Spurs give Bucs a football lesson
Tottenham Hotspur handed treble champions Orlando Pirates a football lesson in the final of the 2011 Vodacom Challenge, claiming a comfortable 3-0 win at Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon.
After failing to win either of their two preliminary matches against Kaizer Chiefs and Pirates, Spurs hit top gear when it mattered and claimed a deserved win thanks to a brace from Rafael van der Vaart and a late strike from Jermaine Defoe.
The Buccaneers were perhaps as good, if not better, than Spurs in general play, but their poor execution in the final third of the pitch was in stark contrast to Spurs’ ruthless finishing.
Pirates enjoyed the greater share of possession in the first half, and created more chances, but they lacked the necessary cutting edge in the final third of the field to capitalise on their dominance.
The clever movement and pace of Tlou Segolela, Daine Klate and Thulasizwe Mbuyane troubled the Spurs defence, but striker Bongani Ndulula only two real chances; one deflected away for a corner kick and the other was just wide of the target.
Pirates’ best chance, the first genuine opening of the game, went the way of Segolela in the 11th minute but his heavy first touch allowed goalkeeper Huerelho Gomes to get off his line and ensure nothing more than a corner was conceded.
Spurs provided little threat other than the occasional half-chance for striker Peter Crouch, but they took the lead against the run of play in the 35th minute, with Rafael van der Vaart scoring direct from a free kick.
The Dutch playmaker beat Pirates’ Senzo Meyiwa with a curling effort from just outside the box – the second time he has netted from a set piece against the Buccaneers, having scored from a similar situation in the teams’ first meeting in Nelspruit on Tuesday.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first: Pirates enjoyed more of the ball, created more scoring opportunities, but it was the English side who had the firepower up front and duly extended their lead to three goals.
Eight minutes after the restart, van der Vaart beat the offside trap to find himself one-on-one with Meyiwa. The goalkeeper made a great block to keep out the attacker’s initial attempt, but Spurs’ no.11 kept his cool and steered the rebound into an empty net to make it 2-0.
Bucs had the chance to come back into the game ten minutes before the end when they were awarded a soft penalty by referee Wellington Kaoma, but Segolela’s spot kick hit the base of the post and rebounded away to safety.
Spurs added to their advantage in the 87th minute when substitutes Gareth Bale and Jermaine Defoe combined – the latter steered home a cross by the former to wrap up the scoring.
Orlando Pirates 0
Tottenham Hotspur (1) 3 (van der Vaart 35’ 53’, Defoe 87’)
Pirates: (4-2-3-1) Meyiwa; Jele, Lekgwathi (Mahamutsa 63’), Sangweni (Johannes 64’), Cloete (Thwala 69’); Manyisa, Jali (Ngobeni 69’); Mbuyane (Doutie 46’), Klate (Bester 63’), Segolela; Ndulula (Mayambela 60’)
Spurs: (4-4-2) Gomes; Walker (Hutton 46’), Bassong, Khumalo, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon (Pavlyuchenko 61’), Modric (Bale 71’), Huddlestone (Palacios 46’), Pienaar (Kranjcar 46’); van der Vaart, Crouch (Defoe 46’)
Referee: Wellington Kaoma (Zambia)
Cautions: Klate, Jali