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We're third...it's UnbelievaBALE!
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We started nervously and failed to retain the ball. We could have easily found ourselves a goal behind in the opening minutes, but thankfully Gareth went past a few players and found the bottom corner with a fantastic finish to put us ahead early on. Then, in typical Spurs fashion, we let Wet Spam back into the game. We were all over the place and they were finding it easy to get into goal scoring range. And then Scott Parker conceded a penalty, which Andy 'grease-face' Carroll converted. Disaster! But it got worse. Joe Cole finished well in the 58th minute to give the spammers the lead. And it would have been 3-1 but for a fine piece of goalkeeping from Lloris, when Taylor was through on goal.
Bale was instrumental in getting us back into the game just as it looked as if it was slipping away. It was his free-kick in the 76th minute, that led to the goal-mouth scramble that eventually resulted in Sigurdsson sticking the bastarding thing in the net. Although the equaliser brought a degree of relief, every Spurs fan knew a draw wasn't enough. We needed another goal, and who would be the man of the moment, only Gareth Bale (Bale, Bale, Bale)
What a run this boy is on. 8 goals in 6 games.
Jussi Jaaskelainen had a brilliant game. He frustratingly saved three Steven Caulker headers as well as a whole host of other chances. Bar something truly special, we weren't getting past him. (Well that or something truly scrappy, like Sigurdsson's goal!) Happily, Gareth produced something special, twice!
Now we head into Sunday's game with Ars*nal full to the brim with confidence and 4 clear points ahead of them. If it wasn't for that last piece of Bale brilliance, the Arse would have been able to overtake us with a win. That 90th minute goal was crucial to our hopes of finishing in the 'Top 4'. I can't stress it's importance enough.
What I'm trying to say here is...BALE! BALE! BALE! BALE!
Okay so there were a few other players on the pitch! Here's how the lads rated:
Hugo - 8 Excellent again. Not as much to do as his opposite number, but didn't put a foot wrong. Made a fantastic stop from Taylor to save us from falling further behind.
Special K - 4 Made one brilliant block to stop a Jarvis shot but was otherwise a disaster. Constantly giving the ball away and running into trouble. Put needless pressure on himself and his teammates
Daws - 6 Solid performance from Daws but struggled a little against Carroll in the air.
Caulker - 7 Looked good at both ends of the pitch. Made a few excellent tackles, and was unlucky to be denied by the excellent Jaaskelainen three times!
Verts - 3 Totally at fault for Wet Spam's second goal, and looked ropy all-round at left back. Poor display.
Azza - 6 Didn't get the service he needs to make a real impact, but still managed to get a few nicely lofted crosses in to the danger zone, and tracked back superbly.
Parker - 4 Failed to control midfield and gave away a penalty. Looked okay on the ball but still off the pace.
Mooouuuuussssa - 6 Unlucky to pick up a yellow card early, but didn't stop him continuing to make big tackles. Should have kept the ball better, but found some nice passes. Not his best showing, but still played an important role.
Bale <3 - 9 Scored two crackers, and whipped in a great free-kick for the other goal. He's probably had better performances, but he was a one-man show tonight. Wasn't so hot with the direct free-kicks this time... but I guess nobody's perfect! (He's getting close I hear you cry!)
Holtby - 5 This was a big test for Holtby and he passed, but not with flying colours or anything like that. He put a couple of decent balls in and he ran and ran and ran, which is great to see. He wasn't involved as much as he might have liked, and he didn't really get a chance to be creative
Ade - 2 Lazy and useless to put it bluntly. Didn't offer anything as a target man, and made no effort to get into dangerous positions. He also missed an absolute sitter after Sigurdsson's shot rebounded off the keeper.
Subs
Siggs - 7 Came on near the start of the second-half and started by beautifully curling a shot that struck the upright. continued to look very lively and spread the ball well. I've been very critical of this boy, but hopefully we see more of what he showed us tonight from now on.
Livermore - N/A Came on pretty late-on for Parker. Looked comfortable and strong on the ball as always, but didn't have enough time to put his stamp on the game.
Carroll - N/A Came on with 15 minutes to go, so not really enough time to get a rating. Stuck to short passes and didn't make any mistakes.
So that's it folks. We're now sitting pretty in third place, two points above Chelski, and 4 points above Ar*enal, who we play on Sunday. By winning on Sunday, we could make the gap between us and them seven points! And if we're looking at the table with our new found 'big club' attitude, then we're just the five points behind Man City. Is second place realistic? Comment us!!
I guess some Monday's are better than others eh?
COYS!
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