Wisla Krakow 1 Tottenham 1:GIVEN THEIR troubles, Tottenham Hotspur greet any achievement with relief, such is the distance between their ambitions and reality.
No one, said head coach Juande Ramos, should feel like celebrating a place in the Uefa Cup group stages, but at least there is hope. "There was no euphoria, it was just a sense of getting the job done," he concluded.
The Wisla Krakow captain Arkadiusz Glowacki's second-half own-goal gave the visitors a 3-1 aggregate lead, but Pawel Brozek scored late in the game to underline Spurs' fragility, and then might have scored thrice more, denied twice by fate and once by an excellent save from Heurelho Gomes. Wisla's feelings of injustice were well founded.
"At this moment a draw and win gives the same satisfaction," added Ramos, who made it clear that Spurs' problems, both in defence and attack, were still abundant. "We wanted a clean sheet but at this moment it is difficult. When you have problems to score then it is even more difficult."
The threat from home manager Maciej Skorza that his team would bombard their visitors initially appeared empty. Instead they afforded Spurs possession, squandered by some wasteful passing from Luka Modric and Aaron Lennon.
It was a crying shame, not least because Ramos had been sufficiently bold to play two strikers, with Darren Bent partnered by Fraizer Campbell, borrowed from Manchester United and making his full debut.
Campbell went on to justify his selection, although there was irony in Tottenham's attack gaining teeth from a player who had cost them nothing and whom they will have to give back in May.
In a bland first half Radoslaw Sobolewski drove through on goal and should have scored, only for Gomes to save with his legs.
Suitably chastened, Ramos immediately moved Campbell and Bent closer together, and the former did well to tee up Modric for an insipid shot on goal.
That began a period of sustained pressure, on which Spurs capitalised after 58 minutes when Jermaine Jenas's overhit pass reached Gareth Bale. The Welshman's cross was well placed and, under close attention from Campbell, Glowacki steered the ball into his net.
With eight minutes remaining, Brozek found an alarming void on the edge of the Spurs area and lobbed into the net as Gomes rushed to fill it, leaving Spurs to survive the late onslaught.
WISLA KRAKOW:Pawelek; Baszczynski, Cleber, Glowacki, Piotr Brozek; Boguski (Marcelo, 82), Sobolewski, Cantoro (Zienczuk, 67), Diaz; Jisak (Lobodzinski, 27); Pawel Brozek. Subs not used: Jusczcyk, Singlar, Niedzielan, Barreto.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR:Gomes; Gunter, Woodgate, King, Bale; Lennon (Dawson, 86), Jenas, Zokora, Modric (Huddlestone, 77); Campbell (O'Hara, 69), Bent. Subs not used Cesar, Bentley, Giovani, Assou-Ekotto.
Referee:A Dan Tudor (Rom).
Guardian Service
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