|
|
 |
| |
Heart-stopper at 12 yards: watched by his anxious team-mates, Jamie O’Hara steps up for the first penalty – and misses |
I watch sudden death of my Spurs in the firing line
Our in-house, long-suffering Tottenham fan sees his beloved fail in shoot-out
Carling Cup Final
Man United 0, Spurs 0
Utd win 4-1 on Penalties AET
THE “if only’s” went on late into the night in the pubs along the Finchley Road on Sunday.
Fans had gathered for the usual post-match pints, but it all felt a little like a wake.
If only Aaron Lennon’s second-half screamer had been an inch further to the left.
If only Luka Modric had taken the third penalty.
If only Gareth Bale had spotted Darren Bent’s canter into space in the closing minutes.
And if only United keeper Ben Foster’s iPod had gone flat before the penalties so he couldn’t have a quick brush-up on where our guys were going to stick their kicks.
But Sunday’s Carling Cup final defeat to Manchester United after 120 minutes of gruelling excitement was no disgrace.
As one of 45,000 Spurs fans who turned Wembley into a blue and white spectacle, I can vouch that this was a classic Spurs experience: in a season of often woeful moments, the boys in Lilywhite put in a decent shift and we had a super sing-song before, during and after the game.
It was heart-breaking to see skipper Ledley King walk past the trophy he so gleefully lifted 12 months ago. The 28-year-old put in a barnstorming display, especially when you remember it is the first time he has played for 120 minutes since last year’s final.
After the game, his disappointment was tangible. “Penalties is never a nice way to lose, and we thought we could win it,” he said. “We created some good chances.”
And his views were echoed by Spurs boss Harry Redknapp. The manager, looking even more hangdog than usual, said: “We were terrific. It comes down to a lottery with penalties. They couldn’t beat us over 90 minutes plus extra time. We didn’t deserve to lose.”
He shared the views of Spurs fans who turned the west end of the famous stadium into a mini White Hart Lane. The result may have been a disappointment, but the performance was not. For a while it looked like we might pull off a spectacular shock.
As the Tottenham faithful walked up Wembley Way before the game, there was a sense of foreboding. We took crumbs of comfort from the fact the champions-elect were held at the Lane in December and though the Reds can point to a heart-stopping moment late on when Ronaldo hit a post, Spurs kept them at arms-length for much of the match.
The first surprise was seeing Darren Bent starting and Jonathan Woodgate out. Woody, who scored last season’s winner, had hurt an ankle in training. But this had a silver lining. It meant Michael Dawson, who defended like a lion, got his deserved day out at Wembley. You’d have to be a real sour face to begrudge the genial centre-back his appearance after filling in for King again this term, especially after he missed out in last year’s final.
His was just one of a number of Wembley-marquee performances.
Full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto singled his intent with a wonderful, crunching tackle on Ronaldo after just three minutes. The United winger got no joy from him throughout. Didier Zokora’s constant harassing of United’s midfielders gave his more skilful teammates a base to play on.
Lennon gave his marker Patrice Evra a torrid afternoon. His pull back for the lurking Roman Pavlyuchenko on 20 minutes was a classic example of wing play.
Lennon would later have the chance of the match when a Modric dummy found him in oodles of space in the box. His shot was well saved and left us thinking of the glory that might have been.
Eventually, United’s winning mentality showed. A lack of composure from Bent, Pavlyuchenko and occasionally Lennon in the final third had the Spurs hordes holding their heads in their hands.
The lack of composure was to prove so costly, especially from 12 yards out. |
 |
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
