Hull City 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur – Premiership Live Blog – 22 February 2009

It’s just what you want on a Monday night – watching two teams who occupy the lower regions of the Premiership, slug it out to a probable goalless draw. Yes, the fare on offer this evening is Hull City against Tottenham Hotspur. Daily Soccer Blog is getting it’s money’s worth out of the Setanta subscription to bring you continued updates throughout the match.

Match Preview

Tonight sees two teams who endured contrasting starts to the season, but are now separated by just four points and are almost as bad as eachother. Tonight’s hosts, Hull City, had a storming start to the season, while Tottenham were propping up the division under Juande Ramos. Now, the Tigers are in freefall, while some slight improvement has been made by Spurs under new manager Harry Redknapp.

Both sides are in poor form. Hull have the worst home record in the Premiership and are desperate for a first victory in 10 attempts. They may just get it against a Spurs side which has lost eight out of 12 against fellow clubs in the bottom half of the table. While we are discussing miserable statistics, Spurs have also lost eight out of 12 on the road and if they go behind they are almost guaranteed to lose – they have done on 12 out of 16 occasions this season.

Hull will definitely be without Craig Fagan, who has had knee surgery, but Ian Ashbee, Daniel Cousin, Caleb Folan and former Spur Anthony Gardner are all available. Harry Redknapp can call upon Robbie Keane, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Vedran Corluka, who were all cup-tied for last week’s UEFA Cup defeat by Shakhtar Donetsk and there may also be recalls for Carlo Cudicini, Jon Woodgate, Aaron Lennon, Wilson Palacios and Luka Modric.

Line Ups

Hull: Duke, Ricketts, Turner, Gardner, Dawson, Marney, Ashbee, Zayatte, Kilbane, Garcia, Cousin.
Subs: Myhill, Doyle, Barmby, Geovanni, Halmosi, Manucho, Mendy.

Tottenham: Cudicini, Corluka, Woodgate, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Jenas, Palacios, Modric, Keane, Bent.
Subs: Gomes, Zokora, Bentley, Huddlestone, Pavlyuchenko, Dawson, Chimbonda.

Goals

Hull: Turner (27′)

Tottenham: Lennon (17′), Woodgate (86′)

Live Blog

90′ Four minutes of added time as Hull search for an equaliser. They may just get one if Cudicini continues to play up in goal. Yet again he opts to beat away a corner when under no pressure, rather than taking the easy option of catching it.

88′ Two substitutions for Spurs sees Zokora replace Lennon and Dawson comes on in place of the the goal scorer Woodgate, who collided with Corluka and has blood streaming from above his left eye.

87′ Phil Brown shuts the stable door after the horse has bolted by bringing on the talismanic Geovanni in place of Zayatte.

86′ Goal! Hull 1 Spurs 2. A poor ball by Jenas sends Assou-Ekotto wide out left but the full back beats Gardner and clips a delightful cross into the six yard box. Centre back Jonathan Woodgate meets it with a towering header which gives Duke no chance.

85′ Spurs have a sniff at goal through Jenas, who cuts into the box and unleashes at goal. Gardner is there to block it behind for a corner.

82′ The Spurs defence seemed content to back off and back off some more of Marney as he advanced towards the edge of the box. How he would love to score against his former club but his effort is well blocked by King.

79′ The hard working Garcia is replaced by Manucho. The home supporters do not appear overly thrilled at the prospect.

76′ This is a better corner from Hull. Dawson crosses in to the near post and Turner busts a gut to reach it. Zayatte, however, gets there first and his glancing header beats the keeper but comes back off the far post.

74′ The game has become scrappy and the crowd subdued. Hull appear determined to get a corner at every opportunity – Cudicini’s inability to deal with them hasn’t gone unnoticed.

72′ The unproductive Bent is replaced by Pavlyuchenko as manager Redknapp searches for a winning goal.

69′ Zayatte gets away with a warning after deliberately barging Jenas to the ground.

67′ Bernard Mendy comes on for Daniel Cousin. Hull manager Phil Brown must be happy to settle for a point as Spurs have been a lot more purposeful this half.

