It was a performance Tottenham Hotspur desperately needed before the end of March. There's no question that Tuesday night's FA Cup contest was emotional for both Bolton and Spurs after what occurred at White Hart Lane back on March 17, but Tottenham could not let anything stand in their way of potential cup glory and, perhaps more importantly, a win. Heading into the contest, Spurs hadn't defeated a Premier League opponent since February 11. Regardless of the favorable result, Tottenham supporters can't help but wonder: Was this match the end of the current bad spell, or was it nothing more than a two-goal win over a team that is currently only one point clear of the relegation zone?
3 final thoughts on Tottenham win over Bolton in FA Cup quarter-final: Rare occurrences
Spurs did understandably fall a bit asleep after taking a 2-0 lead in the 77th minute, but, roughly 24 hours after the fact, I'm not all that upset about the goal they surrendered right before stoppage time. What I find far more important is the fact that Spurs avoided giving up a goal on a set piece, and that they actually (finally) managed to score on one. Such moments have been unkind to Spurs during their current run. For example, they had 13 corners during the March 21 game against Stoke, a match that ended 1-1 after Rafael Van der Vaart buried an equalizer at the death. Ironically, it was not a player such as Emmanuel Adebayor, Jermain Defoe or Gareth Bale who opened the scoring off of a corner kick against Bolton. Ryan Nelsen, the man who joined Tottenham on January deadline day, created his first memorable moment with his current club, heading home a goal that eased the minds of both teammates and fans. Sometimes, it's an unlikely hero who swoops in and helps put an end to such a cold streak.
3 final thoughts on Tottenham win over Bolton in FA Cup quarter-final: The confidence issue
Some have speculated that this win will see a return to Spurs of the confidence that they enjoyed throughout the fall and early winter, when they were earning points seemingly at will, and climbing up the table past teams such as Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal. Perhaps it's just me, but I felt that manager Harry Redknapp's lineup seemed very confident after about five minutes of Tuesday's game. The one-touch passing in the midfield was as good as we have seen from Spurs all season, and Tottenham were more creative in the attacking third than they've been in the past month and a half. Granted, Spurs were less than 20 minutes away from an FA Cup Replay against Bolton before Nelsen scored the first goal of the game. After several "good but not good enough" performances, Spurs finally put it all together when it mattered most.
3 final thoughts on Tottenham win over Bolton in FA Cup quarter-final: Chelsea
Tottenham vs. Chelsea. FA Cup semi-final. It doesn't get a lot better than that. Spurs earned a point at Stamford Bridge this past Saturday, and the semi-final, currently scheduled for April 15, will take place at Wembley. One could easily argue that Tottenham should have taken all of the points back on March 24, and Spurs finding their winning ways at the beginning of spring could give them the necessary boost to go all the way in this competition.
I've mentioned several times since the March 4 defeat to Manchester United that Tottenham haven't been awful in the past month and a half. For example, they've been robbed by the woodwork at least once in each of their last four contests. When you're playing decent football but just not getting any breaks, it stings. It leads to heads being down, and also to mistakes being made on both ends of the pitch. Nobody can say with any certainty that this is the turnaround Tottenham supporters have been hoping for since the start of the winless streak.
Such a turnaround has to begin somewhere, though.
Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.
No comments:
Post a Comment