It was a momentous night for Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane; not only did they secure a spot in the knock-out stages of the Champions League, eliminating a dire Werder Bremen side in the process, but Harry Redknapp’s men achieved their first clean sheet since August.
Spurs bossed the game from the start and took the lead after just six minutes. Bremen failed to clear a simple corner and Aaron Lennon picked up the loose ball before dribbling past Dominik Schmidt and pulling a cross back for the unmarked, and in-form, Younes Kaboul to sweep home with ease.
Their lead was doubled at the end of the first half as Luka Modric filled the void left by the injured Rafael van der Vaart and latched on to the end of a Peter Crouch knockdown. The Croatian delightfully fooled Sebastian Prodl and smashed a right-footed shot past the helpless Tim Wiesse.
Despite their half time lead, Redknapp wasn’t overly impressed with his side’s first half performance.
"I thought we played within ourselves in the first half to be honest," he admitted.
"It was difficult. They filled up the midfield but every time we got it out to Gareth or Aaron it looked as though we were going to create a chance."
Spurs started the second half as they finished the first as they sought a third goal with Gareth Bale crashing a free-kick against the crossbar in the 51st minute after Prodl was booked for a foul on Lennon.
Minutes later, a penalty was awarded for a trip by Felix Kroos on Modric. Regular penalty taker Roman Pavlyuchenko handed the responsibility to Bale but the Welshman’s powerful effort was saved with ease by the busy Wiese.
"I don’t know why he [Pavlyuchenko] didn’t take the penalty," the Spurs manager said afterwards.
"He normally takes them but he gave it to Gareth. He didn’t fancy it tonight, he missed one last week."
Wiese’s opposite number, Heurelho Gomes, was rarely troubled. Marko Marin was trapped in isolation on the left wing and Sandro Wagner, so impressive in the U21 European Championship final against England in 2009, could only contribute a spectacular ‘air-kick’ as he missed the ball completely.
The home side secured the win in the 79th minute with Lennon, back to his dribbling best, added a touch of flair to proceedings before laying the ball off to Peter Crouch to score his twelfth Champions League goal in 29 appearances, rounding off a miserable night, and a torrid campaign for Thomas Schaaf's team.
Despite securing safe passage to the knockout rounds, Redknapp stated his intent to end the stage at the top of Group A.
"We’ve enjoyed it so far and hopefully if we can get a result at Twente and win the group.
"I’d like to progress as far as we can. The crowd love it, I love it, it’s great for the football club to be back in Europe again and we want it every year."
Redknapp and co. travel to Holland in two weeks time as they look to beat Rafael Benitez’s Inter Milan in the race to the summit of Group A and will be hoping Werder put in a better performance in Germany to help them succeed.
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