Spurs Spear Twente

It seems, much like railway lines' relationship with leaves, White Hart Lane was not designed to withstand all autumn has to throw at it.  In this instance it was wet membership cards which derailed supporters' efforts to get through the turnstiles and led thousands to miss Spurs walk out to that music for the first time in the Champions League proper.  What an injustice - a phrase that for some would come to encapsulate the evening's play.

As the clouds over London spilled greasy rain onto the turf at the Lane - washing all memories of sun burnt knees and picnics snatched at on Blighty’s beaches with mums and dads, brothers and sisters huddled behind wind-breakers - 30,000 Spurs fans and 2,000 Twente hunkered down to watch a key match in Group A.  With a point at home to Inter already stashed away, Twente viewed a win at Spurs as a firm step in the direction of the last 16.  Anything other than a win for Spurs would have punched a severe hole in the hull of their ‘til now buoyant Big Cup boat.

It was a gladiatorial contest, not in magnitude or violence, but it did see Twente put to the sword by a combination of Spurs’ endeavour, Tom Huddlestone’s right elbow and the 5^th official.  Even with Van der Vaart sent to the locker room in the 60^th minute for what Paul Scholes would concur was a display of ‘over enthusiastic’ tackling, the Dutch champions failed to take the game to Tottenham.  It certainly seemed that with Spurs down to 10 men and the lead standing at a slender 2-1 Twente should have smelt blood on the autumnal air.  However, the third penalty awarded to Spurs did not so much deflate Twente as see them reduced to the embodiment of a spent condom thrown in a bedside bin amid protestations that ‘That’s never happened to me before…’  Indeed post match interviews revealed that the Twente boss was convinced that some great social injustice had been performed on a par with America’s extreme rendition procedures post 9/11.  In fact, Spurs were merely learning that with great (…moderate) success come great decisions. 

Spurs' 4-1 victory over Twente and Inter’s destruction of Werder leave Group A in a very interesting position.  Spurs face a double header with Inter and should they take any points from those games they could count themselves in a fine position to push on to the last 16.  Werder and Twente will view their own matches as a chance for one to assert authority over the other.  Should either team take the full 6 points from those meetings they would only need to beat Tottenham to take their points tally to 10, surely enough to progress?

For Tottenham, the San Siro awaits.  Should Tottenham scalp the champions of Europe there, Redknapp’s already slack jowls promise to melt off his face in the torrent of hyperbole streaming out of his pie hole.  As a Spurs fan, these are the nights that make it worth while; for the layman Spurs rarely disappoint.  Be there or be watching Man Utd draw I suppose.

~ Ed