Tottenham triumph in Prague
Jermaine Jenas grabbed the crucial Spurs goal
Also In The News
|
V2 Records, out September 18th. |  |
Thursday, 14, Sep 2006 11:37
Spurs saw off Slavia Prague 1-0 in their opening game in the Uefa Cup thanks to a first-half strike from England midfielder Jermaine Jenas.
The north London side rarely looked stretched by the Czech side and, apart from a fine double save by Jenas' England colleague Paul Robinson, strolled comfortable to an away win.
After a dour first half-hour Jermain Defoe came closest to breaking the deadlock, swivelling neatly but sending a powerful shot over the target.
However Slavia's night took a decisive turn for the worse as goalkeeper Michal Vorel injured himself in taking the resulting goal-kick and had to be substituted.
His replacement, Matus Kozacik, had been on the field just short of 15 minutes before he found himself retrieving the ball from the net.
Didier Zokora's precise through-ball allowed Jenas plenty of time to compose himself before whipping a low, curling shot past Kozacik and into the far corner.
The Ivory Coast midfielder was close to the kind of form that attracted interest from across Europe while he was at St Etienne, dictating play and thundering into tackles in a tireless display.
On the one occasion the home side threatened Robinson saved well from Dusan Svento's free-kick and then rose quickly to block Stanislav Vlcek's follow-up.