Solid First Half Performance For Hassan vs Spurs

Solid First Half Performance For Hassan vs Spurs

Date: 7-12-2007
Wrote by: EP's webmaster

Hassan's Anderlecht couldm't defeat Hossam Ghaly's Spurs despite taking the lead in the 2nd half through Goor who took advantage from poor marking in Spurs defense. However, Spurs replied almost instantly from a penalty kick to end the game in a draw. Hassan played the full match and did very well in the first half but heavy marking in the 2nd half prevented him from showing the same level of performance in the 2nd.

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Egyptian star Ahmed Hassan played a full match versus Hossam Ghaly's Tottenham in the UEFA cup group stage.

Hassan silenced his critics with a great display of skills in the first half. The Egyptian started in the right of the midfield but he was apparently given a free role as he appeared almost everywhere on the pitch and linked very well with his teammates.

Hassan was the best Anderlecht player in the first half in which Spurs dominated and controlled most of the game play.

The 2nd half wasn't better for the Mauves as Tottenham put Anderlecht under pressure and Jenas marked Hassan heavily and prevented him from showing the same level of his performance in the first half.

In the 67th minute, Anderlecht took the lead through Goor who capped a nice move for the Mauves. The goal was against the run of play and exposed Spurs weakness at the back.

Despite taking the lead, Spurs managed to pull level a couple of minutes later after a foul by Van Damme on Jermaine Jenas inside the box. The substitute Berbatov converted the penalty kick confidently to make the score 1-1.

Hassan's passing in the 2nd half wasn't the best because of heavy marking and he lost possession a couple of times which led to counter attacks against his side. However, the Egyptian remained on pitch the full game and almost scored in stoppage time but the referee's assistant raised his flag for an offside on the Egyptian.

With this result, Tottenham lead the group while Anderlecht became 3rd. They will face Getafe in Spain in the last match in the group stage and will need to achieve a positive result there in order to advance to the last 32 round.