Tottenham 2 Everton 0- David Bentleys class puts Spurs in the driving seat
27 Oct 2009 - 23:25:49
David Bentley stole the thunder of Roman Pavlyuchenko as the Tottenham midfielder gave a timely reminder of his talent to help his side in the quarter-finals.
The former Blackburn man has been frozen out by Spurs manager Harry Redknapp this season. He has tasted only six minutes of Barclays Premier League action.
But Bentley tormented Everton full back Tony Hibbert until he was swapped to the opposite flank for the second half, though it remains to be seen if this was enough to resurrect Bentley's career at White Hart Lane.
Timely reminder: Bentley made a strong impression for a first-team recall
The evening was supposed to represent a chance for Pavlyuchenko to force his way into their reckoning for Saturday's North London derby at Arsenal.
Redknapp said before the match that he and Russia coach Guus Hiddink had failed to get the most out of the undeniably talented £13.8m signing.
Redknapp made four changes from the side by Stoke Alan Hutton, Gareth Bale, Michael Dawson and David Bentley all given the chance to stake a claim for Saturday.
It was Bentley who made the most of his chance in the first half, a close second being Hutton.
David Moyes was keen to take the pair to Goodison Park in the summer, and how the Everton manager would have liked the luxury of rotating his players as his side headed into their third game in six days.
With 10 senior players injured, Moyes made just one change from the team who lost to Bolton, fit-again Yakubu relegating Jo to the bench.
The only other change was the Everton strip, the traditional blue making way for limited-edition all purple, adopted as part of the Liverpool Unites charity campaign.
This was certainly not a purple patch for Everton, without a win in four games before last night. But at least they went into the game unbeaten in four years at White Hart Lane.
Left foot forward: Lucas Neill (right) fails to block the shot as Tom Huddlestone fires Tottenham into a first-half lead
Everton took the game to their opponents early on. Louis Saha showed fantastic skill to tee the ball up before hitting a volley on the turn which Heurelho Gomes tipped over.
Pavlyuchenko missed a golden chance in the 22nd minute when Lucas Neill's clearance was charged down by Gareth Bale. But, with a free run on goal, Pavlyuchenko fired wide of Tim Howard's goal with time to pick his spot.
Moments later, Hutton sent an accurate cross to the near post, but Pavlyuchenko was off target again.
Robbie Keane had an effort rebound off the foot of a post after he had robbed Sylvain Distin and, when the goal finally came, Spurs had another Pavlyuchenko miss to thank. Bentley's curling ball evaded the Russia striker before landing invitingly for Tom Huddlestone to smash home after 31 minutes.
Scrambled effort: Keane nets Spurs' second
Five minutes later, another quality Bentley cross caused havoc as Sebastien Bassong went within a whisker of making contact at the far post.
Gomes saved spectacularly early in the second half to prevent Tim Cahill's strike flying high into the net while Brazilian Jo shrugged off Bassong to bring another smart stop from his countryman.
But Spurs were gifted a chance to go two-up when Distin's clumsy challenge on Keane gave the Irishman a 57th-minute spot-kick, which was saved by Howard.
But after Bentley and Bale were denied, the ball found Keane to fire high into the net.
It is only a year ago that Bentley scored a 40-yard strike at Arsenal to set the tone for a 4-4 thriller.
He can only hope last night's display has left Redknapp wondering whether the time has come to give Bentley another chance.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-4-2): Gomes; Hutton, Dawson, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto; Bentley, Huddlestone, Palacios, Bale; Pavlyuchenko, Keane.
EVERTON (4-4-2): Howard; Neill, Heitinga, Distin, Hibbert; Gosling, Fellaini, Rodwell, Cahill; Saha (Jo 46), Yakubu.
Booked: Hibbert, Heitinga, Cahill.
Man of the match: David Bentley.
Referee: Nick Kinseley.
Explore more:People:Sylvain Distin, Robbie Keane, Harry Redknapp, Lucas Neill, Tom Huddlestone, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Sebastien Bassong, Alan Hutton, David Moyes, Louis Saha, Gareth Bale, Michael Dawson, David BentleyPlaces:London, Russia, Goodison Park