66′ Modric drifts in a fantastic free kick from the right which Corluka heads towards the top corner but is unlucky to see it come back off the crossbar.

64′ Palacios wins the ball in midfield and plays it to Keane down the right. His cross is thumped clear by Hull who opt to defend in numbers. The Tigers break quickly and Marney whips in another trademark cross to the far post for Kilbane, who can only manage a feeble header which is scooped up easily by Cudicini. At least he caught it this time.

60′ Cudicini opts to slap away a corner, but at least gets some distance on it this time. The ball comes back towards him but he is fouled in the air by Gardner who also challenged for it.

58′ Spurs appear to be getting more of a foothold in this game. They should do too. On paper they are a class above this Hull side but do they have either the belief or desire to win this match?

54′ Keane appears to have woken up. A poor clearance from Duke lands right at his feet and he attempts a lob from 25 yards. He gets it all wrong and it goes harmlessly wide.

51′ Chances are coming thick and fast at both ends. This time it’s the visitors turn. Keane, with possibly his first contribution of the game, plays a great pass to Palacios on the edge of the box who thunders a volley straight into the ample frame of Gardner, who knew nothing about it. Goalkeeper Duke was well beaten there I think.

50′ Some more dire defending by Spurs at the other end. A corner is completely missed by everyone present in the six yard box and Cudicini, who obviously hadn’t learned from his mistake in the first half, again fists the ball aimlessly into the ground. Kilbane rattles in a shot which is desperatly blocked by Assou-Ekotto.

49′ Spurs play a patient, passing game around the Hull box, occasionally putting in a poor cross which is easily dealt with. The ball drops to Bent with his back to goal, he spins and fires in a volley which is well saved by Matt Duke.

46′ Spurs kick off and for their sakes, I hope they put in a better performance in this half than they did the first.

Half Time. Spurs have performed like a side struggling against the drop and Phil Brown will be the happier manager of the two going into the break. The Tigers have enjoyed the majority of the possession and have created more chances, but they simply haven’t been good enough to make them count. Their best chance of scoring seems to be from a set-piece, where they can bully a weak Spurs defence into submission. Harry Redknapp’s side, frankly, need to buck their ideas up.

45+1′ Some razor sharp wit from the Hull fans who direct chants of “What a waste of money” towards Robbie Keane, much to the amusement of the commentator. They instantly follow up with “There’s only one Jimmy Bullard”. The irony is undoubtedly lost on them.

45′ Modric goes into the book himself for clipping Kilbane just outside the D. It’s Dawson who takes the free kick from a run up but curls it high and wide at the near post.

42′ Ashbee gets a yellow card for tackling Modric so high he almost leaves a studmark on the Croatian’s forehead. It may be acceptable in League Two, but not in the Premiership, son.

40′ Another sweeping Hull move almost produces a goal, but they lack that final bit of quality. Ricketts touches the ball out to the right for Marney who curls in a superb cross towards the far post. Ricketts has a free header but it’s poor and trickles out for a goal kick.

37′ Spurs have been awful this half and I can count the number of times Robbie Keane has touched the ball on one hand. It’s dismal stuff from a team everyone still believes is “too good to go down”. Two words. Manchester. City.

34′ It’s all Hull at the moment. Marney curls a long ball towards the far post to Garcia who’s chasing, but the former West Ham midfielder can only half-heartedly volley it wide of the goal.

29′ Cousin goes agonisingly close to putting the Tigers into the lead when he pelts the ball first time towards goal following a poor knockdown by Ledley King on the edge of the box. At first it looks like it’s way off target but curls spectacularly towards the top corner and goes just wide.

27′ Goal! Hull 1 Spurs 1. The equalising goal comes from more dreadful defending, this time from Spurs. Cudicini flaps at a corner and smashes it straight into the ground. The ball riccochets off Palacios back towards an unguarded net and Michael Turner gleefully hammers it in from close range. Who needs channels like Dave when you have comedy gold like this to watch?

23′ Some atrocious refereeing by Lee Probert who signals for a throw in after Dawson clearly bundles the ball behind for a corner when tackling Darren Bent on the touchline.

