Tottenham Hotspur's Jermain Defoe reacts during their English Premier League soccer match against Stoke City. Photo / AP
Matthew Etherington ended former club Tottenham's 11-match unbeaten run in the Premier League with a first-half double in Stoke's 2-1 win at the Britannia Stadium today.
The winger scored close-range goals in the 13th and 43rd minutes before Stoke repelled a fierce onslaught in the second half to dent third-place Spurs' title challenge.
Emmanuel Adebayor halved the deficit in the 62nd minute with his eighth goal of the season, converting a penalty after Glenn Whelan was harshly adjudged to have tripped Luka Modric, but the visitors squandered a series of chances to complete the comeback.
Tottenham, which had center back Younes Kaboul red-carded in the 82nd for two second-half yellow cards, missed the chance to provisionally move to within four points of unbeaten leader Manchester City, which visits Chelsea on Monday.
Stoke's second straight victory lifted the team to eighth place but it was fortunate to come away with a win after replays showed defender Ryan Shawcross clearly used his right arm to stop Kaboul's goalbound shot in the 74th. Moments later, Adebayor had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside.
Spurs' last visit to Stoke ended with their elimination from the League Cup at the third-round stage in September and 2 months on, they couldn't cope with the hosts' high-intensity start.
Peter Crouch, who moved to Stoke from White Hart Lane on transfer-deadline day in August, caused Tottenham's defense all sorts of problems in the first half and he played a crucial part in the build-up to Etherington's first goal.
Bringing down Ryan Shotton's steepling deflected cross possibly with his right arm Crouch shrugged off the challenge of William Gallas and attempted a close-range shot from an acute angle that was saved by Brad Friedel.
The ball fell into the path of Etherington, who swept into an empty net.
The left winger, who played for Spurs from 2000-03, made it 2-0 just before the break, meeting a flick-on from Jon Walters with a scuffed shot that bounced into the net from eight yards (meters) out.
The second half was a different story, with Tottenham bidding for a seventh straight victory launching wave after wave of attacks after Adebayor made it 2-1.
Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen saved well from Parker and Adebayor, while substitute Jermain Defoe had a goalbound shot blocked as Stoke just about held on.
- AP
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