Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur entertained Irish Premier League winners Shamrock Rovers in the Europa League group match at White Hart Lane and despite the anticipated gulf in quality between the two teams, Tottenham survived a scare after they fell a goal behind early into the second half, but Spurs regained their composure to secure a comfortable victory in the end, while Rovers dream of recording one of their most memorable victories was shattered.
The visiting fans were jubilant just five minutes into the second half when Shamrock Rovers took the lead, following a free kick which Tottenham goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini could only parry the ball which then fell to Gary Twigg on the edge of the penalty area and his shot was helped into the goal by Stephen Rice.
The prospect of Rovers recording one of their greatest ever results and one of the biggest shocks in European football in recent times lasted for another ten minutes before Tottenham’s Roman Pavlyuchenko, who scored his first goal of the season, and then Jermain Defoe both scored with headers within two minutes of each other, regaining control of the game, Giovani dos Santos then scored a third goal five minutes later to ensure the victory for Spurs.
Tottenham had made ten changes to their team which beat Wigan on Saturday, probably with one eye on their weekend Premier League fixture against North London rivals Arsenal, although Aaron Lennon’s return from injury will have boosted the team. Spurs showed their superiority during a goalless first half and the home team were denied goals, firstly a save from Rovers goalkeeper Richard Brush saw a Jermain Defoe shot hit the crossbar, and then an effort from Danny Rose hit the crossbar as well.
As expected, Brush was kept very busy in the Rovers goal as he also made great saves from Dos Santos and then Pavlyuchenko, who also saw an effort cleared off the goal line, but despite their dominance, Tottenham were unable to secure an advantage.
Despite Spurs dominance, this was an entertaining game with the prospect of a huge European upset. The visiting fans certainly enjoyed their evening as they out shouted and out sung the home fans throughout the game. Former Tottenham player Rohan Ricketts to came on as a Rovers substitute with twenty minutes of the game remaining and he was given a good ovation by the home fans. Tottenham are now in second place in their Europa League group, while Shamrock Rovers await their first points of the campaign.
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