The Tottenham team raised their game after the deflating defeat in Germany only four days before, to inflict a victory over the auld enemy in a bruising encounter at the Lane.  Before the game had hardly begun, Petit had been spoken to for a tackle from behind, then a looped ball by Leonhardsen over the defence caught Dixon ball-watching and Steffen Iversen ran around his blind-side to sweep the ball past Seaman.  One up in six minutes - had Spurs scored too soon ?  Adams was unbelievably allowed to continue in the game without a caution after he trampled (quite literally) all over Leo.  Then, following a trip by Petit on Armstrong as Chris ran away from him and towards the penalty area, the French pony-tailed one earned a yellow card and Spurs a free-kick.  From this, after prolonged negotiation with the red wall  to get back 10 yards, Tim Sherwood was teed up to hit a sweet shot past Seaman from outside the left edge of the box.  At this stage things were slipping away from Arsenal and the referee.  Petit exhibited one marvellous show of petulance (worthy of Beckham) and threw the ball down violently in front of the ref, but only got  a talking to.  So three bookable offences and only one yellow to show for it.

Arsenal started to come back into the match, when Kanu bundled the ball and Armo over the line, resulting in a free-kick to Spurs and not a goal for the Arse.  But shortly after, a free-kick from the right found Vieira unmarked and he headed home off a post.  Walker had little else to do in the first half as the defence broke down everything that was thrown at them.  The yellows continued to be brandished by Elleray, who had difficulty determining what was a corner and what a goal kick at times !!

The second half saw a more determined effort by the visitors.  In effort more than stylish play though.  Everyone in a red shirt was fair game for a yellow card - Dixon, Vieira, Keown, Bergkamp ... even Suker, who was only on for fifteen minutes, but could easily have seen red.  The lack of discipline was truly shocking.  This was exemplified by Ljungberg's reaction to Edinburgh's tackle.  He pushed him over and as Spurs players ran in to protect the prone full-back, the Swede really lost his head and (although I dislike the man intensely) Lee Dixon was the only one who prevented Mad Freddie having a nightmare, as Elleray kept his distance and let the squabble proceed without intervention.  When he did deign to get involved he produced the red card (which I found out afterwards was for head butting Ginola).  Ljungberg departed directing a two fingered salute to the ref and kicking a chunk out of the tunnel wall.  In truth, Arsenal produced little to trouble Walker, but the Spurs keeper had to be alert when producing a fine reflex double save from Overmars as he broke into the box and then getting up from the floor to push away a follow-up shot by Suker.  Campbell, Carr and Perry produced outstanding performances in the back line and the midfield worked tirelessly. even Clemence played his heart out and had his best game for the club.

At the end, Ginola was replaced by Dominguez and he was brought on to run at the Arsenal defence.  This he did and drew a nasty foul by Keown, which got him dismissed for a second bookable offence and only Steffen Iversen's quick thinking in stopping Suker from reaching the ref prevented another dismissal.  Sherwood's celebration at the final whistle in front of the Croat must have made his day just about complete !!

Sweet though the victory was, it is not the be all and end all of our season and although we have a long way to go to catch up with the top three or four clubs, this shows that with some reinforcements, the cavalry can charge on without fear to gain at least a place in Europe for next season.  With consistency and a fuller squad, improvement there is possible.

MEHSTG TOP MAN : - IAN WALKER

Pete Stachio

At last, Tottenham got going in the Second round of the UEFA Cup, after all the date and kick-off time changes, we were playing against our German opponents.  And before long, we were holding our heads as Taricco hit a shot from outside the box that glanced off the outside of the post.  It was a sign of things to come.  The game was mainly a tactical battle fought out on the midfield ground heavily populated by foot-troops.  This meant that their were few chances on offer and throughout the match the Kaiserslautern side managed only a couple of headers on target and a few weak shots which posed little problem for Walker.  Meanwhile at the other end of the Lane, Spurs made some decent opportunities with Steffen Iversen being put through on the keeper, but his left foot shot was weakly hit into his body, when a deft chip might have brought better result.  However, the Norwegian was only to be denied for a short while, as Ginola's run into the box saw him baulked by one defender, but he managed to stay on his feet, leaving the keeper to prostrate himself at David's feet and send him crashing as the ball went towards the line.  The ref pointed to the spot and then the fun started as nobody seemed that keen to adopt the responsibility of taking the penalty.  Sherwood had the ball and then as it was put on the spot, Steffen stepped up and hit a low shot into the inside of the side netting, just beating the dive of the keeper.  In truth Tottenham's goal came against the run of play as it was slap in the middle of a ten-minute spell when Spurs were barely able to get out of their own half as Kaiserslautern played their possession football in their forward areas.

