[ 2011-11-22 ]

Adebayor's brace pushes Tottenham to third
Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice in the first half
as Tottenham Hotspur brushed aside Aston Villa to
climb to third in the Premier League on manager
Harry Redknapp's return after heart surgery.

Adebayor's first came from an overhead kick
following Gareth Bale's delivery after Villa
failed to clear a corner.

The striker made it 2-0, bundling in after a
left-sided cross from Bale.

The Togo forward came close to a hat-trick in the
second half, shooting wide twice and having a low
effort saved.

The result was just reward for a Tottenham team
who were dominant in every area and never looked
in danger of allowing their opponents back into
the game after taking an early lead.

Villa gave their hosts too much of the ball and
were punished, meaning they remain without an away
victory this season ahead of a difficult run of
fixtures.

The Midlands side face games against Manchester
United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea before the
end of the year.

Villa boss Alex McLeish fielded two right-backs -
Carlos Cuellar in a familiar role and Alan Hutton
just ahead of him - in an attempt to quell the
threat of Bale on Spurs' left, but the home side
were soon in control and should have scored in the
11th minute.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto's superb pass picked out Aaron
Lennon, who chipped a cross towards Adebayor. The
striker produced a poor header though, steering
wide from eight yards.

Adebayor's chance to make amends came quickly and
he took it. Younes Kaboul had a 20-yard effort
deflected wide, leading to a corner that ended in
his goal.

Rafael van der Vaart took the kick, which Stephen
Warnock headed out. Bale knocked the ball back
into the penalty area, where Adebayor finished
with an acrobatic, overhead bicycle kick.

Impressive Dutchman Van der Vaart carried on
troubling Villa, striking a fierce angled shot
into the side-netting and producing an audacious
chip as the home team kept pressing after their
opener.

A second Spurs goal seemed inevitable and Bale
provided it. He tormented Cuellar then swung in a
cross that Villa's defence failed to cut out. That
allowed Adebayor to nudge home to consolidate
Spurs' lead five minutes before the break.

Villa made a better start to the second half,
though, with Chris Herd crossing for Darren Bent,
who headed at Brad Friedel. That was a rare moment
of bother for Spurs, who soon took a grip on
proceedings once more.

Adebayor had the first of his hat-trick chances
after pouncing on a pass from the highly
influential Luka Modric, but he shot wide from 18
yards when one-on-one with Shay Given.

After Kyle Walker fired wide in the 58th minute,
Adebayor had another chance but he curled wide
from 18 yards after Bale had again teed him up.

The former Arsenal and Real Madrid striker was
once more denied his hat-trick when his
77th-minute effort, during a goalmouth scramble,
was smothered by Given, but he and his team-mates
were rightly satisfied with their evening's work.

Source - Ghanasoccer

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