Stoke's set-piece savvy derails Spurs

Stoke 2 Tottenham 1:DEFEAT ASSUMED a form as predictable in its methods as it eventually was inevitable for Tottenham Hotspur, who remain seven points behind the Premier League leaders, Manchester City. They will be rightly enraged by controversial decisions here but they will also rue going 2-0 down by half-time. Stoke City had executed set-pieces to score the goals, showing how honed these methods have become in Tony Pulis's line-up.

Tottenham did rally vigorously after the interval and Emmanuel Adebayor converted a penalty in the 62nd minute awarded after slight contact with Luka Modric by Republic of Ireland international Glenn Whelan. The visitors could not complete the recovery but were wronged when, for instance, a Younes Kaboul shot was blocked on the line by the arm of the Stoke captain, Ryan Shawcross, on 74 minutes.

The misery did not abate for Tottenham, who had their centre-half Kaboul sent off for a second yellow card after a foul on another Republic of Ireland international, Jonathan Walters, in the 82nd minute. The visitors might have wished for a fit Ledley King at the core of the back four but sides of their ambition are supposed to cope better than this.

Harry Redknapp’s side endured only their second defeat of the campaign away from home in the league. As with so many others before them, they succumbed to a style of football that they knew for certain they would encounter.

Stoke deserve more respect than they get for methods that have been well practised. That hurt the visitors and there was an additional wince at the identity of the scorer in the first half; the former Tottenham midfielder Matthew Etherington struck twice. On the first occasion another player who had also been with the visitors added his contribution.

Former Tottenham player Peter Crouch took the ball a little wide but his deflected shot ran to Etherington, who converted the opportunity in the 13th minute. Redknapp’s side had territorial advantage, with Modric particularly busy in search of a response. Nonetheless Stoke’s advantage was extended two minutes before half-time.

Following the interval Redknapp replaced Benoit Assou-Ekotto with Sebastien Bassong and Aaron Lennon with Jermain Defoe but Stoke retreated and found the means and the luck to contain a side full of endeavour yet short of menace until they were in deep trouble.

Man-of-the-match Crouch later denied he handled the ball in the build-up to Stoke’s first goal. “I didn’t think it hit me but it was totally unintentional if it did. It was a massive result and every three points is big for us against a team that’s on absolute fire.”