Tottenham 3 Stoke City 1:THE MEMORY of that cold and brutal afternoon at Stoke City in October will take time to fade for the Tottenham Hotspur supporters who made the trip. It was not just the 2-1 defeat, rather the desperate manner of it. Juande Ramos' managerial reign had hit rock bottom and the club's board knew that they had to act.
The visit of Tony Pulis’s team to White Hart Lane was always going to demand a progress report on the man who has been entrusted with the recovery operation. Happily for Harry Redknapp, the verdict was encouraging.
His team had entered the match on a sticky run of league form and they dared not consider defeat. Yet inspired by Luka Modric, who limped off at the final whistle, they played with a verve throughout the first half which swept them into an unassailable lead.
Characteristically, Tottenham showed their other face in the second half. Nerves bubbled beneath the surface after James Beattie scored his first goal for Stoke since his transfer two weeks ago from Sheffield United.
Tottenham were keen to steady themselves with an early goal. Aaron Lennon obliged yet the part which Jermain Defoe played could not be overlooked.
After Michael Dawson had won a towering defensive header and Roman Pavlyuchenko moved the ball on to Defoe, the little striker advanced before switching the play out to Lennon on the left. Andy Wilkinson made the mistake of standing off the winger and the cover from Abdoulaye Faye was too slow to arrive. Lennon’s low drive flashed through the legs of Thomas Sorensen.
Some of the football was dazzling and the home crowd revelled in the slick build-up to the second goal, in which the ball fizzed between five Tottenham players. Pavlyuchenko sliced open the Stoke defence with the final pass and Defoe finished clinically.
The third was not long in coming. Modric enjoyed himself and when he easily beat Amdy Faye and crossed, following a short corner by Bentley, Dawson headed past the despairing Sorensen.
TOTTENHAM: Cudicini, Corluka, Dawson, Woodgate, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon (Huddlestone 90), Zokora, Modric, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko (Campbell 90), Defoe. Subs not used: Alnwick, Bale, Taarabt, Rocha, Giovani. Booked: Bentley, Woodgate.
STOKE CITY: Sorensen, Wilkinson (Griffin 46), Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye (Sonko 46), Higginbotham, Delap, Amdy Faye (Fuller 49), Whelan, Etherington, Cresswell, Beattie. Subs not used: Simonsen, Lawrence, Kitson, Pugh. Booked: Higginbotham, Cresswell, Whelan.
Referee: Mike Riley (Yorkshire).
