Richmond Spurs: 'Supre-Sub Defoe' Spurs 2

Courtesy of Sky Sports-

Super-sub Jermain Defoe stepped off the bench to secure a vital three
points for Tottenham and continue Manchester City's away-day blues.
The
England international was on hand to drill home the rebound after Steed
Malbranque's curling cross-shot had hit the base of the post seven minutes from
time.
City had been reduced to 10 men just seconds earlier with Stephen
Ireland shown a straight red card for a late two-footed lunge on Lee Young-pyo,
and the visitors never fully cleared their lines from the resulting free-kick.
It had looked as though it would be Sven-Goran Eriksson celebrating an
inspired change after Rolando Bianchi had headed City level in the 61st minute,
powering home Martin Petrov's corner just minutes after coming on.
Pascal
Chimbonda had given Spurs the lead in controversial circumstances seconds before
the interval, deflecting Dimitar Berbatov's cheeky flick from Jermaine Jenas'
low free-kick beyond Andreas Isaksson with his arm when stood in an offside
position.
But it was left to Defoe to grab the headlines with his goal just
six minutes after coming on as City, who boast a 100 per cent record at home,
suffered a fourth defeat on their travels and a seventh in succession against
Spurs.
With Spurs' top scorer Robbie Keane out for another two matches
through suspension, he also offered head coach Juande Ramos an indication he is
ready to step in.
Elano absent
City were without the influence of Elano,
the Brazil playmaker having failed to recover from a hamstring complaint, so
their creativity came from Martin Petrov on the left wing.
Petrov's delivery
from the flank went some way to explain why Dimitar Berbatov wanted his Bulgaria
team-mate at White Hart Lane this summer.
However, with £8.8million striker
Bianchi on the bench, Petrov only had Darius Vassell to aim for initially,
giving Younes Kaboul time to settle after getting dropped for the midweek UEFA
Cup clash against Anderlecht.
However, the young French defender's passing
range was awful, and he was nowhere to be seen for City's equaliser.
Bent
wasteful
At the other end, Darren Bent was wasteful. Berbatov's silky touches
sent Bent through on goal in the ninth minute but Andreas Isaksson rushed out to
save with his feet.
Javier Garrido picked up a booking for tripping Aaron
Lennon, and from the resulting attack Berbatov was on the floor but managed to
clip the ball through to Bent. He snatched at his shot with Jermaine Jenas
waiting with an open goal in front of him.
Berbatov was full of invention,
drilling a cross for Malbranque to sweep a shot towards goal but Richard Dunne
got himself in the way of the effort.
City showed pace on the break when
Kelvin Etuhu, making his first start for the club, smashed into the
side-netting, while Michael Johnson was patrolling the midfield area with
authority on his return to action.
The opener came on the stroke of
half-time, with Berbatov getting fouled on the touchline by a combination of
Gelson Fernandes and Vedran Corluka. Jenas drilled the ball across, Berbatov
flicked and Chimbonda angered City with the finish off his arm - he also
appeared to be standing in an offside position.
Eriksson responded by
bringing on Bianchi for Etuhu just before the hour mark, with the substitute
making an instant impact.
Robinson
Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson would
have been braced for a busy spell but he also had time to banter with the City
fans, who dubbed him "England's number four" after his recent troubles at
international level.
He could do nothing about Bianchi's equaliser, the
Italian striker rising to thump home a header from Petrov's corner.
City
were putting Spurs under intense pressure and Lee had to make a last-ditch
clearance from another Petrov cross. Petrov also fizzed a long-range effort just
wide.
The game turned when Ireland was given his straight red card by Mark
Halsey for a slide on Lee.
Defoe grabbed the winner from the free-kick, with
Malbranque hitting the post and the substitute smashing the rebound between
Micah Richards' legs.