This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/23/hull-city-tottenham-hotspur-premier-league-match-report

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Christian Eriksen strikes late for Tottenham to sink 10-man Hull City Christian Eriksen strikes late for Tottenham to sink 10-man Hull City
(about 2 hours later)
Two goals from White Hart Lane youth products featured on the scoresheet of this match but it was the dismissal of Hull’s Gastón Ramírez that had the greatest influence. The hosts simply could not hold on and the creative gem Christian Eriksen picked their pocket at the death. There are recurring themes to the away wins that are keeping Tottenham’s Premier League season afloat. This, their third, was sealed like its predecessors with a last-minute winner and against 10 men.
Tottenham slumbered through the opening period and deservedly trailed to a goal from Jake Livermore, the £7million midfielder they sold this summer. Few could deny that it was the impetuosity of Ramírez that woke them up. Although the contest was ultimately settled by the quality of Christian Eriksen’s finish its complexion was altered by a flick of a Hull player’s boot rather than a Tottenham one. It was that of Gastón Ramírez five minutes into the second period as he kicked out at Jan Vertonghen in a manner reminiscent of David Beckham towards Diego Simeone at the 1998 World Cup.
Just five minutes into the second half, the Uruguayan midfielder kicked out at Jan Vertonghen following a challenge between the pair and walked. Suddenly it became an exercise in austerity for Hull and although Spurs did level through England Under-21 striker Harry Kane’s opportunistic effort on the hour they appeared to be heading for a point. With Ramírez, only playing because the hosts’ top scorer, Mohamed Diamé, was suffering from a bout of tendinitis in a knee and who featured for Mauricio Pochettino at Southampton last season, went the home team’s attacking threat and the Hull manager, Steve Bruce, accused Vertonghen of cheating for his part in the incident. The Belgian had appeared to tread on his opponent amidst a tangle of limbs.
However, Eriksen, whose ability to unearth pockets of space was a feature of the afternoon, did so to devastating effect in the final minute, ghosting across the face of the penalty area before clipping into the far corner. “The Barclays Premier League is watched all around the world because of its honesty, so let’s stop this where we constantly see players wanting to get people sent off,” said Bruce. “It gave the impetus back to them. Who knows what the outcome would have been with 11 but I am sure we would have stood a better chance. For me, the whole spectacle was ruined because of that incident.
It proved a stark contrast to the mood at the KC Stadium an hour earlier. Livermore did not manage a single league goal during his six seasons at White Hart Lane but his fourth since joining Hull, initially on loan, proved a dividend for early home dominance. “There is no doubt that Ramírez has shown petulance; Vertonghen has a little go at him and provokes him and he flicks out. The letter of the law says it is violent conduct. But the reason the Premier League is loved around the world is the honesty of it, the integrity of it and the ferocity of it.”
Seizing on a headed clearance from Federico Fazio, Livermore exploited the reluctance of Ben Davies to close him down as he approached the area and guided a precision effort beyond Hugo Lloris’ dive for the eighth-minute opener. Although neutrals might not have agreed with Bruce’s assessment neither would they necessarily have shared Pochettino’s opinion that the numerical advantage was not pivotal in his latest comeback win. Before victory at Aston Villa on their last road trip, a Pochettino team had not overturned a deficit during his time in England.
It could have been worse for Tottenham too as Hull struck a purple patch around the 20-minute mark. Lloris’s uncertainty under the high ball was almost exposed when - under relatively little pressure from Hull captain Curtis Davies - he dropped it at the feet of Ramírez. The Uruguayan steadied himself and took aim only for Fazio to block. “No, I don’t think it had a big impact,” said the Argentinian. “At the beginning of the second half our game was better than Hull. I am sure that at the end it would have been the same result.”
However, Lloris’s quality as a shot-stopper helped him deny Robbie Brady with a save low to his left, following a clever assist from Ramírez. Then, when he failed to hold onto a an angled Ramírez shot, fellow Frenchman Hatem Ben Arfa’s profligacy - curling the rebound wide - kept the score at 1-0. A side showing six changes – Emmanuel Adebayor was among those to miss out through injury – trailed to their former midfielder Jake Livermore’s eighth-minute opener. Seizing on a headed clearance from Federico Fazio, Livermore exploited the reluctance of Ben Davies to close him down as he approached the area and guided a precision effort beyond Hugo Lloris’s dive.
Hull were lambasted by their manager Steve Bruce for the manner of the defeat at Burnley a fortnight ago but there was nothing lackadaisical about their first-half performance here. Evidence of that was provided when Ahmed Elmohamady hared back towards goal to head safely back to goalkeeper Allan McGregor and quell a rare Spurs attack. From another, McGregor, one of five changes made by Bruce, fisted out Érik Lamela’s drive. But for Lloris the half-time deficit could have been greater, with Robbie Brady denied by a fine reaction save and another stop from Ramírez’s angled drive resulting in Hatem Ben Arfa curling the rebound wide. At the other end Spurs did not test the returning Allan McGregor until five minutes before the break when Erik Lamela’s shot was beaten away.
The balance of power switched five minutes into the second period when Ramírez - called in late due to Hull top scorer Mohamed Diamé suffering a bout of tendinitis in his knee - petulantly kicked out at Vertonghen from a floored position amongst a tangle of legs. Traffic in the home area increased immeasurably, however, once it became 10 versus 11. Hull’s exercise in stealth had limited Tottenham to Harry Kane’s equaliser on the hour, turned in instinctively from 10 yards after the elfish Eriksen’s free-kick was redirected into his path via the post and the unwitting McGregor’s sprawling frame.
Referee Craig Pawson missed the incident but produced the red card following consultation with his linesman.. Hull reshaped, sacrificing the mercurial skills of Ben Arfa and the passing range of the booked Tom Huddlestone. But the dam was cruelly burst as the clock hit the 90-minute mark and Eriksen ghosted across the fringe of the penalty area to bend his shot inside the far post.
Within 10 minutes Tottenham had made their numerical advantage count: Eriksen’s free-kick hit a post and was re-directed into the path of Kane by McGregor’s sprawling body. He could not miss. Cruelly for the hosts, neither did Eriksen from 20 yards out as the clock ticked onto the 90-minute mark. To the glass half-fullers among Spurs fans it extended Tottenham’s happy knack of purloining late points on the road. To the half-empties it is papering over the cracks. But also spare a thought for Hull, who have given up seven points in the last 10 minutes of matches and now sit two places above the relegation zone as a consequence.
Man of the match Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur)