Shakhtar down Spurs with late goals
Harry Redknapp rested a number of key players
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Thursday, 19, Feb 2009 10:21
Tottenham have a mountain to climb if they are to progress in the Uefa Cup after suffering a 2-0 defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk this evening.
Despite defending doggedly for 80 minutes, Spurs conceded two goals in the last 10 minutes in the first-leg of the last-32 tie. Yevgen Seleznov and Rodrigues Jadson grabbed the crucial goals for the Ukrainian side.
With the knowledge of playing six games in 17 days, including the Carling Cup final against Manchester United, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp kept only Jermaine Jenas and Michael Dawson from the team that drew against Arsenal in the Premier League.
The home side, who had claimed an impressive win at Barcelona in the Champions League in December, had the better of the early goings.
Brazilian Jadson saw an early shot go just wide of the goal and then the delightfully named Razvan Rat shot over the bar after he was found in space by a great ball from the impressive Fernandinho.
Shakhtar dominated proceedings in the first-half and the closest they came to scoring was a shot from Giovani Dos Santos who saw a shot hit the side-netting.
Despite their possession, Shakhtar were unable to pierce a Tottenham defence which was marshalled expertly by Dawson and they will be disappointed to have lost the game in the last 10 minutes.
Substitute Seleznov had only been on the pitch for a matter of minutes when he took advantage of non-existent marking in the Spurs area to head home a Jadson free-kick.
Jadson then scored a superb goal as he took on four players before swapping passes and finishing past Heurelho Gomes.