| Jack Wilshere set to receive senior England call-up as well as under-21 inclusion Arsenal midfielder to be included in senior England squad for Euro 2012 qualifier despite being named in the under-21s. telegraph.co.uk |
Tottenham 2-1 Aston Villa Rafael van der Vaart is the gift that keeps on giving. When the Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy, bought the Dutchman from Real Madrid on the last day of the latest transfer window he described the new playmaker as a "present" for the manager Harry Redknapp – today at White Hart Lane more than 35,000 fans again united in gratitude. The £8m bargain crowned another sparkling performance with the two goals that enabled Spurs to come from behind and prevail in a pulsating contest.Unlike their hosts, Villa had not been in Champions League action in mid-week and they initially looked fresher, forcing their hosts on to the back foot – which is not a comfortable position for Spurs' these days. Tottenham's continuing injury problems forced Redknapp to select yet another new partnership in the heart of his defence, Sébastien Bassong and Tom Huddlestone forming the club's 10th central defensive duo of a campaign that is only 12 games old.Villa put the improvised pairing through a disorienting test, with Ashley Young, Marc Albrighton and Stewart Downing serving as tricky satellites unpredictably orbiting Emile Heskey. Heskey's power was they key ingredient in the opening goal on 16 minutes. The England rejector outmuscled Bassong on the right before stomping into the box and serving Marc Albrighton on a silver platter. The youngster duly tapped into the net from three yards.What Heskey did to Bassong, Nigel Reo-Coker and Stilian Petrov were regularly doing to Jermaine Jenas and Luka Modric in midfield, where Huddlestone's redeployment had left Spurs light. With Van der Vaart uncharacteristically subdued early on, Villa were looking comfortable – except for Heskey, who was unable to shake off the dead leg he suffered while creating the goal and had to be replaced by John Carew in the 35th minute. Downing offered the Norwegian an opportunity to mark his arrival in style but Carew blasted over from 20 yards.With half-time approaching Tottenham suddenly raised their game. Van der Vaart, inevitably, was instrumental in their fightback. First he stung Brad Friedel's hands with a shot from 25 yards, then he sent a curler fractionally over from the edge of the area before, in the third minute of stoppage time at the end of the half, the Dutchman made the breakthrough, heading into the net from close range after Peter Crouch nodded a Pavlyuchenko cross into his path.That was not enough to reassure Redknapp, who made a tactical switch at the break, replacing Pavlyuchenko with Aaron Lennon, who took up residence on the right to give Van der Vaart even more freedom to roam. Redknapp said: "That gave us a bit more balance, we had been a bit too open in the first half."The switch bore fruit. Tottenham took charge of a contest that was hurtling along at a delightful clip, and in the 75th minute came up with the winner. Lennon cut in from the right and chipped a cross towards Crouch, who headed across goal to Van der Vaart. The Dutchman outfoxed Richard Dunne with a deft feint, slamming the ball past Friedel from six yards."When the ball goes up to Crouchy, Rafa's always around there looking for it, he's got a real knack for scoring," Redknapp said."Van der Vaart was outstanding," acknowledged Gérard Houllier, who also plenty to impress him in his own team. "I was pleased with the performance but disappointed with the result," he said. "Funnily enough that as the best of my three games in charge. We developed good entertaining football, building from the back without skipping stations. I think a draw would have been a fairer result, and that's good because, to be honest, Tottenham are a slightly superior team to us."Premier LeagueTottenham HotspurAston VillaPaul Doyleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
FIFA to Investigate Report Of World Cup Vote - Selling BERNE (Reuters) - World soccer's governing body FIFA said on Sunday it would investigate a newspaper report that two members of its executive committee had offered to sell their votes in the contest to host the 2018 World Cup. feeds.nytimes.com |
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney will not be sold in January transfer window Man United respond to suggestions Wayne Rooney's alleged rift with Sir Alex Ferguson is so great he will be ushered out of club. telegraph.co.uk |
PSG beat Toulose, move up to third Paris Saint-Germain won 2-0 away at Toulouse and moved up to third place in the French league on Saturday cbc.ca |