Source: Telegraph
Blackburn Rovers 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2: match report
A typically tumultuous week for Tottenham ended with Peter Crouch scoring twice to secure a win at Blackburn to strengthen belief that they can force their way into the Champions League for next season.[LNB]Redknapp is still furious with his players for holding a secret Christmas party in Dublin ahead of their 1-0 defeat to Wolves and has promised to deal with the issue tomorrow morning but they secured a second straight victory to move them up to fourth.[LNB]Brad Friedel set to leave Blackburn RoversCrouch, who had only scored twice in the league before the game at Ewood Park, provided both goals, heading his team in front in first-half added time and then killing the game with a clinical finish with eight minutes left.[LNB]Redknapp insisted the furore over the party had not affected his team and said: 'They gave me the response on Wednesday against Manchester City and going out was the Tuesday before. We didn't lose to Wolves because they went out, it was because we couldn't break them down. It's history now. We keep moving forward and they're a good group of lads. I haven't got any problems with them.[LNB]'It was a great result for us. It wasn't the free-flowing football we played against Man City in midweek but it's three terrific points. It was good to have a clean sheet and it was not a pretty game, but it was a type of game that Tottenham may have lost in the past. It was a good away win.' Blackburn regularly showed why they have struggled so badly for goals in recent weeks and even though Franco Di Santo and Benni McCarthy combined well in attack, they never looked like translating their first-half dominance into a lead.[LNB]McCarthy missed with an early free kick and on-loan Chelsea forward Di Santo was wasteful from 10 yards after Michael Dawson failed to clear from a McCarthy cross.[LNB]A free kick from McCarthy deflected off Aaron Lennon and looped on to the bar and away and after Jermain Defoe failed to hit the target from a clever Niko Kranjcar pass and Blackburn youngster Junior Hoilett skipped away from Dawson's challenge before having a low shot saved by Heurelho Gomes.[LNB]The hosts' best opening of the first half came when McCarthy clipped into the area and Di Santo shot on the turn, only for Gomes to save with his body.[LNB]And as the interval approached, McCarthy just missed the target with a dipping shot from 25 yards but in added time before the break, Crouch gave the visitors the lead.[LNB]Huddleston's wild shot from distance almost went out for a throw but Kranjcar retrieved the ball and crossed in from the right and Crouch beat Ryan Nelsen in the air and headed in off the bar and post for his third league goal of the season.[LNB]Blackburn continued to pile forward after the restart and from Vince Grella's cross, McCarthy took the ball on his chest and beat Gomes with a low effort that rebounded off the post and was hacked away by Sebastien Bassong. Di Santo and Steven Nzonzi were also denied by Gomes as Tottenham were forced deeper and deeper but in the closing stages they broke clear, with Robbie Keane picking out fellow substitute Jermaine Jenas to guide through for Crouch to fire into the corner of Paul Robinson's net.[LNB]Sam Allardyce's Blackburn are within three points of the relegation zone and the Rovers manager felt that the lack of a player of Crouch's quality was the reason his team lost, rather than winning.[LNB]'You pay that extra money for the extra quality when you need it,' he said. 'Crouchy's finishing was the difference between the sides, nothing else.[LNB]'He had three chances. He scored two and one got disallowed for offside but he still stuck that in the back of the net. Nobody else on their side has had a chance on goal and that's the disappointing thing from our point of view.[LNB]'The first one's a foul on Ryan Nelsen 90 seconds into injury time and only one minute went up on the board.'[LNB]
