Bit late for this post, but work's a bitch, you know yourself!
So we're through to last the 16...just. We went into the game with a 2-1 lead, but Lyon only needed to score once to be ahead in the tie, thanks to an away goal from the first leg. That goal came in the 17th minute, and although Lyon were pretty much rubbish, we didn't look sharp enough to get one back.
Then out of nowhere, in the 89th minute, Mooouuuuussssssa pops up with an unbelievable strike to send the travelling fans wild and the boys in to the next round. It was some finish. Picks up the ball a couple of yards outside the box and rifles it into the bottom corner. Woah Dembele bamalam! - you know the tune:
Dembele has been an absolute rock for us this season. A lot of people have recently been labelling Spurs as a one-man team. Well that just can't be the case, because when people say that, I have to ask them whether they're talking about Bale or Dembele.
Player Ratings
Friedel - 7 Not a huge amount to do. Couldn't do anything about Lyon's goal. He made a couple of decent stops, one in particular from Grenier. Looked like he might have given away a penalty, but it turned out to be a blatant dive and he did well to get out of the way.
Walker - 4 Another below-par performance by Special K. One of our best, but currently off form. Gave away quite a few sloppy free kicks, including the one that led to the goal.
Gallas - 7 Played surprisingly well. Solid in defence and actually got forward quite a bit. Still think he needs to retire or drop down a league, but I'll give credit where it's due.
Verts - 7 Played much better than he has been recently. Him and Gallas were far more solid than I anticipated.
Benny - 5 Has been dodgy this season, and was found out of position far too much last night. Still looked decent going forward as usual.
Lennon - 6 Tracked back well and made some decent runs, but never really got into the game.
Parker - 3 Was awful in the first half, constantly lost possession. Less calamitous in the second 45 but didn't take charge at any point. Not the player he was last season. Subbed for Livermore late on.
Dembele - 6 Wasn't his best display all-round. Didn't ghost past players the way he usually does, but who carees, he scored an absolute peach to send us through!
Bale - 7 Not a classic performance by his standards. Should have scored from a sublime adebayor cross. Still had a few flashes of brilliance and looked one of the biggest threats on the night.
Holtby - 5 Wasn't involved as much as he would have liked. Almost totally vanished in the second half before being subbed. Had a good effort hit the post just before half-time.
Adebayor - 6 Looked his best in a long-time. Still lazing around a lot, but gave a few beautiful passes and showed a great first touch. Maybe some day soon he'll get a goal.
SUBS
Sigurdsson - Was only on for 15 minutes or so, not enough to judge really, but made no real impact.
Dempsey - Only on for 25 minutes, was as ineffective as usual. Got up a well to win a header but sent it a mile over the bar. If I was to give him any credit, he looked like he was working quite hard.
Livermore - Only came on late, not enough time to judge.
Below par performance all round really, but we just got over the line. That said, we were playing a good side and we definitely proved ourselves as the better side over the two legs. Still would like to see a few players impose themselves more (Adebayor, Parker, Lennon..)
So we've got Inter in the last 16. When we played them in the Champs League a few years ago, we produced some serious magic, particularly through the boy Bale, let's hope for more of the same.
In the meantime, we've got the small issue of a lovely derby against Wet Spam on Monday night..
COYS!
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