Tottenham 2-0 Sunderland

Sunderland were left to rue a host of missed chances as Tottenham returned to winning ways with a victory that moved them back into the top four.

Robbie Keane put Spurs ahead when he bundled in Peter Crouch’s knockdown and Tom Huddlestone wrapped up victory with a fierce 20-yarder on 70 minutes.

But, goals aside, Sunderland dominated, with Andy Reid striking the post and Heurelho Gomes making crucial saves.

The most vital came from Darren Bent’s penalty after his foul on the striker.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp:
“We got away with it a bit today. We couldn’t get going and Sunderland looked very, very good.

“Our keeper was fantastic and we’ve clawed out a result – sometimes football works like that. A couple of weeks ago we battered Stoke and lost.

“As for their penalty – Gomes says he’s tried to get out of the way of the player and got kicked in the chest. I haven’t seen it yet but, even if it was a penalty, I don’t think he should’ve got a red card – Bent was going away from goal and sometimes we’re too quick to send players off.

“I’d honestly say that even if it was my player who’d got brought down.”

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce:
“Sometimes in football you have a day like today – since the beach ball incident at Liverpool we’ve run out of luck and we’ve been out of luck again today.

“The best opportunities and possession were ours, but we’ve not taken them and come away with nothing.

“The turning point today was the second-half penalty incident. Darren Bent was through on goal, it’s a goal-scoring opportunity, and by the letter of the law their keeper should be sent off.

“Instead it’s just a yellow card and he’s had the chance to save the penalty. If we’re playing 10 men who knows? Still, I’m delighted with the way we played – we completely bossed the game – that’s football sometimes.”

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Posted by Bilal Sulehri on Nov 8 2009. Filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry