strikers who take half a season to do that but Beckford is ready to play at a higher level. He will stay at Leeds until the summer and then the question is whether he plays in the Championship with them or accepts an offer to play in the Premier League.
What is certain is that Leeds are too good a side for League One. They had looked good in winning at Old Trafford three weeks ago but they were better yesterday and fully deserve to be still in the cup. Spurs did not play badly and through a blistering opening 20 minutes they threatened to steamroller Leeds.
Somebody asked Harry Redknapp if that wasn’t the moment to win the game but he saw it as being simpler than that. “We should have settled it with a minute to go,” he said. “We’re 2-1 up, if we keep the ball it is game over.” Teams do what they have always done. Spurs attack, they always have, and after Roman Pavlyuchenko put them 2-1 up in the 75th minute, the last thing on their mind was pulling up the drawbridge.
Instead they were flying into Leeds’ half chasing a third, full-backs overlapping, midfielders sprinting forward and it was so Spurs.
And Leeds, too, tend to be what they’ve always been. Before the game, an army of fans marched along the Seven Sisters Road chanting “Yorkshire, Yorkshire” and it was remarkable one word defined them. “We’ve got the desire to make sure we don’t lose games, that’s in the locker of this team,” said Simon Grayson, the manager.
Two-one down, Grayson’s team didn’t stop believing and with Beckford there was always a chance. He is quick and not lacking in confidence. There wasn’t much on when he received the ball in those dying seconds but he turned it into something, beating Dawson on the outside and tempting the centre-back into a reckless tackle. Dawson will wonder what got into him.
It is not the misjudged tackle we shall recall but the attack and counter-attack of a game that fizzed from end to end. Spurs began with a swagger and Jermain Defoe played with the impish assurance that is generally the prelude to goals. Casper Ankergren had to back-pedal to claw away an exquisite lob from Defoe in the seventh minute and then, a minute later, Spurs had a spot-kick when Michael Doyle was penalised after a collision with Danny Rose. It seemed a harsh decision and perhaps Defoe thought so, too, because his tamely struck penalty was well saved by Ankergren. Soon Patrick Kisnorbo was making fine blocks to stop Defoe atoning for that miss and Ankergren made a good save from a Gareth Bale free kick. Leeds got lucky in the 23rd minute when Jason Crowe’s desperate tackle on Defoe did not result in a penalty and sending off.
The storm abated after that, Neil Kilkenny, Doyle, Robert Snodgrass and Bradley Johnson began to play in Leeds’ midfield and chances came their way. Beckford drove the clearest one wide and Heurelho Gomes made good saves from the striker and Snodgrass. Peter Crouch put Spurs in front three minutes before half-time but Leeds, who could have scored a minute later, got an equaliser though a close-in Beckford effort eight minutes into the second half.
The tackles became sharper, Redknapp sent on Wilson Palacios to boost his midfield but Leeds refused to lie down. Somebody dared to suggest to Redknapp that a replay was probably something he didn't want. It touched a nerve. “No,” said the manager matter-of-factly, “I look forward to it. I really thought it would be a good idea with a minute to go. I thought, ‘Give them a goal because I’d like to go to Elland Road on a Tuesday night. I haven’t been there for a few years’.” All comes to those who give away a penalty in the last minute.
Star man: Jermaine Beckford (Leeds)
Yellow cards: Tottenham: Hutton. Leeds: Bromby, Doyle, Crowe, Kisnorbo, Kilkenny, Johnson
Referee: A Wiley Attendance: 35,750
TOTTENHAM: Gomes 7; Hutton 6, Bassong 5, Dawson 4, Bale 6; Kranjcar 6 (Keane 71), Modric 6, Jenas 6, Rose 5 (Palacios 56, 6); Defoe 7, Crouch 6 (Pavlyuchenko 71)
LEEDS: Ankergren 7; Crowe 6, Kisnorbo 7, Bromby 6, Hughes 6; Howson 6, Doyle 7 (Becchio 80), Kilkenny 7, Johnson 6 (White 88); Snodgrass 7, Beckford 9