Wednesday 13 Dec 2008
Tottenham Hotspur (0) 0 vs 0 (0) Manchester United FT
UCL, Kick-off: 17: 30 Att: 35882
Match Report
Dimitar Berbatov failed to make a winning return to White Hart Lane and silence the Tottenham boo-boys as Manchester United were forced to settle for a point in north London.
Tottenham fans made their feelings known towards the Bulgarian striker who left the club in controversial circumstances in August when he made a £30.75million move to Old Trafford.
Berbatov was booed every time he touched the ball and the abuse seemed to affect his all-round game as he was well below his normal best.
The rest of the United team were also below-par and failed to capitalise on Liverpool dropping more points at home to Hull City earlier in the day.
It could have been a different story had both keepers not been at the top of their game, but Tottenham managed to continue their amazing revival under Harry Redknapp and move another step away from the bottom three.
Tottenham almost got off to a dream start on eight minutes when David Bentley fired a superb 30-yard volley which produced a brilliant save from Edwin van der Sar diving away to his left.
Tottenham suffered a major injury blow just 60 seconds later when Jonathan Woodgate was forced to leave the field and was replaced by Tom Huddlestone.
The change did not affect to appear the home side and Tottenham went close again on 29 minutes when Aaron Lennon raced unchallenged towards the United penalty box before firing a low drive which was well saved by van der Sar.
The rebound fell to Roman Pavlyuchenko who also saw his shot tipped over the bar by the Dutch keeper, but referee Mike Dean amazingly awarded a goal-kick to United - much to the disgust of the home supporters.
United were somehow hanging on and were lucky to escape once again on 38 minutes when Tottenham created the best chance of the first half.
Didier Zokora was asked to fill in at right-back after Woodgate's withdrawal, but he was doing his best to surge forward and played a superb ball into the path of Luka Modric whose diving header flew inches past the post.
United finally woke up after the half-time interval and Berbatov almost made a dream return on 52 minutes when he evaded the challenges of Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Vedran Corulka and broke free into the box, only to see a superb late challenge from Michael Dawson deny him the opening goal.
Cristian Ronaldo thought he had broken the deadlock on 53 minutes when he smashed the ball past Heurelho Gomes, but his close-range effort was ruled out for handball.
In an open contest, Tottenham had another golden chance to take the lead on 62 minutes.
Bentley's curling free-kick looked destined for the top left-hand corner but van der Sar once again showed his agility by producing a stunning save to deny the Tottenham midfielder.
Gomes had to be at his best on 82 minutes when he superbly tipped a shot from Ji-Sung Park over the bar.
The Brazilian keeper then produced the save of the game in stoppage time when he managed to tip Ryan Giggs' free-kick onto the top of the bar as both sides were forced to settle for a point.
After the match Spurs boss Harry Redknapp said: "Gomes was excellent tonight. Tony Parks has worked very hard with him in training and I think he's brought him out of himself.
"We've seen a big lift in his performance. People were wondering whether he was a world-class goalkeeper and I think now he's starting to show his quality.
"I've got confidence in him. Whether we bring in another goalkeeper during January is another matter. I'm not saying we won't bring one in, but if he keeps producing those types of performances then we haven't got a problem.
"We showed great character after Woodgate got injured and in the end I think it was a fair result. It was a good point.
"Any time you get a result against Manchester United you've done well." United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: "It's frustrating. I think we dominated the game, but we just needed a little bit of luck.
"Their goalkeeper made two fantastic saves at the end.
"But you have to be worried about the counter-attack that you could lose it also. (Luka) Modric had a terrific shot near the end that just glanced over that could have embarrassed us.
"Tottenham aren't an easy team to play, they're on a high at the moment. Since Harry has come in they've been rejuvenated.
"It's not the worst result but I'd have liked to have got an extra two points as that makes a huge difference.
"After the draws today you hope to take advantage, but now hopefully there will be a draw tomorrow at Chelsea."
Tottenham Hotspur: Heurelho Gomes, Vedran Corluka, Jonathan Woodgate (Tom Huddlestone 10), Michael Dawson, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Didier Zokora, Luka Modric, Jermaine Jenas (Jamie O'Hara 62), David Bentley, Aaron Lennon, Roman Pavlyuchenko (Darren Bent 54),
Subs not used: Gareth Bale, Chris Gunter, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Cesar Sanchez
Booked: Tom Huddlestone 56
Manchester United: Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic, Rafael Da Silva, John O'Shea, Rio Ferdinand, Cristiano Ronaldo, Darren Fletcher (Paul Scholes 69), Michael Carrick, Ji-Sung Park, Carlos Tevez (Ryan Giggs 69), Dimitar Berbatov,
Subs not used: Jonny Evans, Luis Carlos Nani, Tomasz Kuszczak, Luis de Abreu Anderson, Gary Neville
Booked: Rafael Da Silva 62
Referee: Mike Dean
Attendance: 35882
