As the second half started Glenn Hoddle said he 'ad a feeling about Spurs' chances, but a goal and a man down you'll forgive me for not sharing his optimism.
Tottenham Hotspur ought to be familiar with Emmanuel Adebayor. Prior to tonight he'd scored 8 goals in 9 games against us. Adebayor is 6 foot 4, so it’s curious that Jermaine Jenas was the player tasked with marking him. Heurelho Gomes and Luka Modrić made a hash of stopping his header going in.
Peter Crouch picked up the first of two bookings in the eighth minute for inexplicably diving into a challenge with Sergio Ramos. The tackle on Marcelo ten minutes later wasn’t really dangerous and a lot of refs might’ve let him get away with it, but even Jose Mourinho’s consolatory pat on the shoulder doesn’t change the fact that leaping in with your studs up is against the rules.
A Ramos diving header almost made it’s way to Adebayor and with a couple of minutes of the first half remaining Michael Dawson was lucky to get away with a two-handed block in the area from Ángel di María’s volley. It may have deflected off his knee, but normally it’s only John Terry that gets away with raising both hands like that.
No personnel changes until half time, Jermain Defoe coming on for Rafael van der Vaart who was struggling up front by himself. He’d been hoping to play 90 minutes against his old club, but he finds that difficult enough when he has ten teammates. He was booked for kicking the ball away earlier in the game. It would be nice if he would exercise some self-control every now and then.
Defoe did okay, but chances were few and far between and Real Madrid’s defence and midfield protection is top draw. They pressed, Spurs defended deep and in the 57th minute William Gallas found himself with two players to pick up, one of them Adebayor who headed in his second. Much of the pre-match focus was on Cristiano Ronaldo and he did get on the scoresheet with a volley from a Kaká cross (Gomes might’ve got down quicker or used his legs), but they’ve got so many other quality players. Di María was very good and scored the goal of the night spanking his strike into the top corner.
The Gareth Bale backlash in gained some force since his nomination for PFA Player of the Year (and Young Player of the Year) was announced. While the accolade may not be deserved (Modrić has been much more consistent) it's a little harsh to say he hasn't performed in the league and there's little allowance made for the fitness issues he's contended with in recent months. Tonight his impact was minimal although a quick throw which Van der Vaart caught on his chest with the intention of volleying goalwards would've been wonderful if it had paid off and he hit the side-netting after picking a up a fantastic diagonal ball from Michael Dawson. Perhaps more crucially Aaron Lennon got ill at some point between the warm up and kick off and was replaced with Jermaine Jenas.
There’s no shame in losing to a side as good as Real Madrid, and even though the four-nil hammering is basically game over even with 90 minutes at White Hart Lane to play, I can’t say I’m disappointed with the players who put in a decent performance.
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