18′ Hull have a great opportunity to equalise mere moments from the kick off. Zayatte races past Corluka and bears down on goal but goalkeeper Cudicini is on hand to slide-tackle him and put him off his stride.

17′ Goal! Hull 0 Spurs 1. A short corner is played to Modric, who passes to Aaron Lennon on the edge of the box. Nobody in a striped shirt bothers to close him down and he has all the time in the world to pick his spot – top corner, near post. A neat finish but shocking defending from Phil Brown’s side.

16′ Bent huffs and puffs for all he’s worth and gets in the box but is tackled superbly by Gardner who sticks out a long leg and pokes the ball behind for a corner.

14′ A moment of comic confusion between Woodgate and his keeper Cudicini with the defender doing his best to head a harmless ball into his own net. Cudicini, rushing out off his line like a madman, does his best to assist, but manages to get back in time and prevent the ball from crossing the line.

13′ Hull cause Spurs problems with long crosses to the far post. Ricketts manages to get one in twice in a matter of moments. His second effort is cleared behind by the stooping Corluka.

10′ Both Zayatte and Palacios are sprawled out on the floor after an ugly clash of heads. The Hull man is up first, proving the notion of “southern softies” a factual one under the circumstances.

7′ Dawson gets away with a ticking off after a two footer on Lennon. The older brother of Tottenham player Michael gets booked seconds later for wrestling Lennon to the ground. Can anyone say “out of his depth?” I think he’ll be off before the game is out if Lennon keeps running rings around him.

3′ Garcia gets the home supporters mildly interested for a moment with an effort from the edge of the box. It’s quickly charged down and goes out for a corner. Garcia wins it in the air and Gardner hooks back across the face of goal when it looked like it was going behind. The ball reaches Dawson, who draws upon all his years in the lower leagues and slices a cross with the outside of his boot for a throw in. Danger over.

1′ It’s Hull who get us started this evening. This is what Monday evenings are all about – hardcore mediocrity. I bet the schedulers were literally wetting themselves with underwhelment when this fixture was announced for broadcast. Ah well, suppose I’d better watch seeing as I am paying for it.

0′ We haven’t even mentioned Nick Barmby yet, probably because the veteran midfielder is hidden away on the Hull bench. For those of you old enough to remember, he made 108 appearances in all competitions for Spurs and scored 27 goals before he departed for Middlesbrough in 1995. Have I missed anyone out?

0′ That’s not all, former Spurs player Dean Marney makes his 100th appearance for Hull, as does Sam Ricketts, while Jon Woodgate makes his 50th appearance in a Spurs shirt. Anthony Gardner also faces his former club – he made 144 appearances for Spurs between January 2000 and last August’s £2.5 million move to the KC Stadium.

0′ Several players are hitting significant career milestones this evening. Robbie Keane makes the 400th English league start of his career, taking in Wolves, Coventry, Leeds, Tottenham and Liverpool. Hull’s Andy Dawson also makes his 400th career start, admittedly via a less glamorous route at Nottingham Forest, Scunthorpe and of course the Tigers.

Reaction

Harry Redknapp used his “Get of Jail Free” card at the KC Stadium with a later winner. Woodgate’s deciding header was his first away goal in the Premiership for 10 years and the result condemned Hull to their seventh defeat in their last nine games at the KC Stadium. Hull certainly had the better of the first half, but could not make their dominance count which allowed Spurs to creep back into the game. They were by far the better side after the break but they too did not look like they would force a winner until Woodgate showed real desire to head home the cross by Assou-Ekotto. It’s three precious points for Spurs, who clamber up to 14th in the table and five points clear of the drop zone.

Man of the Match

Not many players stood out tonight as the match was void of any real quality for long periods of the match. I will award this evening’s accolade to Aaron Lennon, who proved a constant threat in the first half. He ran Dawson ragged down the left and it looked as though his superior play would force the defender into clumsy challenges and ultimately an early bath. He was also the player who opened the scoring for Spurs, with a strike of real quality after 17 minutes. He may not have produced as much in the second half but he definitely helped to swing the balance in favour of Spurs before being substituted late on.