1. PREMIER LEAGUE
Etherington 27; Jones 41
HARRY REDKNAPP feared he had thrown
Peter Crouch to the lions by starting him.
The Tottenham striker’s red card against
Real Madrid in midweek all but ended the
club’s Champions League ambitions.
And Redknapp was wary sections of the
White Hart Lane crowd could have turned on
him before he scored on 11 minutes.
The Spurs boss said: “I was
really pleased for Crouch. I
wasn’t sure what kind of
reaction he was going to
get from the crowd.
“It definitely entered my
mind. I’ve seen football
crowds turn on players
who get sent off before.
“But they were great with
him and created a fantastic atmosphere. I
don’t think he was worried but he enjoyed a
really good reception and they were great
with him.”
As for the battle for fourth, Redknapp said:
“It’s wide open now. We’re right in there.
Chelsea nearly lost ground and Liverpool
could definitely beat Manchester City for us.”
TOTTENHAM 3
STOKE 2
GREG GOBERE Puliswants
onemore
TOTTENHAM: Wed v Real Madrid (CL, h). STOKE: Sun, April 17 v Bolton (FAC, Wembley).
Redknapp’s
Crouchfear
n LUK’S IN — midfielder
Luka Modric slots home
Spurs’ second and (left) a
furious Vedran Corluka
attempts to confront fans
TONY PULIS is certain one more win will be
enough to keep Stoke in the top flight.
The Potters are six points away from the
danger zone after falling short against Spurs.
But boss Pulis refuses to push the panic
button. He said: “We’re fighting for our lives
just like everybody else and we need to get
points on the board. But I think one more win
will do it for us.
“We’ve got 38 points and
I think we need to get to 40
as quick as we possibly
can so we stop looking
over our shoulders.
“As soon as you get to
that, you stop relying on
other results.
“All the bottom three have
lost today and there are only six games left.
But we’ll get there.
“We have played two teams in the quarter-
finals of the Champions League over the last
two weeks and we have given them both a
good game.
“I am very pleased for the players and it
shows how good our character is.”
Crouch 11, 34; Modric 18
NEXT FIXTURES:
at White Hart Lane
IT should have been the
emphatic scene of Peter
Crouch’s redemption.
Quite how Tottenham’s first win in
two months nearly turned into an ugly
site of retribution is anyone’s guess.
As the final whistle sounded,
Crouch — the pantomime villain of
Madrid — applauded the fans after
his brace helped Tottenham get back
on track in the league.
But right-back Vedran ‘Charlie’
Corluka turned his back on the
celebrations to confront a group of
Spurs supporters in the far corner
who had given him stick moments
before for a poorly executed free-kick.
One fan described the Croatian as
‘a man possessed’ as he marched
ominously towards his targets.
Limelight
He waded past one match official
— spitting bile en route.
Had it not been for Spurs coach
Kevin Bond dragging the player out
of the firing line, the FA disciplinary
board may have been really
overstretched this month.
It was a shame the events took a
little of the limelight away from
Crouch, who got back into the fans’
good books quicker than it took him
to get sent off against Real Madrid.
Harry Redknapp was unsure of
how the White Hart Lane faithful
would respond to the striker after he
saw red just 15 minutes into Spurs’
4-0 whitewash on Tuesday.
But he headed home Tottenham’s
first goal in 413 minutes of football
before the boo-boys could get their
voices in tune.
The Spurs hitman was looking like
Didier Drogba in his pomp —
despatching goals like Premier
League football was as challenging
as a kickabout in the playground.
Crouch also put his body on the
line in defence like he was in the
trenches.
Yet the apprehension on
Redknapp’s face in the 11 minutes
before the opener told its own story.
His hopes of staying in the hunt for
a top-four finish were firmly pinned
on two PFA Footballer of the Year
candidates. But you could have
accused the pair of nobbling the vote
had their early-season form not been
so resounding.
Lately, Gareth Bale’s leg has
looked like it may be held together
by the medical tape he wears.
With each passing game, Rafael
van der Vaart has been playing more
like the man who Madrid deemed
surplus to requirements. Yesterday,
both turned the situation on its head.
Bale was back to his energetic self,
cropping up everywhere on the field.
And although Van der Vaart faded
a little in the second half, he had
more than enough puff to last the
duration. This is a feat in itself when
you consider his track record with
being substituted.
Spurs could stake a healthy claim
for having one of the strongest
squads in the league but the strain
was certainly starting to show.
Steam
They haven’t yet found the
balancing act that all Champions
League clubs need to perfect.
Also, Redknapp confessed his
players are now running out of steam
at the worst possible time.
Manchester City have suddenly
discovered how to make the most
out of a multi-million pound squad
just as the league reaches its climax.
The six-point gap between the two
clubs has now become three.
But with City, Arsenal, Chelsea and
Liverpool on the horizon, Champions
League football is the last thing
Redknapp can promise anyone. It is
understandable that many believe
Tottenham’s ability to nail that
coveted fourth spot will be the
biggest indicator of whether they hold
on to their brightest stars.
But judging by yesterday’s action,
Redknapp can guarantee a hell of a
ride in the process.
That should not be taken for
granted as Chelsea and City fans
would kill for some of the thrills
Spurs deliver to their public. Bale will
never get bored in a Tottenham shirt
— that much is assured.
The shackles were off with the
burden of Champions League football
free from their minds.
Tottenham eased back into the
free-flowing stride that has been
missing for months.
With Stoke 2-0 down to Crouch’s
header and Luka Modric’s run and
finish, Matthew Etherington should
have been no threat when he started
slaloming in front of the dugout.
Yet the former White Hart Lane
winger somehow made it all the way
to goal and passed the ball through
Heurelho Gomes’ legs.
Crouch’s second header of the
match 11 minutes before half-time
restored the two-goal lead but
Kenwyne Jones seized on to a Spurs
mix-up to peg the score to 3-2.
Potters boss Tony Pulis should
count himself lucky there were no TV
cameras present to pick up his
four-letter tirade in the first period.
But in a nervy finish, it was
Redknapp who needed a healthy
dose of censorship and a cert 18
sticker slapped on his head.
TEAM FORMATION
Possession
Pass completion
Shots on/off target
Corners
Yellow/Red cards
61%
79%
5/2
10
39%
65%
6/3
5
Corluka
Van der Vaart Bale
Begovic
Huth Shawcross
Jones
Assou-
Ekotto
WhelanWilkinson
Etherington
Delap
Walters
Pennant
Wilson
Kaboul
Crouch
Huddlestone
Pavlyuchenko
Modric
Dawson
Gomes
SUBS — TOTTENHAM: Gallas (Assou-
Ekotto, 89).
STOKE: Whitehead (Whelan, 76), Fuller
(Pennant, 76), Diao (Delap, 76).
He’s a right Charlie
6 SCORE, April 10, 2011