UEFA Cup: Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Sevilla (Sevilla win 4-3)

[funster]

So I missed the first goal getting into the stadium. Didn't have to wait long till the second. Anybody remember that sketch in The Fast Show..... "Oh bugger" is about all I could think. So much for all those things that had gone through my mind.....

Hope the boys go out there planning to win by two
Sneak an early goal and they'll have to come at us and leave gaps
Keep the tempo up from the beginning and we can do something like United did earlier this week
etc
etc
etc

The pre-match build-up had been dominated by news of our defensive injury problems and with King making a comeback as a starter tonight. With Lee, Ekotto, Gardner and Stalteri all injured and Rocha cup-tied I don't think we had much choice. I was concerned. First game back for Ledley for such a long time and he didn't even train yesterday. Could he last? Could he put in enough of an effort to help us repel their attacks? Because even if we was out injured for the rest of the season at least it would give us time to get the others fit and continue the campaign!

As it turned out all that went to dust within minutes. About eight to be precise. Having struggled to find parking and eventually coughed up a tenner for a car park, then queued to get in, we'd missed the first goal. I was reliably informed it was an og from Malbranque and the atmosphere clearly suffered.

Chimbonda at left back, Tainio at right. Little did I realise just what a problem this would cause us! Kanoute took the ball on the right wing, laid it inside, continued his run straight past Chimbonda, took the return, fumbled it a bit at his feet (wizardry is how Five Live described it) and walked it in past Robbo. Ah man. Now we have to score four!

The crowd was stunned and I think for the remainder of the first half the players, while not letting their heads drop, really didn't know how to react. We lacked flow and precision and the midfield pairing of Zokora and Jenas really weren't able to take control.

The worst part though was seeing Chimbonda trying to defend on the wrong wing. The lad clearly has no left foot. It was horrible having to watch him turn inside towards goal just to get it onto his right peg to clear away from goal! I think we can safely say he should not be playing on that side of the pitch. The thought crossed my mind that if he switched with Tainio at least we'd only have one player out of position.....

Sevilla looked a different side to the one I'd seen last week in Spain. Much better in possession and chasing down very quickly when we had the ball. Not the spectacular footballing experts I'd been led to believe, but slick. And when you're going into a tie 2-1 down, then concede twice inside eight minutes at home, playing against a slick side is not what you need.

We came into the game more as the half wore on and had a couple of efforts. Berbatov hitting the outside of the post towards the end of the first half was so close. Up front Berbatov and Keane were offering our most composed effort on the pitch, but the midfield really wasn't delivering, with Malbranque not quite up to the standard I've come to expect lately, and Lennon seeing little of the ball.

Bizarrely, King - who I thought would cause me the greatest concern - was fairly assured considering his recent injury problems. OK, not the King we know, but solid enough to lose probably only one in four headers and still quick enough to make a 50-50.

I should also, of course, mention the referee. My God. I had some hope when I heard he wasn't the same one as we had in the first leg. While his decision-making may not have cost us the game - truly - it was awful. And really didn't get any better in the second half! Some of the stuff he gave I just couldn't understand. And we thought English refs were bad! Bring back Paul Durkin!

2-0 down at half-time, four goals to score in forty-five minutes. Its possible. But this lot ain't no West Ham! Clearly the marketing team had not banked on us trailing by the half-time scoreline so the introduction of Mark Falco was..... well, at best misjudged.

Back on for the second half and this was going to need a spot of 'Boro miracle-working from last season. The supporters were up for it. The cries of "Martin Jol's blue and white army" that started just before the lads came out and continued for many minutes into the second half were having the desired effect. The boys began to get more and more into the game. Zokora and Jenas started winning balls in the middle and Lennon was getting more of it on the wing. Berbatov and Keane got into the game more and more, and while Chimbonda still looked very uncomfortable, our composure had returned. Clearly they needed half-time to recover from the shell-shock of being two down so early.

The assault on the Sevilla goal had started, but we weren't really peppering their new keeper, and when they were in possession they were still pretty composed. But there was some hope.

