Keane on target as Spurs consolidate fourth spot
Manchester City 0 Tottenham 2
Tottenham’s march towards the Champions League gathered momentum tonight as a Robbie Keane strike helped them end the festive period six points clear of old rivals Arsenal.
A Sylvain Distin blunder gifted Mido the opportunity to sign off in style ahead of his African Nations Cup commitments with Egypt and City had long since run out of ideas when Keane lashed home his seventh goal of the campaign to wrap up a deserved win.
While the result sends Jol’s progressive side into the New Year with a firm belief they can land that cherished top four spot at the expense of a side they have lived in the shadow of for so long, for City boss Stuart Pearce January promises to be a difficult month.
All the early season promise has disappeared in run which has seen them collect just two wins from 10 league outings and without significant reinforcements during the transfer window will end the season looking worriedly over their shoulder at the drop zone rather than towards the European place they crave.
Tottenham were well worthy of their third win of the Christmas period, with Mido causing the hosts major problems.
Nevertheless, they needed Distin’s misjudgement to see them on the road to victory after a drab half hour which must have seen watching Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson reflecting on the bore draw at Highbury 24 hours earlier as the match of the season.
Pearce has already lost his temper once during the Festive period over City’s chronic defending, when they went down 4-3 in a Boxing Day thriller at Wigan.
Distin was fingered that afternoon too for allowing himself to be muscled out of his one-on-one confrontation with Jason Roberts.
It was not so much a physical problem this time round, more a mental explosion.
The inquest began as soon as Mido wheeled away in triumph. Distin was clearly unhappy with David James, although it was not clear exactly why.
The only plausible reason was that the City goalkeeper had advised his captain to let the ball run behind the dead-ball line.
Either way, someone wearing a City shirt was guilty of a chronic error of judgement as Aaron Lennon raced past the stylish Frenchman and cut a pass back from the byline.
From his touchline berth, Pearce, a member of the ‘clear it and argue later’ school of defending, was fuming.
With Distin and James hopelessly out of position, it was left to Richard Dunne to try to keep Mido’s first-time effort out.
The Irishman thrust out a leg hopefully, but only succeeded in diverting the striker’s shot into the corner.
Keane should have doubled Tottenham’s lead before City had a chance to clear their heads.
Yet again, Lennon was the provider, beating Stephen Ireland with ease before sending over a looping cross which Mido this time got his head to.
Dunne made the block but when the loose ball bounced back to Keane, the Irish international should have done far better than volley wide.
At least the setbacks sparked a poor Blues side into life, with Joey Barton predictably leading the charge.
After felling Mido with one powerful free-kick, Barton curled another into the sidenetting in what represented the nearest City came to testing Paul Robinson.
Spurs had their hosts creaking badly in the second half as they prodded away looking for openings, with Lennon a particular threat.
Every time the England Under-21 star took possession, Ben Thatcher was in trouble but mainly thanks to Dunne’s stout defending and a misdirected volley from City old boy Michael Brown, they remained in the contest.
Brown has been linked with a move back to the Blues during this month’s transfer window but, handed a rare start by Martin Jol due to Edgar Davids’ absence, the former Sheffield United man took the chance to impress and nearly marked his reappearance with a goal as he flashed a late shot just wide.
Keane had the final word when – less than a minute after Bradley Wright-Phillips shot narrowly wide – he took down Mido’s flick with a brilliant first touch, then shot beyond James.
One point from four festive fixtures is not an impressive return and the feeling Pearce’s prolonged honeymoon period is now over was only reinforced by the boos which rang out at a couple of his second half substitutions.
The City chief may also have to deal with the aftermath of David Sommeil’s studs-first challenge on Young-pyo Lee, which saw the Korean stretchered off 18 minutes from time.
| Related Stories: |
|
