Tottenham crash to first-leg home defeat against PSV
Dimitar Berbatov failed to inspire Tottenham
Thursday, 06, Mar 2008 10:38
Tottenham Hotspur fell to a surprising 1-0 defeat at the hands of Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of the last-16 Uefa Cup tie at White Hart Lane.
Peruvian striker Jefferson Farfan scored the only goal of the game which now means Tottenham have to win the second leg in Holland.
After the 4-1 thumping against Birmingham City at St Andrews on Saturday, Juande Ramos brought back most of his big guns including Robbie Keane, Ledley King and Aaron Lennon for the game.
Tottenham got off to a slow start, showing very little attacking threat in the first half with their best effort coming from a Jonathan Woodgate header - comfortably saved by PSV keeper Heurelho Gomes.
The visitors took the lead after 33 minutes through the lively Farfan.
Spurs left-back Gilberto, who was making his first start for the club, clumsily gave the ball away 20 yards from goal and Farfan was quick to latch on and smashed the ball in from outside the box.
Going a goal down seemed to galvanise the home side and they increased the tempo of the game.
They should have been back on level terms when Keane found space in the PSV penalty area, but his shot was parried away by Gomes.
Ramos decided to take off Gilberto, who looked off the pace for much of the first half, and brought on young Jamie O'Hara.
PSV looked to take advantage of Tottenham's makeshift left-back and Farfan worked a shooting opportunity on the edge of the box but O'Hara did well to block the shot.
The Dutch side had a wonderful opportunity to double their lead on the hour mark.
As Tottenham poured forward looking for the equaliser, PSV broke and Ibrahim Afellay had a clear shot at goal from just outside the box but he pulled it wide.
Pascal Chimbonda should have scored for the home side when he had a free header from only five yards out, but the Frenchman ballooned the ball over the bar.
For all their effort, Tottenham failed to create any more good chances and will need a great performance in Holland in the return leg to qualify for the quarter-finals.