Spurs v Charlton

[kennethlindheim]

Andy Reid returns to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday as Charlton Athletic look to build on the midweek win over Blackburn Rovers.

The Addicks climbed off the bottom of the Premiership table after Talal El Karkouri's injury-time free-kick clinched a 1-0 win on Tuesday.

The success was Les Reed's first as head coach and he is keen for the Blackburn game to be a turning point in the club's season.

Reed will be looking towards Reid to provide the spark against his former club as the Irishman returns to White Hart Lane for the first time since his summer exit.

Since being converted from a winger into an advanced midfield role in recent weeks, Reid has flourished and he should continue just in behind Darren Bent again.

Lloyd Sam also impressed against Blackburn on his first Premiership start and will hope to keep his place in the team, if Reed sticks with the same formation.

That would again see Marcus Bent and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink left out of the starting line-up as Charlton chase a first away win in over a year.

One enforced change for Reed could come in defence after Djimi Traore suffered a hamstring injury in midweek. If he misses out, Souleymane Diawara will come in at centre-half, with Hermann Hreidarsson switching to left-back.

Charlton have a good record at White Hart Lane, having won three and lost just once in seven visits in the Premiership era.

And they face a Spurs side missing three senior players in Robbie Keane, Didier Zokora and Jermaine Jenas.

Keane is out for six weeks after suffering medial ligament damage after scoring the winner as a substitute against Middlesbrough in midweek.

His absence will see Jermain Defoe start, with Dimitar Berbatov likely to keep his place at the expense of Mido.

Zokora is suspended after being sent off against Boro and Jenas is out for the next four weeks with an ankle complaint.

Teemu Tainio or Danny Murphy could partner Tom Huddlestone in central midfield, with Aaron Lennon and Steed Malbranque out wide.

Lee Young-pyo was given the nod over Benoit Assou-Ekotto to start at left-back against Boro and the South Korean will hope to keep his place.

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=434001

[bandini]

Shouild be a very interesting one. Spurs will want to watch the injury situation carefully with an important game coming up against Dinamo Bucuresti next week Thursday.

This is really going to test their character but I predict a win for Spurs although they won't run away with it.

[Reynaldo7]

WOOOOOOOOOO WHAT A GAME 5-1 gooooo Spurs

Well haven't watched it yet but downloading it right now Lennon was on fire apparently anyone get to see the match?

[kyan]

Originally Posted by bandini

Shouild be a very interesting one. Spurs will want to watch the injury situation carefully with an important game coming up against Dinamo Bucuresti next week Thursday.

This is really going to test their character but I predict a win for Spurs although they won't run away with it.

lol, ahem .... maybe u should be negative more often

[bandini]

Better to be negative and surprised than positive and shocked

I haven't seen the game, but I'm going to try and track down a download because this must have been a good one.

Please PM me if you have a download link.

[bandini]

Dimitar Berbatov scored the first and last goals as Tottenham opened the floodgates to thrash relegation-threatened Charlton 5-1 at White Hart Lane.


Empics
Andy Reid gets in a cross against his former club before Steed Malbranque can get there.

Teemu Tainio, Steed Malbranque and Jermain Defoe also scored for Spurs, who extended their run of wins at home to nine and revived hopes of challenging for a Champions League place.

• Jol hails Lennon

Michael Dawson's own goal was the only reply from the visitors, who are still without a Premiership away victory and failed in their bid for back-to-back wins which would have given them hope in their battle to get out of the bottom three.

Defoe's goal was particularly sweet as he was jeered by away fans throughout for his move from Charlton to West Ham as a teenager.

With Robbie Keane injured, Defoe's sixth in six starts offers plenty of options in attack now Mido is back fit and Berbatov is in his rich vein of form.

They also have England winger Aaron Lennon, who was at the heart of Spurs' attacking threat and shifted across midfield, playing on either flank and through the middle to devastating effect.

However, it was Spurs' first Saturday game at White Hart Lane since the defeat to Everton in August, and initially there was a lack of edge that normally comes with their evening clashes.

Despite this, Dawson was booked early on for a slide on Charlton lone-striker Darren Bent, while Bryan Hughes also received a yellow card, in the 11th minute, when he prevented Lennon breaking forward.

Amady Faye, who had already unsuccessfully tried his luck from long distance, had the first meaningful effort on goal when he fizzed a volley just wide after Spurs failed to clear the ball, but clear-cut chances were difficult to come by.