An early substitution by our standards saw Defoe on for Zokora - a strange switch I thought given that Zokora's runs were getting more menacing. He'd made a peach of a run in the first half, and had just won a free-kick twenty-five yards out with a second. A difficult call. Who do you take off to bring on Defoe when you're chasing? I thought 3-4-3 was probably going to be the formation, but then I'm not a football manager so what do I know?!

Regardless, with his first touch Defoe netted and there was a glimmer of hope. Still plenty of time to get a couple more, but we had a long way to go. Less than two minutes later 2-2! Lennon. Come on! Plenty of time and all of a sudden Sevilla were becoming less certain of themselves.

Now we really began to go for it. The ref continued to make horrible decisions, but with Lennon now seeing a lot of the ball and Defoe effectively playing right wing our balance looked much better. Chimbonda back on the right wing and the set pieces began to come. What a bloody shame they were so shocking! Its not the first time I've complained about this. Jenas clearly knows he is first choice free-kick and corner-kick taker. How does he still make them so rubbish? Does he not practice? Grrrrr!

The clock kept ticking and somewhere in the seventies the ball falls to Dawson, unmarked, eight yards out..... hit into the ground and over the bar. Aaaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh! Why Dawson? Why not Berbatov?

Minutes later, Berbatov finds himself on the end of the ball and only manages a side footed effort at the keeper. Aaaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh! Why Berbatov? Why not Keane?

We kept going but those were the two chances that could have given us numbers three and four. A poor tackle - in my view at least - from Tainio resulted in red, but it really didn't matter by then. Yeah, it was probably a fair shout for a red as he was high with his boot, but not a really dirty leg-breaker. Given the amount of rolling around the Sevilla players had done in the second half it wasn't exactly surprising to see the ref taking some serious stick after sending Tainio off.

Unfortunately as injury time wore on Sevilla kept hold of the ball and that was the end of it. No 'Boro heroics. No more European football. This season at least. The 2-2 meant we maintain our tremendous record at WHL in European ties. Only Real Madrid have beaten us in a home game. 1-0 back in 1985 I believe. Not bad in 56 matches. But tonight we really needed a win by two and it just wouldn't come.

The shell-shock of being two down so early just meant the task was huge, and with the amount of time it took to regain our composure, while the efforts of the second half restored some pride, they couldn't recover the situation we found ourselves in.

The supporters were brilliant tonight. I haven't seen WHL with that kind of atmosphere in many years. Certainly since it went all-seater. It was clear to see from Sevilla's jubilation how much it meant to them to beat us. No disrespect in us losing to what is thought to be one of the best teams in Europe - even if I will heap less praise on them than many seem to do having seem them at close quarters twice now.

What killed us in this tie was the daft pen given in the first leg, and the two early goals conceded here. Actually, probably even just the first goal conceded tonight. That's what did it for us. But no point dwelling on the 'ifs', 'buts' and 'maybes'. This has been a fine European tour. The only team we've failed to beat is second in the Primera Liga and holds the trophy. And we've come close.

What next? Well, Wigan on Sunday. Very positive that King came through ninety minutes. I hope I won't be reading about an aggravation of the foot injury tomorrow as I think his presence is a real necessity for us as we press for a European place again. Fresh impetus to a side that's just been knocked out at the quarter-final stages. A real necessity. We can do it. Of that I am certain. But I also know how rubbish we can be towards the end of the season and it can all slip away. Its happened so many times. I hope this time we keep up the pressure and squeeze into the top six again.....

Maybe, just maybe next season we can go that step further in Europe. Maybe, just maybe next season we can beat the sides that are better than us..... Maybe.

[darklighter]

Nice report, I agree with most of what you say.
I was there too, also had trouble gettin in due to some kind of incident in the south stand, but stil managed to make it before kick off. I didn't know what to think after those first two goals went in. I almost felt liking walking out!
However, the support for tottenham when they came out in the second half just blew me away, was incredible! After our goals, it just got even more intense. The way the fans really got behind the team made for such an exciting second half, and even though we didn't score four it made me proud to support such a great team with such good fans.
Dissapointing result, but they tried there best, and I would say that we are out because of bad luck!