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Hossam Ghaly scored for the first time since arriving
at Tottenham; an important goal that gave his side the
lead at the Inonu against Ahmed Hassan's former club
Besiktas. The match, which ended in a 2-0 victory for
Spurs, puts them on course for qualification to the
next round.
Read also:
Tottenham were applauded by the Besiktas
fans at the end of the game, an indication of just how
good they were. Besiktas looked at times lazy, sloppy
and the young team Tigana is forming has clearly yet
to gel. Former Gencler defender Baki Mercimek looked
out of place in such a tie, as well as Fahri Tatan who
had no effect on the game. The Eagles' amazing supporters
were the only positive that could have been taken out
of the game for the Turks. One cannot help but wonder
how much harder Spurs would have found it had the likes
of Ahmed Hassan, Sergen Yalcin, Tumer Metin and Ahmed
Yildirim been still at Besiktas. Yes, they are relatively
old in footballing terms, but they clearly had an experience
and indeed quality about them that the current Besiktas
players don't have.
And talking of youngsters, Spurs saw a good performance
from 19-year-old Tom Huddletone on just his second start
for the club. Didier Zokora - arguably Spurs' player
of the season till now - was pulled out of the game
just hours before it, and Huddlestone stepped in and
did a good job. Hossam Ghaly also played a decent game,
and no matter how the goal went it, it was pivotal.
It gave Spurs a comfort they wouldn't have dreamt about
in the first half. Striker Dimitar Berbatov was at last
on target, and finally the £10.9 million spent
on him seem to be paying off.
It was ironically a quiet start to the game on the pitch,
though the fans were as loud as ever. The first scare
came when Hossam Ghaly moved well with the ball, and
made a couple of passes to Danny Murphy. The latter
hit a decent strike which Runje parried forward. Berbatov
tucked the rebound in but it was correctly disallowed
for offside.
Ghaly continued to play the ball from the right-hand
side, making short passes and providing a number of
crosses for Besiktas' tall centre-backs to deal with.
After just over half an hour, Ghaly ran wonderfully
off-the-ball, after controlling it with Berbatov and
leaving it to the Bulgarian. Berbatov played a through
ball from the right which Ghaly latched onto, running
at pace into the box. The keeper advanced to block Ghaly's
shot from around 12 yards out, but it returned right
back off the Egyptian's knee and into the goal.
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Nobre provided a few scares but nothing really tested Robinson
bar a free-kick from Burak Yilmaz, which the England keeper
would have been disappointed to concede.
In the second half, Ghaly was booked for kicking the ball
away after the referee had stopped play. Meanwhile, Berbatov
was constantly at Ibrahim Toraman and did a good job, providing
and having a number of half-chances.
By the 63rd minute, Berbatov got his goal. He got a through
ball and and turned inside of Mercimek delightfully before
turning another 90 degrees to evade Runje and slot the ball
home. It was a fine goal, and maybe the start of something
for Berbatov.
This is when Besiktas started getting even worse, and Spurs
upped the tempo to make use of that. Berbatov out-paced Mercimek,
put the ball in for Keane, who tried to strike the ball hard
on the volley and ended up hitting the bar. Shorty, good passing
in the midfield ended up with a fine through ball from Ghaly
to Robbie Keane, who tried a shot from the left which went
straight at Runje. And Mercimek's nightmare continued as he
clearly fouled Berbatov - who was again swiveling around him
- in the box, only for the referee to wave play on.
It was only in the final five minutes that Robinson had too
much to do, but it was clear who the better team was. Ghaly
went off in the 83rd minute, yet it was a fine performance
from him. The Egyptian was doubtful due to injury on the match-day
but managed to play, score and do a wholly satisfying job.
Aaron Lennon's return will however threaten his place in the
team.
Elsewhere in the group, Bayer Leverkusen drew 1-1 with Club
Brugge, putting Spurs in pole position.
UEFA Cup coverage will continue on EgyptianPlayers.com...
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