|
|
|
|
 Wednesday 28th December 2005, Barclays Premiership, The Hawthorns, Kick-Off 7:45pm
Albion: Kuszczak,
Watson, C Davies, Clement, Albrechtsen, Kamara (Moore 92), Wallwork, Carter,
Greening, Kanu (Campbell 86), Ellington (Horsfield 91). Subs not used:
Kirkland
(gk), Chaplow
Tottenham Hotspur:
Robinson, Stalteri, Dawson, Gardner, Lee, Jenas (Brown 82), Carrick, Davids,
Routledge (Keane 55), Rasiak (Mido 70), Defoe. Subs not used: Cerny (gk),
Pamarot
Referee: Mike
Riley (West Yorkshire)
Assistant Referees: Dave Babski (Lincolnshire),
Rob Martin (South Yorkshire)
Half-Time:
Attendance: 27,510 Conditions: Bitterly cold night
MATCH REPORT
BY: ALBION TEAM NEWS: Albion boss Bryan Robson made three changes to the side that lost at Old Trafford on Boxing Day. Neil Clement replaced the injured Thomas Gaardsoe. Diomansy Kamara came in for Paul Robinson, who failed to shake off the effects of his concussion and Kanu replaced Richard Chaplow.TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR TEAM NEWS: Martin Jol made four changes to the side that beat Birmingham City on Monday. The injured Ledley King missed out and was replaced by Anthony Gardner. Aaron Lennon was replaced by Wayne Routledge and up front Jermain Defoe and Grzegorz Rasiak took the places of Mido and Robbie Keane. KANU DOUBLE SEES OFF SPURS It must be something about the men from North London that brings out the best in Albion. In each of the four games between the sides last season, the Baggies put on decent displays but without actually managing to register a victory. Thankfully, that winless run was to end at a desperately chilly Hawthorns. After resting a couple of players at Old Trafford two days previously, Albion boss Bryan Robson reverted to what was probably his strongest available side. Neil Clement returned from injury and Diomansy Kamara and Kanu both returned to the starting line-up after being rested against United. One thing that did not go unnoticed was the absence of Rob Earnshaw from the sub’s bench. As at Manchester on Boxing Day, he was left out in favour of both Horsfield and Campbell, Earnie’s time at The Hawthorns looks like it could soon be at an end. As expected, Spurs started brightly and almost took the lead as early as the 3rd minute when good work by Young-Pyo Lee led to Jermain Defoe firing in a shot that Clement did well to block. From the rebound Albion launched a swift counter-attack, led by Kanu, Kamara and Nathan Ellington, the ball finally being played through to Darren Carter whose lack of pace cost him the opportunity to give the home side the lead. Albion continued to impress and the lively Ellington almost came close to opening the scoring in the 7th minute when after squeezing between Lee and Michael Dawson he fired in a shot from 15 yards that England keeper Paul Robinson did well to save. Spurs were next to come close when on 14 minutes Defoe saw his close range shot easily saved by Baggies’ keeper Tomasz Kuszczak. The next meaningful passage of play saw the deadlock finally broken thanks to a combination of a lucky deflection and a cool finish. The move that led to the 23rd minute goal was started by Ellington, whose build-up play was good throughout the game. The ex-Wigan striker laid the ball off to Kamara whose run was brought to an end by an Anthony Gardner tackle, only for the ball to rebound off the helpless Michael Carrick into the path of Kanu who coolly rounded Robinson before sliding the ball into the back of the net. The goal led to one of the more unusual celebrations seen at The Hawthorns in recent years - the Nigerian star grabbed the nearest ballboy and lifted him aloft. Something of a late Christmas present for the bemused youngster. With Albion in front they began to relax a little and started playing some decent football against a very disappointing Spurs side. Clearly missing the injured Ledley King the London side’s defence look far from solid and both Nathan Ellington and Ronnie Wallwork tried their luck with efforts that were deflected away. With the exception of the tricky Routledge the visitors offered very little, the biggest disappointment perhaps being Dutch star Edgar Davids who continually lost possession. As the half drew to a close Spurs had a loud penalty claim turned down by the otherwise whistle-happy Mike Riley. At first glance it did look as though Baggies’ defender Clement had tripped Defoe in the box, only on seeing replays after the game was it clear that there was no contact made, it was a clear dive that Riley had done well to spot. It wasn’t the first time Defoe has been involved in an incident like that, indeed last season he won a dubious penalty in the FA Cup tie between the two sides at The Hawthorns. For a player of his talent is there really a need for this side to his game? Albion started the second-half brightly, doubling their lead on 52 minutes, Kanu once again the scorer. After dispossessing the clumsy Gardner, Kanu raced into the box, easily beating the challenge of Dawson before rifling the ball past the helpless