Source: Daily_Mail
Tottenham 3 Manchester City 0: Three and easy for Spurs as Lennon shines
Glance down the losses column of the Barclays Premier League table and Mark Hughes looks like he should be the envy of every other manager in this fascinating race for the top four places.[LNB] But a second defeat of a strange old season amounted to another crushing setback for the man who is supposed to be turning Manchester City into serious title contenders.[LNB] That's just for starters: Kranjcar wheels away after putting Tottenham ahead[LNB] [LNB]Gone is the swagger Hughes possessed when he was winding up Sir Alex Ferguson a few months ago. The pressureis mounting on the Welshman, not so much because he is losing games butbecause his expensively assembled side are having such trouble winningthem.[LNB] One victory in 10 Premier League encounters, albeit against Chelsea, isnot the kind of return City's Abu Dhabi owners would have anticipated when they financed the club's astonishing spending spree. Especially when so much of that money has been blown on strikers.[LNB] Double trouble: Defoe puts Tottenham 2-0 up against City[LNB] [LNB]Match facts and statsTottenham (4-4-2): Gomes 6; Corluka 6, Dawson 7, Bassong 7, Assou-Ekotto 6 (Bale 90mins); Lennon 9, Palacios 7, Huddlestone 6, Kranjcar 8; Crouch 7, Defoe 7 (Jenas 90).Booked: Kranjcar, Palacios.[LNB]Manchester City (4-3-3): Given 6; Richards 5, Toure 6, Onuoha 6, Sylvinho 3; Ireland 6, De Jong 6 (Petrov 71), Barry 6; Adebayor 4, Tevez 6, Robinho 3 (Santa Cruz 59).Booked: Sylvinho, Tevez, De Jong.Referee: Alan Wiley.Man of the match: Aaron Lennon.[LNB]Tottenham Manchester City4.....................Shots on target...................313...................Shots off target...................53......................Blocked shots....................35..........................Corners...........................611.............................Fouls........................108..........................Offsides..........................4422..................Total passes................44875.6%.........Passing success.......71.9%18..................Total tackles...................2583.3%........Tackles success............76%48.5%.............Possession............51.5%46%.................Territory......................54%[LNB] City started last night with the two most expensive forwards in PremierLeague history - as well as Emmanuel Adebayor - and they were no matchfor the men Harry Redknapp deployed in his front line. No match forAaron Lennon and Niko Kranjcar on the flanks. Nothing like aseffective, or indeed as determined, as Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch.Two goals came from Kranjcar, either side of yet another one for Defoe.[LNB]Carlos Tevez might have put the work in but the two players who stood either side of him were a disgrace.[LNB]'What a waste of money,' cried Tottenham's fans when they sawRobinho leave the field, Hughes hooking the Brazilian after whatappeared to be an elbow in the face of Wilson Palacios. 'Although Idon't think he subbed him for that,' said Redknapp with a wry smile. [LNB]Quite what Robinho does for his money is anyone's guess. He was suited and booted - and seemingly eady for a night out in London - before the final whistle had been blown, a mercenary in every sense of the word. How did he react in Doha recently when an English journalist asked Kaka if he regretted not joining the City 'project'? He doubled up with laughter.[LNB] Adebayor has more class but he did not display much here at White Hart Lane last night. As well as proving desperately ineffective in attack, he allowed Krancjar to run straight past him before watching the Croatian winger score in second- half stoppage time.[LNB] Three and easy: Kranjcar scores Tottenham's third goal[LNB] The former Arsenal striker perfectly encapsulated City's problemslast night because it was not just their impotence in attack that letthem down. They were pretty damn awful at the back, too. Not least inthe form of 35-year-old Slvinho, whose tired legs were no match for thesuper-speedy Lennon.[LNB] It was a horribly one-side contest, leaving Hughes only wishing that Wayne Bridge was not absent because of injury.[LNB] As it was, Lennon embarrassed his Brazilian opponent and probablyleft those same Abu Dhabi billionaires wondering why their left-back'sunderstudy, a player who only last season was playing in a ChampionsLeague final, now looks so hopelessly out of his depth at this level.It would seem you don't get much for £200million these days.[LNB] Too hot to handle: Aaron Lennon made it a miserable night for Manchester City[LNB]For Redknapp it was, of course, rather more satisfying. A fine responseto that shock defeat to Wolves at the weekend. While City now sit sixpoints adrift of fourth-placed Villa, thanks to those eight draws,Tottenham are chasing Martin O'Neill's men hard.[LNB] After being portrayed as something of a misery guts for cancelling the players' Christmas party, Redknapp managed a smile. He might have feared that Roque Santa Cruz would punish him for having so little festive spirit, but there was no need to worry. 'That was an outstanding performance,' beamed the Tottenham manager.[LNB] Tough battle: Micah Richards and Niko Kranjcar clash at White Hart Lane[LNB] [LNB] His team always attacked with more potency here last night, playing with some real finesse. A delightful move that started with BenoitAssou-Ekotto continued with Vedran Corluka and suddenly put City underenormous pressure when a delighful ball from Crouch sent Lennon clear.Even the cross was delivered to perfection but on this occasionKranjcar squandered the opportunity.[LNB] But he made no such mistake in the 38th minute when he finished amove he started. He fed the ball to Lennon, the England wingeraccelerated past the hapless Sylvinho and when Crouch saw his headerblocked on the line by Stephen Ireland, Kranjcar pounced. [LNB] On the run: Carlos Tevez is tackled by Wilson Palacios[LNB] Crouch almost scored a second moments later, running onto a neat pass from Defoe only to see his effort blocked by Nedum Onuoha.[LNB] But Tottenham wasted little time in adding a second after the break. Along kick from Heurelho Gomes was flicked on by Crouch, who simply hammered Micah Richards in the air, and was finished by Defoe.[LNB] If that was tough for Hughes to take, it compared not to the thirdgoal. A short corner between Lennon and Kranjcar took the Croatian pasttwo defenders and then the hopeless Adebayor to squeeze a shot throughNedum Onuoha and Shay Given. [LNB]'You're just a s**t team with money,' sang the jubilant home supporters. And last night, for Hughes, it was painfully true.[LNB] PREMIER LEAGUE LIVE: Wednesday's action as it unfoldedZenit St Petersburg set to turn to former Chelsea star Adrian Mutu after losing patience with Spurs over Roman Pavlyuchenko dealJudge big-spending Spurs same way as us, insists Man City boss Hughes TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FC
