Sunday quality round-up

Last updated : 24 October 2005 By Spurs mad

THE SUNDAY TIMES
Jenas punishes United
Jonathan Northcroft at Old Trafford

Tottenham, after a disappointing beginning, seized their opportunity with gusto. When Jermaine Jenas lined up a free kick 20 yards out — given after another dumb moment from Rio Ferdinand, who had fouled Jermain Defoe. Jenas stepped up and, with Edwin Van Der Sar positioned dubiously, bent a lovely shot over the wall and into the unprotected portion of net behind it. Tottenham deserved their point.

Silvestre scored the opening goal after seven minutes and it was not a moment for the Paul Robinson video compilation. Ruud van Nistelrooy muscled in front of Mido to propel a powerful header at goal, which bounced in front of Robinson and up towards his gloves at a nice height. Whether the ball travelled a little quicker than he anticipated or took a kick off the turf, only Robinson knows but he spilt it. Silvestre smacked it home and the rather showy save he made from an Alan Smith volley moments later could not erase Robinson’s embarrassment.

United’s goal had come from a free kick, disputed by Tottenham when Michael Dawson was judged to have checked Wayne Rooney, that Paul Scholes delivered perfectly.

The sight of Uriah Rennie was making Tottenham supporters’ blood run cold. Having piqued them by penalising Dawson, the referee then turned down two penalty claims, the first when Yong-Pyo Lee tumbled under a Phil Bardsley challenge, the second when Mido trapped the ball and turned Silvestre before shooting against Ferdinand’s arm. Replays suggested Rennie made the right decision twice.

Tottenham’s midfield of Michael Carrick, Edgar Davids and Jermaine Jenas passed smoothly but Spurs couldn’t get their most penetrative players, Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon, on the ball.

Defoe’s dipping shot just before the interval, which brought an expert save from Van Der Sar when it bounced nastily in front of him, promised better things for Spurs and they took the game to United after the break.

Jenas’s equaliser was no shock and Tottenham’s chutzpah was illustrated when Carrick tried to score with a free kick from 40 yards out and hit the bar. STAR MAN: Jermaine Jenas

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
By Roy Collins at Old Trafford

Tottenham, after providing much of the afternoon's entertainment and scoring an exquisite equaliser, maintain that exalted position ahead of Wigan on goal difference if, at six points behind, not exactly on the leaders' shoulders.

Worryingly for United, Rio Ferdinand, whose petulant summer has given way to a troubled season, was again the man in the dock, fouling Jermain Defoe for the free kick that Jenas dispatched so expertly.

It says much for Tottenham's progress under manager Martin Jol that this game was seen not only as a measure of their own improvement but the health of Manchester United's title challenge. And while Tottenham passed with flying colours, United's title bid looks in tatters, strange as it may seem to say that after nine games.

Despite the return of Wayne Rooney, who had almost an average game compared to his coruscating performances this season, they were pushed all the way by a Tottenham side for whom Aaron Lennon had an inspired spell down the left until he was replaced by Robbie Keane in the 65th minute as his side sought an equaliser. Rooney became so personally affronted at his darting runs down the left that he got himself booked by taking both man and ball from behind.

Goalkeeper Paul Robinson has hardly suffered a blemish for Spurs or England but after seven minutes, he had a David James moment or, as home fans here might have described it, a Roy Carroll or Tim Howard moment. It was a dreadful mistake, fumbling a Ruud Van Nistelrooy header to the feet of Mikael Silvestre, who was left with a toe poke from three yards.

But Rennie was equally culpable for awarding the free kick from which Paul Scholes found Van Nistelrooy's head after Rooney fell while Michael Dawson was swaying to avoid fouling him.

Tottenham, to their credit, did not sulk at their latest injustice here and one sublime moment should have seen them level before half-time. Mido brilliantly brought down Ledley King's long, lofted ball, turned just as elegantly and struck a shot that appeared to graze Rio Ferdinand's hand on its way behind the goal.

Van Nistelrooy, United's top scorer with eight goals, has scored seven in eight games against Spurs. Another seemed certain when Rooney's ball fell at his feet just inside the box but Dawson's tackle defused the danger.

In the final seconds substitute Cristiano Ronaldo had an outstanding headed chance from a Paul Scholes corner. But scoring in injury time is yet another trick United have lost and it would have been another rank injustice against Spurs.

OBSERVER
Jenas outwits one-man United
Paul Wilson at Old Trafford

In his final game as a teenager Rooney showed only glimpses of his talent. He is entitled to a few ordinary days and United seem to be expecting too much from him. Rooney's own belief that he can score from anywhere and rescue any situation is not helping the situation either. Tottenham quickly realised that neither Rooney nor United were actually hurting them and came from behind to claim a point they thoroughly deserved and set alarm bells ringing across the Atlantic.

