Source: Daily_Mail
Stoke City 1 Tottenham 2: Ice-cool Eidur won't feel the heat at Spurs
With the notable exception of Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Tottenham's players punched the air and hugged one another as though that coveted fourth place was already theirs.[LNB]For Eidur Gudjohnsen, simply scoring in the Barclays Premier League and enjoying his football again was enough cause for celebration.[LNB] Speedy impact: Eidur Gudjohnsen came off the bench and fired in his first goal for Tottenham as they held on to fourth place[LNB]The former Chelsea striker does not need to justify his decision to see out three years at Barcelona, even though he became a peripheral figure at the Nou Camp. But even he admits he got it badly wrong last summer when he left Spain and moved to Monaco.[LNB]'I didn't really adapt,' said Gudjohnsen, who escaped in January andchose to join Harry Redknapp's side on loan rather than West Ham.[LNB]The Spurs players - minus Benoit Assou-Ekotto - celebrate their victory[LNB]'When you're not happy in your work, it's difficult to get the best out of yourself. That's why I decided to move back to England and try to at least put my name in the headlines.[LNB]'People talk about the weather in Monaco, the weather in Barcelona. I don't really care. Football is about being happy with what you're doing and I feel alive again since I came back to England.'[LNB]The Iceland striker came off the bench and fired Spurs ahead within seconds of the restart, showing enough pace and power to beat Abdoulaye Faye to Peter Crouch's pass and smash the ball in.[LNB]Gudjohnsen's goal was his first since scoring for Barca in a Cup game against Atletico Madrid in February last year.[LNB]Then, after Matthew Etherington had put 10-man Stoke level from the penalty spot,it was Gudjohnsen's clever stepover that allowed Assou-Ekotto's low cross to run through for Niko Kranjcar to blast in the winner.[LNB]'People say I'm back to my old self, but I feel I've always been the same way,' said Gudjohnsen. 'It's just some managers haven't seen it that way.'[LNB]MATCH FACTS STOKE (4-4-2): Sorensen 6; Huth 5, Abdoulaye Faye 6, Higginbotham 6, Collins 6; Delap 6, Whitehead 5, Whelan 6 (Tuncay 85min), Etherington 7; Fuller 5, Kitson 6 (Sidibe 84). Booked: Fuller. Sent off: Whitehead.TOTTENHAM (4-4-2): Gomes 7; Corluka 6, Dawson 7, Bassong 5, Assou-Ekotto 6; Kranjcar 7 (Livermore 90), Modric 8, Kaboul 6, Bale 7; Pavlyuchenko 6 (Gudjohnsen 36, 7), Crouch 7. Booked: Kranjcar, Assou-Ekotto.Man of the match: Luka Modric.Referee: Mike Dean. [LNB]Assou-Ekotto trudged towards the tunnel on his own, though. Maybe hewas thinking about his challenge on Dave Kitson that gave away thepenalty or his shoving match with Vedran Corluka over marking.[LNB]Redknapp said: 'Charlie (Corluka) was upset that he didn't come backand do his job. Benoit is a strange boy. He's a bit highly strung andhardly speaks English. If you say something to him he's hard work. Hehasn't improved his English in the couple of years he's been here.'[LNB]Asked why the player had walked off on his own, Redknapp replied: 'He didn't know the result! He probably thought we'd drawn.[LNB]'He'll turn up Wednesday and play great, but he won't know we'replaying Fulham until someone tells him. That's how he is. He's unreal.He walks off and he's thinking about the music he's going to play whenhe puts his headphones on.'[LNB]Ricardo Fuller and Mamady Sidibe both wasted clear chances to score asecond goal for Stoke, but manager Tony Pulis was more unhappy aboutMike Dean's decision to show Dean Whitehead a second yellow card foranother clumsy challenge on Luka Modric.[LNB]It was the third time Dean had sent off a Stoke player this season and Pulis revealed that he had contacted referees' chief Mike Riley in midweek to try to have the official taken off the game.[LNB]Midfielder Rory Delap said: 'I don't know if he's judging us on our reputation rather than actions, you'd have to ask him that.[LNB]'Hopefully he can leave us alone from now until the end of the season.'[LNB] Pulis rages as Whitehead becomes third Stoke player sent off by Mike DeanStoke 1 Spurs 2: Gudjohnsen leaps off the bench to fire Spurs' chargeTOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FC