Spurs managed to conjure up other chances in the first half, with Fox and Leonhardsen managing to get in other's way for a far post cross and Sol's towering header was save don the line, then dropped, then Perry's follow-up effort blocked on the line.  The scramble was one which typified the match somewhat.  Into the second period, the Germans made a couple of changes and the game became even more compact.  You felt a second goal might have been enough to seal the tie for Tottenham and in nearly arrived when Ginola cut on from the left and curled a delightful shot against the far post and it bounced out to be cleared. Little else happened as the game petered out with both sides seemingly accepting the 1-0 score-line. Plus points were the defence's clean sheet and the lack of yellow cards, but with the second leg a week away and George talking about playing two forwards (tongue in cheek), the second leg will be both tough and interesting. Tottenham will have to be more careful in their passing as there was an awful lot of giving the ball away tonight and it will be important to hold the ball as much as possible.  Kaiserslautern were obviously missing bruised testicle victim - Youri Djorkaeff - and you feel one good ball from him could make all the difference. 

MEHSTG TOP MAN : - CHRIS PERRY

Scorers
Spurs : -  Iversen 37, Scholes (o.g.) 40, Carr 71
Man U  : -   Giggs 23

Spurs : -  Walker, Carr, Campbell, Young (Vega 76), Taricco, Fox (Piercy 87), Freund, Sherwood, Leonhardsen, Iversen, Ginola

Man U : -   Bosnich, P. Neville, Stam, Silvestre, Irwin (Greening 82), Beckham (Solskjaer 68), Scholes, Keane, Giggs, Yorke, Cole

For a while at the start of the game, with the injuries taking their toll and the visitors passing the ball around confidently, it looked like it was to be a very bleak day for Spurs. As the rain continued to lash the pitch, it was only sporadically that Tottenham broke free from the shackles of their own half and the confines of the way they were compressing the game into a very small area.  When Giggs waltzed into the Spurs box and delicately lifted the ball over Walker, it seemed as though this could be another example of how far behind the top sides we were.  But two pieces of luck turned the tide and gave Tottenham confidence to play as they can against the current Premier League champions.  Firstly, Silvestre headed a back pass wide of Boo-snitch and only just wide of the goal, but from the resulting corner, Sherwood's flick-on found Iversen at the far stick.  His header was blocked on the line by the Man. U. keeper and his follow-up stopped on the line.  Steffen's persistence paid off when his third attempt, while laying on the sodden turf, saw him prod the ball into the opposite side of the goal.  Claims for handball may have had some credence, but things had been going the Reds way until then and they didn't like it when things got worse.  Another corner, this time from the left was missed by Young at the near post and expertly headed into the top corner by ... Paul Scholes !!  The niggle that United seem to reserve for us when they aren't getting all the decisions suddenly resurfaced and some naughty stuff by Beckham off the ball and Keane and Silvestre on it was allowed to pass without punishment.

Into the second half and the continuing rain made the pitch hold the ball up and it was difficult for all concerned.  Sir Alex, as always, made the excuse for his side and this time it was the pitch that didn't suit his team.  Wasn't it the same one we were playing on and had to come to terms with ?? Wasn't it the same one that Ginola lost out to, when he would have liked the ball to run on ?? Oh, and then there was the ref, who spotted which falls were dives and did very well, according to the knighted Scot, aiming his barb at Ginola, but was it not Scholes who twice fell inside the area and play was waved on ?? Anyway, Sol cleared from in front of the line, as Stam had done at the other end, Walker made a couple of good low saves when unsighted and Freund was up for it once Keane brought him down and then stamped on his thigh.  While Manchester United had a lot of the possession (mainly thanks to being presented with it by our boys), they failed to create clear chances and when Stephen Carr ran onto a ball on the right and rammed an unstoppable shot into the inside netting of the far side of the goal, Spurs were just about safe.

With Perry missing and Fox in for Armstrong, the whole side pulled together to stop Man. U. playing. This resulted in the petulant one getting frustrated and scything down Taricco for a yellow card.  Ferguson took him off straight away and then Spurs went 3-1 up soon after.  His lack of self discipline cost his side the game.  A lesson unfortunately, in my opinion, he is not mature enough to take in.  For Tottenham, it was a real joy to see them play some of the football they managed and to work so hard to ensure the position they had achieved did not slip.  A similar result in our next home game ...  We can dream, can't we ??

MEHSTG TOP MEN : TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR                                        

Pete Stachio

The general feeling of apathy spilled off the pitch and into the empty seats around the ground during the first half.  It wasn't for lack of effort on the players part, as Spurs strove to establish a lead, but the absent fans caused a strange atmosphere to start off Tottenham's defence of the trophy.  For all their attempts, Spurs could not score in the first half.  Leonhardsen's flying header was saved expertly by Kearton and Armstrong headed Piercy's inviting centre against a post.  Blocks and deflections also saw Sol and Steve Carr denied, while David was pinging in crosses and shots like a man trying to claw his way to the top of the Carling Opta charts.  Walker had little to do as Crewe passed and moved quite well, but lacked the finish.  The game was played in a very good spirit, with no nasty tackles and some sensible refereeing, that saw Freund go unpunished for two heavy tackles which would certainly have earned him a yellow card in the Premier League.

