Tottenham Hotspur 3 Watford 1

Last updated : 19 March 2007 By SpursMAD

Martin Jol said: "It's always good to score goals from all angles. Everyone came in afterwards and I said it must be a terrific feeling and that he now knows how a striker feels when he scores a goal, but he said to me 'that's actually my second goal' because he scored at Leeds (in a League Cup tie for Leeds against Swindon in 2003). So I have to keep my mouth shut!"

"I don't feel it was just about him though - it was a great time to score the second goal and that was important. Paul has a terrific kick, one of the best in England, so that can happen. You feel for the other goalkeeper but it happened to Paul in Croatia. It can happen to anyone."

Paul Robinson said: "I was kind of watching it, but I thought I was going to get moaned at by the strikers for over-hitting the free-kick.

"People might question him, but it was just one of those things - a freak goal. Out of respect for Ben I didn't want to run off celebrating looking like I meant it. It was a difficult one, I obviously didn't mean to do it, and it is about how he bounces back. He has got to be strong, although his defence didn't help him out and I have watched it on video.

"It is fantastic and I couldn't have asked for it to happen at a better place. It was a crucial time in the game at 1-0 so I was happy.

Robinson and Jermaine Jenas both returned from injury as expected. Hossam Ghaly, Jermain Defoe and Mido all came into the side as Jol opted to start with Aaron Lennon, Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov among the substitutes ahead of Monday night's FA Cup sixth round replay against Chelsea. Radek Cerny as well as Paul Stalteri also dropped the bench, with Ricardo Rocha available once again.

The Portuguese required stitches after a coming together with Tamas Priskin in the first half.

As expected Watford set out to stifle Tottenham's entertaining style of play, and even after Jermaine Jenas broke the deadlock the Hornets were satisfied with keeping their defensive shape. Although that stage the points looked in the bag, Watford didn't give up the fight lightly before Spurs secured their seventh win in eight games.

Jol added: "I wasn't concerned about the result, more about the way we played in the first half. It looked okay, but it was too slow. The last 15 minutes were better in the first half and we created one or two chances and the second half was better.

"Even at 2-0 it can be difficult but then we put it right with Hossam Ghaly, who started nervously but then came back to show his quality. I was very pleased to win.

Robinson added: It took a long time to get going, the gaffer made a few changes which took a little while to gel, but we got the right result in the end."

Jermaine Jenas said: "It was great to get back on the goalscoring trail, that was just what I wanted and more importantly, another win.

"It was one of those games where you need something to spark the team off. We didn't start that well, the first half-hour was a bit sloppy and we allowed them into the game too much but as soon as I scored I felt we got on top."

Source: TottenhamHotspur.com