What Rooney brings to United was illustrated in the seventh minute in the build-up to their goal. The two teams were still settling down and exchanging pleasantries when Rooney bustled on to a ball near the halfway line and ran purposefully at the Spurs defence at such speed that he was past Michael Dawson before the centre-half had a chance to make a tackle. What Dawson did instead was nudge him as he went by. From Paul Scholes's free-kick Paul Robinson's failure to hold Ruud van Nistelrooy's header left Mikael Silvestre with a tap-in.

Other than a laughable attempt from Mido that flew so high it almost reached the second tier of the East Stand, the only time Edwin van der Sar was worried before half-time was when Jermain Defoe shot from 25 yards out on the stroke of the interval, a deflection from Silvestre forcing the goalkeeper to make a scrambling save.

A mistake by John O'Shea gave Defoe another shooting chance at the start of the second half, before the best and worst of Rooney was seen in the space of a few minutes. The best was an inspired flick that completely opened the Spurs defence and gave Van Nistelrooy a clear sight of goal. Unfortunately for United the striker wanted a fraction too long and Dawson was able to make a clean block. The flip side came when Rooney demanded the ball in the middle of the field, received it, then promptly lost it by attempting to beat the whole Spurs team instead of simply moving it on to an available colleague. Unwisely, Rooney attempted to retrieve the situation and his clumsy hack at Aaron Lennon brought a booking.

United's over-reliance on Rooney was exposed when Spurs drew level 18 minutes from the end. While never actually looking much like equalising, they had grown comfortable with United's muted aggression. When Defoe was fouled on the edge of the penalty area, Jermaine Jenas surprised Van der Sar - and everyone else - with a free-kick that whistled through the wall, Smith breaking ranks and clearing a path to goal. But there was no doubt that Spurs finished the game looking the stronger.

Man of the match: Jermain Defoe - Ledley King was outstanding at the back, with Michael Dawson not far behind, but Defoe never stopped running in attack, working hard, pulling defenders all over the place and giving his midfielders a passing option every time. Pacey and dangerous throughout. England should give him a chance.

THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
Jenas on target to deny United at the Theatre of Draws
By Steve Tongue at Old Trafford

Four Premiership matches at Old Trafford have brought United a mere four goals and five points, Tottenham fighting back in the second half for a deserved draw, although they drop to third behind Charlton.

Having failed to finish higher than ninth in the last decade, the north London club are at last beginning to see the benefit of £60m worth of investment in the last couple of years. Even so, their current status is as much a comment on the lack of consistency elsewhere as on their own quality.

The other talking point was a fierce midfield scrap between Alan Smith and Edgar Davids, Yorkshire terrier against Dutch pitbull. Smith ought to have received the first booking, but Davids saved him by getting quickly to his feet, only to receive a yellow card later - his fifth of the season - which will keep him out of the derby against Arsenal.

Ronaldo, badly out of sorts against Lille in a difficult week in which he was interviewed by police in connection with allegations of rape, was in the dug-out, allowing the South Korean Park Ji-Sung to start on the opposite flank to his compatriot and former Eindhoven team-mate, Spurs' left-back Lee Young-Pyo - a coincidence that turned the press box into a place of sweet Seoul music.

Paul Robinson presented United with a goal as early as the seventh minute. Michael Dawson conceded a free-kick on the left as he tried to pull out of a challenge on Rooney; Paul Scholes swung the kick over and Robinson failed to grasp Van Nistelrooy's soft header, giving Mikaël Silvestre a tap-in.

Robinson did better to beat out a shot from Smith, who had cleverly deceived Ledley King, one of his rivals for the vacancy as holding midfielder in the national team. Another contender, Michael Carrick, was quieter until the second half.

Spurs were much more vigorous after the interval, too much so for referee Uriah Rennie, who booked Davids, Jermaine Jenas and Paul Stalteri in quick succession. His first yellow card, delayed a little too long, was for Rooney, who had just created the best chance of the half with an imaginative back-heel; Van Nistelrooy, briefly clear, was thwarted by Dawson's recovery.

But with 18 minutes left, Spurs, having brought on Robbie Keane for the disappointing Aaron Lennon, found an equaliser. Jermain Defoe was fouled just outside the penalty area and Jenas, slowly rediscovering some form, curled his shot wide of a helpless Edwin van der Sar.

Carrick's long free-kick then dipped on to the top of the bar before Spurs replaced Defoe with Pedro Mendes, the scorer here last season of the goal the linesman missed. No pyrotechnics this time, however, from the Portuguese.