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After around half an hour, in a fast but chance-drained game,
Malbranque suffered an injury in his foot and Ghaly came on.
Lennon moved onto the left and Ghaly took his place on the
right. Again, Spurs fans are yet to see the best of Ghaly;
the side-midfield role was never his first position and will
probably never be.
Ghaly's first touch was a good clearance but his next attempts
to pass were mostly cut out. Just minutes after his entrance
however, Spurs conceded. Ghaly tried to pressurise Steve Warnock
but couldn't, as the left-sided player passed the ball down
the line to Morten Gamst-Pedersen. The
Norweigan delivered a perfect cross and Mido's former team-mate
Benni McCarthy headed home. The lead meant Rovers would challenge
Spurs for the UEFA Cup spot.
Ghaly gave the ball away again immediately after the restart,
but Paul Robinson was able to save the eventual shot from
McCarthy. And Spurs' only decent effort on goal came from
the Pharaoh, who hit a half-volley from the edge of the box
after a shot rebounded to him. Brad Friedel dived well to
hold the ball.
15 minutes into the second half, Ghaly was taken off for
Robbie Keane, and showed his indignation by taking his short
off as he walked away, throwing it onto the floor and going
straight into the tunnel. Meanwhile, Blackburn should have
won the match seconds later when Pedersen produced another
stunning cross, only for Chris Samba - who went to Rovers
instead of Wael Gomaa - to smash a header onto the crossbar.
Spurs were lucky to escape this and got even luckier when
they got a hardly deserved equaliser. Dimitar Berbatov's turn
away from Ryan Nelsen led to a shot which Friedel parried.
Jermain Defoe tapped in the rebound instinctly.
Spurs could have gone on to win the game as they raised the
tempo and even struck the post. Robbie Keane took a shot which
looked to be going in but swerved onto the woodwork and into
Friedel's hands before any rebound was possible. Rovers finished
the game with ten men as Jason Roberts was dismissed for a
foul, and then for his objection to the decision.
Hossam Ghaly went into the changing rooms early last time
Spurs played Blackburn, as he was sent off. This time, it
was the manager's decision not the referee's which left an
ultimately sour taste at the end of this game.
More soon on EP..
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