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Fulham 2 Tottenham 1 TOTTENHAM will step up their interest in Shay Given, the Newcastle goalkeeper, after the careless hands of Heurelho Gomes cost Harry Redknapp his unbeaten start as Tottenham’s manager at Craven Cottage yesterday.Gomes, recruited from PSV Eindhoven for £8.8m during the summer, has undermined the confidence of the defenders charged with protecting him with a succession of costly gaffes and will only keep his place because of the dearth of alternatives after dropping the ball over his own line to gift Fulham the all-important opening goal. The second he conceded, to leave his teammates 2-0 down, was not much better, the tall Brazilian failing to cut out the corner from Paul Konchesky that was nodded down by Simon Davies for Andy Johnson to score. Fraizer Campbell, the striker on loan from Manchester United, pulled one back for Spurs after 81 minutes but it was not enough to extend Redknapp’s messianic start as Juande Ramos’s successor at White Hart Lane. After five wins and a draw in his first six games, the “dodgy keeper” he inherited condemned him to defeat. Fulham, to their credit, deserved the points, the canny Roy Hodgson and his well-organised, intensely combative team tearing up the script for the Redknapp Roadshow. It was not only the Tottenham manager and Gomes who were left crestfallen. Darren Bent, restored to the England squad named last night after scoring 11 times in league and cup, did nothing to advance his prospects of playing against Germany on Wednesday with an anonymous performance that saw him replaced by Campbell after 70 nondescript minutes. The man of the match was a player Fabio Capello discarded after only one appearance in the international squad, Jimmy Bullard, who epitomised Fulham’s spirit with a typically swashbuckling, dominant stint in midfield. Hodgson’s team created almost all the chances in the match, are up to ninth in the league table on merit, and it is too often forgotten that the Cottagers’ eminence gris was once linked with the England job, and not far from getting it. He cleverly negated Tottenham’s strengths by stifling their central midfielders, and thereby starving their attacking players of possession. But while Hodgson won the tactical battle, he would be the first to admit that it is Redknapp who is the flavour of the month, and it was his views that dominated the agenda after his first loss. Up until now, he has defended Gomes, whose flailing, often ineffective pursuit of possession has seen him christened “The Octopus” at the Lane. What had he made of the self- inflicted wound that saw him fumble the ball over his own line in startled response to the defensive header with which Jonathan Woodgate met Davies’s long cross from the left? Redknapp said: “It was a farcical goal, but it’s a difficult situation, he’s my goalkeeper and I’ve got to stay with him. My reserve is a 37-year-old Spaniard and after that I’ve only got kids. What can I do? My goalkeeping coach is very important now. He’s got to work with Gomes, get into his head all of next week.” The standard of play was undistinguished, which is not to belittle Fulham’s bristling application. Danny Murphy, Clint Dempsey and Johnson all threatened early on, and the initiative was with the home team throughout. Redknapp, strangely, made five changes after the 4-2 victory over Liverpool in the Carling Cup, none of which paid off. In particular, he chose to drop Campbell and Roman Pavlyuchenko, who had scored two apiece against Liverpool in midweek, and was rewarded with a palsied attacking performance that left Mark Schwarzer redundant until Campbell’s smart finish. Fulham were assertive from the start, but even the home fans recognised the significance of Gomes’ maladroit contribution, applauding him and chanting his name when he took his place in front of the Hammersmith End at the start of the second half. The Brazilian did make a couple of notable saves thereafter, but by then the die was well and truly cast. Hodgson was “saddened” by an exchange of unpleasantries with Joe Jordan near the end, when Spurs’newly-appointed coach accused him of kicking the ball away to delay a throw-in, but the “storm in a teacup” was forgotten by the time he opened a celebratory bottle of red. Redknapp, at a loss for a one-liner for once, admitted: “It just didn’t happen for us today.” Star man: Jimmy Bullard (Fulham) Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Dempsey (Gera 87), Murphy, Bullard (Andreasen 90), Davies, Johnson, Zamora. Subs Not Used: Zuberbuhler, Nevland, Gray, Kallio, Baird. Booked: Zamora. Goals: Davies 33, Johnson 70. Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, Woodgate, King, Bale, Bentley, Jenas, Huddlestone (Pavlyuchenko 45), Zokora, Modric (Lennon 45), Bent (Campbell 71). Subs Not Used: Cesar, Hutton, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto. Goals: Campbell 81. Att: 25,139 Ref: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire). |
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