Robinson. Again Kanu made for the nearest ballboy to include in the celebrations. With Spurs now two goals down Martin Jol made a switch to three up front, ex-Wolves striker Robbie Keane the man coming on. Despite Keane traditionally having an excellent record against Albion he would make no real impact in this game. With Curtis Davies, Steve Watson and the vastly improved Clement all having good games, Spurs’ strikers never really had a genuine clear cut chance all night. Kanu once again produced a moment of magic in the 58th minute when despite being surrounded by three opposition players he managed to play Jonathan Greening in on goal only for the ex-Middlesbrough star to waste the chance. After being one of our most consistent players last season Greening has flattered to deceive so far this season. Despite him continually being one of our hardest working players his final ball and passing has continually let him down. With Spurs lacking ideas on how to break us down and with Albion comfortable at 2-0 the game became scrappy, both sides losing possession far too frequently. Albion did have a lucky escape on 67 minutes though when the otherwise excellent Kuszczak came rushing out to meet a Davids long ball only for Keane to beat him to it. Thankfully the Irish international was forced wide and the chance was lost. Even the introduction of Egyptian international Mido couldn’t lift the men from White Hart Lane. Despite a couple of shots from Defoe that Kuszczak easily saved they never really came close to denying Albion a clean-sheet. At the other end Albion never really looked liked extending their lead and with the departure of both Kanu and Ellington the game was over from an attacking viewpoint for the home side. After such a confidence boosting win it is perhaps unfortunate that next on Albion’s agenda is a trip to Anfield. With a draw the very best we can expect to claim on Merseyside all attention will focus on our next home game - a home game against arch-rivals the Villa! MAN OF THE MATCH: Kanu PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN
Kuszczak 8 -
Apart from one error
was faultless.
Watson 7 - Good
solid performance.
SUBS:
Campbell 4 - Very little time to do anything. REF WATCH
Mike Riley 5 - Far too whistle happy but did
make correct decision in turning down Defoe penalty claim.
FAN
WATCH
wba.co.uk
Bryan Robson:
"That's two terrific results
for us against Man City and Spurs. Every aspect of our game was great
tonight. As a defensive unit we were very good. We also attacked well and
worked hard and had some outstanding individual performances.” "We're
very pleased because the main thing for us is that it's given us 19 points
from 19 games and we're aiming to hopefully have more points than games
played by the turn of the year. This season, we want to be clear of the
relegation zone before the last game. But we're going to have to work hard
in every match to achieve that.” "We're
now starting to play the type of football we're capable of and we need to
keep doing that. But I can't ask for anything more from the players than
being as solid as we have been in our last four home games and playing some
good football, which has entertained our fans. Once you start getting into a
decent run the confidence and belief becomes high. That helps me because the
players then look forward to the next game." "The
new lads that have come in, like Curtis Davies and Steve Watson, have got a
reasonable understanding with the rest of the lads now so they're making an
impression. Nathan Ellington and Joe Kamara have also got a good link-up
with Kanu, so it's looking good for us." "We've
got to keep trying to bring other people into the relegation scrap and open
up the gap on the bottom teams even more.”
"Keeping clean sheets is always good for players' confidence because it
shows they're being disciplined in their defensive play. We're organising
each other much better than we were earlier in the season. We look a lot
tighter and more physical in our approach, which has helped us."
Source: wba.co.uk
Martin Jol:
"I think West Brom were the
better side in the first 35 minutes and Kanu gave us a few problems but I
don't think it was decisive. The only decisive situations occurred when we
gave away the ball and they took advantage. They had maybe another two
half-chances but I can't remember Paul Robinson making any great saves.” "We've
come back six times this season and said at half-time that we had to do the
same again. But we then gave away the second goal. It's not typical for my
team, but when we gave away that goal we lost the game. That is
disappointing but I don't think we deserved a lot. “ "In the
second half we did okay and it's only a matter of scoring one goal, we might
come away with a draw and it's no problem. But as I said, if you give away a
cheap goal like the second goal it's very difficult."
Source: tottenhamhotspur.com
The attendance of 27,510 is the largest Hawthorns league
crowd of the season so far. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
