Analysis of the goal conceded against Aston Villa

Nothing better than winning having been a goal down!

Sebastian Bassong was having a torrid time up against Heskey, and will have been delighted to see him go off injured. Villa’s goal

Marc Albrighton’s goal.

A long ball is played down the channel. I had a great view from the Park Lane end, and could see Heskey charging after this ball before Bassong saw him – as soon as Bassong realised that it was a straight race, he seemed to take the chase more seriously.

Having got there, this should be out first time – preferably a Row Z job, to allow us to get set for the throw. Instead, Bassong tries to bring the ball down and turn away from Heskey.

Tenacity and strength… they were what Heskey was all about yesterday. He seizes his chance, and muscles Bassong off the ball…

…and is able to carry it away.

He hits the by-line, and needs support. At the top of the picture, you can see Marc Albrighton absolutely busting a gut to give him an option.

Heskey times it perfectly – takes Huddlestone out of the game (in fairness Huddlestone makes a mistake by trying to shimmy, and fool him into making a pass too early, rather than cutting off the best angle). Hutton’s position is decent – he is goal-side.

The ball is weighted perfectly, and is a nightmare for Hutton to deal with. Albrighton goes to ground – Hutton should do the same in my opinion; I can’t see any other way that he can get there first.

Instead, Albrighton gets there just ahead of him, and prods it home.

The one good thing to come of the goal, was Heskey injuring himself; he had to come off 20 minutes later, and Villa didn’t look nearly as much of a threat.

Spurs really stepped up in the second half – Pavlyuchenko had a decent first half, but Redknapp made a great call, bringing Lennon on for him, and pushing van der Vaart higher up the pitch, where he could really hurt Villa. Using Lennon as an impact sub (as I suggested in a previous article), seems to me to be the best way to play him into form, and he almost seemed back to his old self at times, and Collins could easily have been sent off for taking him down when clean through.

Great to see our players prove that they can cope with two tough games in a week, and also good to see Redknapp pretty much stick with a winning side (aside from Jenas, who came in and did an excellent job again).