The second half was a different matter.  Crewe started well with Grant having a long shot fly over the bar after Shaun Smith had hit a 25 yard free-kick just over the goal.  It was against the run of play then that Spurs opened the scoring.  A lobbed ball from Sherwood into the box was well controlled by Armstrong and he laid it off for Leo to steer past the keeper.  Carr was unlucky with a run into the box, when Kearton thwarted him, but the keeper was left with a face as red as his teammates shirts when Ginola let fly from 25 yards out. I thought the ball had hit the advertising hoardings behind the goal and I think Kearton thought the same. However, he was embarrassed when the ball struck the foot of the post and went into the net.  Crewe were not finished and decided to show Spurs what they could do and a run by Colin Cramb (who had been having a laugh with Ginola all night down the wing) into the box was ended when Freund (attempting to get out of his way) brought him down.  Shaun Smith stepped up to bury the fifth penalty we have conceded this season.  This meant it was nail-biting time again, but the tie was settled by Tim Sherwood, who capped a quiet night for him by stealing onto a flick-on from Iversen and lobbing the ball over the keeper from the left hand side of  the penalty area.  Other highlights of the second half were a Freund back-heel, Piercy almost grabbing a debut goal but hitting the post, Ginola trying to beat three men in the space of about two yards three or four times.

In the end it was comfortable, but the almost first XI struggled to make headway in the first period. It was good to have Sol back as he made some important challenges to keep the goals against down and the biggest cheers of the night were for his entrance onto the field.  Piercy also caught the eye; still raw for sure, but compared to some of our other striking options, he looks one for the future.  Fulham at the Cottage next, which will be harder and require more application.

MEHSTG TOP MAN : - JOHN PIERCY
Pete Stachio

What a load of rubbish.  The referee, I mean.  How many times do they have to spoil a perfectly good afternoon out, with their whistle blowing and nonsensical decisions ?? In my opinion, Mr. Barber was gave of the worst displays of officialdom on a football pitch - ever.  His award of an early penalty against Luke Young would be understandable in light of the position he viewed the incident from, but  the fact that Steffen Freund pointed out the marks on the pitch indicated it was outside the box and that he would not consult his assistant , only led us to fear what would follow.  It looked as though Heskey made the most of it and frankly, Izzet did as he slammed the ball home. Straight from the kick-off a defender tried to chest the ball back to Flowers, who found himself diving to stop Leonhardsen from scoring, but the ball bounced to Iversen, who steadied himself and then whacked it home to put Spurs level within a minute.  Shortly after a Ginola cross was met firmly by an Armstrong diving header, which was parried by the keeper for Iversen to stretch and prod home from short range.  This had followed an inspired first half (as so often this season) by Tottenham.  Sherwood had a curler saved early on; Leo had a drive deflected just wide of the goal by a defender ; Freund put in a rocket of a shot, which forced Flowers to tip over; Ginola put in a tempting low centre, which Armo failed to reach; Perry won a header from a corner, but directed it just wide.  It was mostly one way, with Walker having a relatively quiet time of it.

After the break, the ref continued to give Leicester the majority of the decisions.  It would not have been so bad if he had been giving the same decision each way, but it seemed that similar challenges were all given in the Foxes favour.  The game should have been wrapped up by Spurs in the first few minutes of the second half though.  Freund had another shot deflected away, then Iversen burst through and only a fingertip save diverted the ball around the post.  This was the turning point of the match. A long cross from the left was almost straight away headed in at the far post by Izzet.  The galling fact about this goal was Spurs were on the attack, when Mr. Barber decided to obstruct Sherwood from getting the ball, which then went to Leicester and subsequently into our goal.  Ginola went off and with him all hope of another goal.  The winner was scored from a free-kick given for another innocuous tackle by a Spurs player and the ball rebounded kindly for Taggart to fire low past Walker at his post.

The annoying thing about this game is that we were beaten by an inferior team and these (Bradford, Wimbledon, Leicester) are games Tottenham should win.  There is no divine right, but the side should have won the game before they came back into it.  The midfield did not look capable of holding out and when Ginola went off the creativity dried up, so where to now.  The echoes of "Sugar get your cheque book out" rang around the quiet Tottenham areas of the ground, but how much is there to spend anyway and where do you start.  Another defender, a playmaker in midfield and a forward or two.  That will be £20 million plus, thank you.  I fear the cheque book may not run to that.

MEHSTG TOP MAN : - STEFFEN IVERSEN
Pete Stachio