On a barmy Tuesday night in December, a visitor to London could have done no better than to have entertained themselves at last night’s dubious looking fixture of Spurs v Middlesbrough at White Hart Lane.
It may have been a clash between last season’s UEFA Cup finalists and this season’s potential finalists but it was also a clash of mid-table mediocrity. Gareth Southgate has hardly set the world on fire in his fledgling months as manager of Middlesbrough and Martin Jol’s Spurs have frankly failed to build on the promise of last season, currently languishing 11th in the Premiership, rather lower than their aspirations of the fourth place Champions League spot allow.
Yet this encounter served up a treat of all that is good in English football. Three goals, two red cards and various bouts of fisty-cuffs was content enough to satisfy a television audience but such action on the pitch also had the effect of stirring the various sections of the crowd into a classic contest of their own.
“Stand up if you hate Arsenal” was a swift and unsurprising chant early on in the game by the Tottenham fans to which the Middlesbrough faithful promptly responded with, “3-0 to the Arsenal”, rejoicing in reminding the occupants of the south stand of Tottenham’s miserable defeat to their north London rivals three days prior.
Not to be outdone, the inventive north Londoners retaliated with “You’re just a small town in Scotland” and, on sighting a man in a flat cap and barber jacket who seemed rather quiet, “you only sing when you’re farming”. This verbal jousting must have fascinated any foreigners present, an insight into life on the English terraces. Forget a year in Provence; a year in the south stand at Spurs will provide a cultural education of its own.
The first half wasn’t entirely pretty as both sides managed to convey why they continually fail to trouble the top of the table. Jonathan Woodgate, formerly of Real Madrid, Newcastle and England, belied his pedigree by completely misjudging a simple defensive header for Middlesbrough early on and Jermaine Defoe, having won a rare recent start proved profligate to the extreme, seemingly unable to pull the trigger early and fire home, despite numerous chances.
On 47 minutes Dimitar Berbatov stepped up to the plate and broke the deadlock with his second league goal of the season. Game on. As the fans increased their volume in celebration and renewed taunting of the farmer, so the match spread out, the pace quickened and the challenges stiffened.
The ‘Boro fans were thrown a lifeline on 80 minutes when Steward Downing curled in a corner which, after a short bout of pinball in the Tottenham six yard box, was slammed home by Robert Huth. Their joy was short lived. Robbie Keane joined the fray in place of Steed Malbranque and four minutes later struck home from 25 yards following a quickly taken free quick.
Middlesbrough frustrations boiled over leading to a cynical challenge on Pascal Chimbonda which prompted unnecessary intervention from Didier Zokora and his midfield counterpart George Boateng who, after having exchanged pleasantries in a scuffle against the advertising hoardings, were both given their marching orders by referee Mark Halsey.
The fans were then treated to an inexplicable five minutes of added time before the final whistle granted the Middlesbrough section leave to commence their long trek north and Southgate to mull Keane’s suckerpunch. Martin Jol may well have aged in the process of earning these three points, but they will be three points well received from what was essentially a pantomime of a performance.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment