Back to winning ways

Tottenham do know how to keep you on the edge of your seat! What's it called again? "Squeaky bum time?" Well It certainly applied here at times!
It was a strange game really, at times the play was fantastic - our distribution was at its best, the passing fluid and direct and the forward thinking top notch. Other times It was the opposite, the ball was given away far too easily throughout the game and lapses in concentration nearly cost us more than once.

However a win Is a win, especially away from home and its a much needed boost after the last weeks events on and off the field. Especially when you take into account the amount of injuries the squad has at the moment.

The game started off in great fashion - Crouch finally getting on the score-sheet after what feels like a lifetime off it, to add to the excitement It was a headed effort as well - he's obviously been practising. After that however It was a very touch and go first half, Blackburn were definitely up for this tonight and as you would expect were throwing everything at us - only a combination of poor shooting and good defending kept it at 1-0. Gomes however did try his best to cock It up (on a number of occasions), thankfully the defence were there to mop up.

It was about the 22nd minute when I thought to myself "you know, Palacios hasn't been too bad so far, he hasn't really given the ball away and is looking fairly confident". Oh God how that changed. Like the Gomes flap a game wouldn't be complete without Palacios trying to give the game away and he too was responsible for a terrible cock-up just outside the box. Thankfully for us my nan would have produced a better shot and Gomes comfortably saved.

After this he gave the ball away every other pass and didn't look happy at all, when you notice that someone completes a routine pass you know there's a problem. Hopefully Thudd won't be away for too much longer!

The Second half for the most part was much better, the passing was great and we really did dominate passages of play, Van der Vaart in particular was fantastic. Not just in the second half but the first as well, out of everyone he was the stand out player. He just didn't stop, chasing every loose ball, making challenges, helping at the back and then surging forward. To top it off he produced the cross for Crouchies goal. He's had a few quiet games lately so it was nice to see him back at his best!

Crouch back on the score sheet

Defoe SHOULD have scored on the 59th minute, a typical break away from Lennon saw him surging up the field into a huge amount of space and laying it off for the forward who had his shot saved by Robbo - to be fair to the ex-spur it was a really good save but nevertheless it was disappointing.

As I said at the beginning the last 10 minutes or so was pretty much all Blackburn, we didn't really attack, seemingly content to get behind the ball and see off the game. To their credit this was achieved but It so nearly wasn't.
Gomes has 3 sides to him: a) He's fantastic and is unbeatable b) Is completely awful and looks like he's got banana skins as gloves with a thick layer of oil over the top c) Somewhere between the two - usually ends in a draw.

I think we saw a and c tonight. the majority of the game was c. He was really quite poor, flapping at balls and not looking happy. The last 20 minutes or so he went into a and pulled off 4 or 5 fantastic saves. Without that we would have been lucky to come home with a point but credit to Gomes, he proved why he's our number one.

All in all a great result away from home under the circumstances, City also threw away 2 points which adds another Brucie bonus to proceedings! We now find ourselves in fifth - 3 points off Chelsea in fourth and 5 points from City in third and we've got a game In hand!
Hopefully this result brings back some optimism from the fans, we may be out of the title race but fourth spot is most definitely still available! Not to mention the Champions League is back soon!

Player ratings
Gomes - 7.5 - I nearly gave him an 8 based on his end of game heroics but remembered he was quite poor at the beginning of the game, well played though overall and a clean sheet to boot.
Corluka - 6.5 - Maybe a little harsh with 6.5 but he really wasn't great tonight, continually beaten and gave away a lot of unnecessary fouls
Gallas - 8 - Great game tonight, a couple of wobbles but was otherwise solid at the back!
Bassong - 7 - Got back well when needed and on the whole had a good night
BAE - 7.5 - I've been very critical in the past of him but he really is turning into a solid left back, another great performance - should just be a little more aware of opposition players around him
VdV - 8.5 - Just awesome, played his heart out! Got an assist and really inspired the team at times
Palacios - 6 - Started well but then reverted to his normal self, gave the ball away far far too much, needs to sort out his ball control.
Jenas - 7 - How do you rate a player who doesn't really do a lot? Didn't make too many mistakes but apart from his goal line clearance towards the end didn't really add a lot. Typical Jenas in that respect.
Lennon - 7.5 - Always a threat and continually caused problems for Blackburn, needs to work on his final ball but is unstoppable on the breakaway, should be out on the right though as he is too predictable on the left
Defoe - 6.5 - Much like Jenas he didn't really add much to the game, should have scored but messed up his lines, hopefully will get back on form soon. Subbed on 76 for Sandro.
Crouch - 7.5 - Nice to see him back on the score sheet, hopefully not just a one off!

Subs
Sandro (for Defoe) - 7 - Only on for 15 minutes, looked much more capable than Palacios