Tottenham Hotspur   2    Manchester City   1      (Half-time score : 2-1)

Robinson

Chimbonda
Dawson
King (c)
Gardner

Lennon (Malbranque 75)
Jenas
Zokora
Tainio

Keane (Defoe 81)
Berbatov

Unused subs: 
Cerny
Huddlestone
Assou-Ekotto

Isaksson

Onuoha
Dunne (c)
Distin (Hamann 28)
Jordan

Beasley (Samaras 81)
Jihai
Johnson
Ireland

Vassell
Mpenza

Unused subs: 
Weaver
Dickov
Laird

Keane 10
Berbatov 32

Mpenza 40

     
Gardner (foul)  

     
Vassell (foul)    

Spurs struck twice in the first half, but were pegged back by a Mpenza header and fought a bit of a rearguard action before having the opportunity to wrap the match up late on.  Both sides had openings, which were snuffed out by the defences, before a ninth minute goal by Robbie Keane on his 200th appearance for Spurs opened the scoring.  Berbatov's back-heel found Ledley King moving into the opposition half, with a spin away from a City challenge.  He played a square ball to Jermaine Jenas, back after his bout of back spasms and a delicate chip over the City back four provided Robbie the chance to smash home a volley from about 12 yards out, which went through the keeper's legs.  It was a fine goal and one which gave Spurs an early buffer against the rigours of what the day might have brought.

Didier Zokora put in a huge performance considering this was the third game in a week for Tottenham and he was on the end of a lot of rough tackles by the visiting players, but he stuck to his task until the end ... more of which later.  He was on the end of a two-footed jump tackle from Ireland which went unpunished and a foul when Vassell left his foot in and he did get a caution.  From the quarter hour mark, City started to push Spurs back.  A hesitant piece of defending saw Richard Dunne allowed time to ship the ball into the heart of the Tottenham penalty area and the ball fell nicely for Vassell to strike the ball at goal from about six yards out and the ball was close to Robinson, but he did well to palm the ball away with a fine piece of goalkeeping.  Robinson has had his detractors this season, but he has come good near the end of the campaign with some vitally timed saves.

The midfield was a tough part of the pitch and Teemu Tainio made a valuable contribution with some hard running and some tough tackling.  He even got forward to curl a shot not too far over the top in the 23rd minute and the Finn was playing the ball around the pitch well too.

With an injury to Distin, Manchester City had to re-organise and maybe this allowed Spurs to attack through the middle of the defence to score the second goal shortly after.  Anthony Gardner played the ball into Berbatov's feet and he turned to move into the penalty area, centrally placed.  He tried to prod a pass through to Aaron Lennon outside him on the left, but Onuoha could only stick a leg out to stop the ball, leaving it invitingly in the Bulgarian's path.  What else is a striker to do when presented with such a chance other than to oblige by smashing it into the net to make it 2-0.

Gardner's pass was one of the better things he did in the match, as he had a tough time up against Vassell and brought a yellow card out of Steve Bennett's pocket when he mis-timed a tackle.  Luckily the free-kick was cleared, but in City's next attack, Hamman curled in a cross that hit Mpenza at the far post and although a little behind him, the Belgian forward put his header back across Robbo to find the corner of the net.   1-2 with five minutes until half-time and within a minute Mpenza's cross was pushed out by ENO and the ball bounced up for Johnson to head at an unguarded goal, only to put it over the top.  It was an escape for Tottenham and one which left them going in a goal to the good at the break.

With the team 45 minutes from the end of the season, they put in a tired second half performance, with City pushing forward to grab something from the game.  Keane went close with a curler just after the restart, but then in the 57th minute, Tottenham were indebted to Robinson once more, as Ireland's cross found Mpenza unmarked, with Chimbonda allowing him a header, which Paul had to back-peddle to jump up and push the ball over the bar when it was heading for the top corner of the net.  For the next fifteen minutes, Tottenham had to defend as the crosses came into the area, but with Lennon's exit to be replaced by Malbranque, the match swung the other way.

Jenas showed good pace to break forward, but his pass to Keano was not well weighted and the chance slipped away, then Berba's pass was heading for Keane until Dunne got it away by slicing it over his own bar.  Keane then took a break, with Jermain Defoe coming on for the last ten minutes.

With five minutes remaining, Defoe curled a free-kick just wide of the goal and then in the next forward move, Zokora picked up a loose ball, ran at Dunne and as he neared the penalty area, he was nudged by the Irish defender and Bennett pointed to the spot.  It looked dubious and on TV afterwards, it was outside the box.  However, taking what is given, Defoe grabbed the ball and stepped up to take the spot-kick, but smashed it straight at Isaksson and when the rebound bounced in front of him, he struck it when it was slightly too high and it rocketed over the bar, with Jenas coming in behind him with perhaps a better run at it.

Right at the death, Zokora lead another breakaway and with Defoe in support, played him in.  With it looking like a typical opportunity for the little striker to fire a shot in on goal, he instead tried to drift it across the six yard box, but the ball flocked off Dunne for a corner and the last chance of the match went begging and shortly after the final whistle blew on a season that was a marathon this time and Tottenham stayed the course to win their aim of European football and a fifth placed finish was a good return for some entertaining football.

Next season will be the tester, as it will be expected that we move to the next level and crash the top four party.  With some astute buys and with Berbatov retained, it might be a realistic aim.  With the UEFA Cup to look forward to, the players earned themselves an extra month's holiday, as there is now no need for the InterToto Cup.

The after match presentations for Player of the Season and the speech by Martin Jol left everyone leaving with a smile on their face.  Especially when Jol told the crowd that he wasn't "a slimeball" just before he told us that we were the best fans in the country !!

Long may he reign !!

KIRK HAMMERTON