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MOTD- Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Sheriff Tiraspol

By on November 7, 2013
Erik Lamela and Jermain Defoe were the stars of the show as Tottenham beat Sheriff Tiraspol 2-1

Erik Lamela and Jermain Defoe were the stars of the show as Tottenham beat Sheriff Tiraspol 2-1

Tottenham Hotspur predictably beat Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol at White Hart Lane, but despite the relatively low scoreline the match provided Erik Lamela’s first outstanding performance since joining Spurs for a club record fee of £30 million over the summer and Jermain Defoe’s club record twenty-fourth European goal.  Lamela set up the penalty that Defoe converted the goal that that took him past Martin Chivers’ club record goal scoring tally in European competitions and scored the opener, although Andre Villas-Boas side as a whole seemed uninterested in the match.

As expected, Tottenham dominated the opening minutes, with Mousa Dembele’s low effort from the edge of the area being pushed wide by Sheriff goalkeeper Vjekoslav Tomic before Etienne Capoue’s thirty-yard screamer whizzed just wide of the post.  Villas-Boas side continued to press high up the field and keep possession, and despite sending six shots on target in the first half hour alone, Sheriff should have taken the lead in the twenty-fifth minute when Ismael Isa’s shot on the counter-attack bounced off the leg of Younes Kaboul, onto the post and wide.  Only two minutes later the visitors came close again, after Christian Eriksen strangely opted to play it straight to Ricardinho on the edge of his own box.  The Brazilian midfielder curled a shot inches wide of the post, yet Tottenham remained on top and the Spurs fans brought out the chant “let’s pretend we’ve scored” just before the end of the half.

The fans should have been rewarded only ten minutes into the second half when Eriksen drifted in from the right and blasted a superb effort on goal.  Tomic just managed to tip it over, but was at fault just four minutes later as Lamela bagged his first ever goal in a Tottenham shirt after trying to for 561 minutes of playing time.  The twenty-one-year-old starlet passed it infield to Eriksen from the right, and the attacking-midfielder’s return pass smacked off the back of Djibril Paye’s back and fell right back to Lamela on the left side of the penalty-area.  Seeing Tomic out of position, Lamela sliced a first-time volley into the bottom corner of the near post to put the home side up 1-0.

Sheriff found themselves rocked by the goal, allowing Tottenham to double their lead only six minutes later.  Lamela jinked into the Sheriff box past three players before going down following the slightest clip from Paye, to which referee Ken Hansen deemed a penalty.  Defoe slammed a perfect spot-kick into the top left corner, but just when Tottenham looked to have the game won Sheriff grabbed one back.  Cadu’s vicious shot from the edge of the box was awkwardly parried away by Brad Friedel, only for Isa to volley the rebound into the back of the net from a tight angle on the left.  Although Paulinho volleyed Eriksen’s cut back from the right just over the crossbar, Tottenham settled for the 2-1 scoreline and easily killed off the rest of the time, with Sheriff hardly seeing the ball in the three minutes of stoppage time before Hansen blew the final whistle.
Man of the Match: Erik Lamela

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.