It’s 4-1, Even Harewood Couldn’t Screw This Up

By: Johnny on the Spot | October 1st, 2007

Make no mistake about it. Villa was lucky to come away with a point, even though they led 4-1 early in the second half. That lead was more of a result of Paul Robinson than any fantastic display by Martin O’Neill’s side. While the team played well for the first 50 minutes, they were gifted three goals by Robinson. The first was a ball the Spurs keeper dropped right in front of Martin Laursen. The second was poor defending by Spurs, but Robinson was nutmegged by a chest deflection off Laursen. The fourth saw England’s ex-#1 move inexplicably towards his wall and get caught out of position by a fine free kick from Craig Gardener. It was actually the worst performance by a goalie I have ever seen, and Werder Bremen scored eight this week.

But, you make your luck and Villa put themselves into position for those goals and looked to be walking away with a rare three points at White Hart Lane. One couldn’t help but bank on a win with twenty minutes to go. And that’s when it all went to hell.

If anyone remembers the 4-3 thriller between West Ham and Tottenham last year at Upton, Harewood lost the final ball that resulted in Spurs victory. Tonight he helped Spurs again by bulling into Darren Bent stupidly, which led to a Robbie Keane penalty, reducing the deficit to 4-3. After that, Spurs looked like they believed and the last second goal by Kaboul seemed inevitable (an offsides had been missed on Defoe).

While it’s not the first time Harewood has seemed to aid Spurs, it was actually Martin O’Neill’s inability to change the game to close down Gareth Bale that was the major factor. Bale looked like he was unmarked most of the game and his cross to Defoe that banged off the crossbar and was swept in by Pascal Chimbonda, for their 2nd, highlighted a weak position for Villa. In addition, he allowed his team to absorb too much when up 4-1. All managers would defend with such a lead, but they would rely on the counter to keep the opponent honest. By switching out the quicker Moore for a target man in Harewood, he disabled his counter and invited more Spurs possession. And any team that has 60% of the possession and 19 shots is dangerous no matter the lead.