Dawson had a penalty appeal waved away by Mike Dean after 25 minutes when he broke forward, collected the rebound from his own cross, and went down under the challenge of Faye in the area.

Lennon had switched to the left flank and it sparked Spurs into life, with their first spell of pressure in the match resulting in the opener.

Tom Huddlestone slid the ball to the England winger on the half-hour mark, and he turned and flicked through to Berbatov to score his eighth of the season.

Spurs doubled the lead three minutes later when Lennon's cross was cleared and fell to Tainio, returning to the side to replace suspended midfielder Didier Zokora, whose drive took a slight deflection to wrong-foot Scott Carson.

Looking comfortable to extend their winning run at White Hart Lane, the hosts were then caught on the counter attack when Andy Reid, the former Spurs winger who moved to Charlton in the summer, helped pull a goal back.

The Republic of Ireland midfielder, who shifted from the left to the middle since his move, broke through Tainio's tackle and surged forward with four minutes left in the half.

Reid's low cross looped over Paul Robinson off Dawson, handing Charlton hope in their search for an opening away win in the Premiership this season.

There was still time in the first half for Lennon to be brought down on the edge of the area - Spurs thought they had a shout for a penalty - and Defoe had his free-kick deflected wide.

Defoe had two efforts early in the second half too, but neither troubled Carson.

In the 53rd minute Charlton took off Radostin Kishishev for Dennis Rommedahl to give the visitors more of an attacking threat, but Spurs restored their two-goal cushion within a minute.

Berbatov nodded a floated cross back into the path of Malbranque on the edge of the area and he took a touch before volleying firmly past Carson for his first goal in Tottenham colours.

Defoe extended the lead in the 63rd minute after Hughes stayed on the ball and Lennon stepped in. The ball broke to Defoe, who lashed past Carson.

Berbatov made it 5-1 two minutes later, collecting Robinson's throw, getting a fortunate deflection off Faye before rifling past Carson.

# Jol hails Lennon

Martin Jol hailed the versatility of Aaron Lennon as Tottenham swept aside hapless Charlton with a 5-1 victory in their Barclays Premiership clash at White Hart Lane.

Lennon was not on the scoresheet as Spurs recorded their ninth successive win at home, but he had a hand in most of their attacks against the relegation-threatened Addicks.

Dimitar Berbatov scored the first and final goals, Jermain Defoe, Steed Malbranque and Teemu Tainio also netted, while Michael Dawson's own goal was the only reply from the visitors.

But Lennon's performance caught the eye, starting with setting up Berbatov for the opener on the half-hour mark.

Jol said: 'It was very good, he played on the flank and couldn't get the ball and (Amady) Faye was spare in midfield. But I know Aaron can play on the left, in the hole and on the right.

'He put them under pressure with his dribbling and it's good for his confidence as well that he knows he can play anywhere.

'He can even develop as a second striker but, if you have a winger like him, it's a big plus.'

Martin Jol said about Berbatov'Normally, a foreign player takes four, five or six months and I'm still convinced its not easy for him and other foreign players,' Jol added. 'But, sometimes, to go forward you have to take a step back and I'm very happy with their development.

'If he scores 20 goals, we'll be happy with him and he's scored nine now. Jermain Defoe could do that.'

The victory puts Spurs back in the shake-up for the Champions League place they just missed out on last season.

They have lost only twice in 17 matches, with Jol adding: 'I feel we are more consistent than people give us credit for. I think every other team besides the top two would be satisfied with those results.

'Last year, we were the best of the rest. At Spurs, the expectancy levels are always high because our home record is very good.'

He added: 'I feel we can be in the top four in the next two years.'

Charlton boss Les Reed held a 'frank' discussion with his players in the dressing room after the match.

'I think we caused them one or two problems to the extent that they changed their shape,' Reed said.

'When the first goal went in, we lost our discipline and losing two goals in a short space of time was difficult to come back from.

'We got a lifeline going in 2-1 at half-time and I was confident that, if we put a few things right, we'd have a chance.

'I think some players tried too hard and did things out of character. Some of the boys tried to get us back in the game and we were punished.'

He added: 'We've had an honest discussion in the changing room. Almost everybody in the team has contributed to it.

'We've had to leave the dressing room with the commitment of what needs to be done to put things right. It was frank and earnest but the consensus was we're good enough to get ourselves out of it.'

He added: 'We've got to show character.

'If we're bottom at Christmas, we're not going to throw the towel in.'

source: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=199244&cc=5901

[bandini]

I posted a video of the goals in the YouTube thread.