Stoke pile on misery for rock-bottom Spurs
Sunday, 19 Oct 2008 22:12
Rory Delap scored Stoke's winner
Tottenham Hotspur remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League after suffering a 2-1 loss to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.
Gareth Bale was red-carded for Spurs after just 19 minutes for a foul in the area, resulting in Danny Higginbotham slotting home the resulting penalty kick.
Darren Bent equalised soon after but Rory Delap scored later in the second half to seal victory, although Ricardo Fuller missed a penalty in stoppage time.
To cap off a miserable afternoon for Ramos' side, Michael Dawson was controversially sent off late on by referee Lee Mason for a tackle on Mamady Sidibe.
Tottenham are still the only side yet to have won in the Premier League after eight games, cranking up the pressure on boss Juande Ramos.
Ramos chose to leave £13.8 million striker Roman Pavlyuchenko on the bench while Ledley King did not play despite reports claiming he would return from his latest knee injury.
Tony Pulis' men made a bright start and should have drawn first blood on seven minutes when Tom Soares was sent clean through but his weak shot was saved by Heurelho Gomes.
Soares earned his side a penalty 12 minutes later when he was brought down by Bale, who was red-carded having lost possession. Higginbotham drilled in his spot-kick into the bottom corner to give his side a deserved 1-0 lead.
But their advantage lasted just eight minutes as Spurs struck in controversial circumstances when Alan Hutton's pass ricocheted through to Bent who slipped the ball in from eight yards, with replays showing he was off-side.
Despite having ten men Ramos' side carved out the better chances with David Bentley and Luka Modric both failing to find the target from long range, while Thomas Sorensen was equal to Aaron Lennon's low strike.
Not for the first time this season, Spurs' woeful defending was punished with Stoke regaining the lead on 52 minutes. Mamady Sidibe's inviting cross across the face of goal was guided in by an unmarked Delap at the far post to make it 2-1.
The contest continued to entertain at both ends with Seyi Olofinjana's strike tipped over by Gomes, while Modric came agonizingly close to stabbing in an equaliser.
Both sides were then forced into changes with keeper Sorensen replaced by Steve Simonsen after colliding with Hutton, while Vedran Corluka was stretchered off in a neck brace after the ball smacked into his face.
Chances were created at both ends in the closing minutes with Jermaine Jenas blazing over a free-kick, while Soares fired over with the goal at his mercy.
In the 11 minutes of stoppage time, Fuller's penalty hit both posts before Delap whacked the rebound onto the crossbar. Dawson was then red-carded for a crunching tackle on Sidibe as Stoke clung on to move up into 18th spot.