Andre Villas-Boas: 'The supporters were absolutely fantastic for us'

Published: 30 October, 2013
by DAN CARRIER at White Hart Lane

Capital One Cup, Fourth Round
SPURS 2, HULL 2

SPURS won a place in the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup tonight (Wednesday) after seeing off Hull in a dramatic penalty shootout. 

Goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who earlier had made an error that had let Hull back into the game, went from villain to hero with two penalty saves.

After the match manager Andre Villas-Boas praised Spurs’ fans – he had spoken about the tension around the ground after Sunday’s league game against the same opponents and suggested it had affected his players’ confidence. Supporters reacted and the players produced a night of high drama for them to enjoy.

He said: “The supporters were absolutely fantastic for us.

“To see us go 2-1 down in extra-time and hear their response was very pleasant. They showed the difference they can make for us.”

The fans were rewarded after a quarter of an hour with a goal worthy of gracing any occasion. Gylfi Sigurdsson received a ball on the edge of the box, flipped it past his marker and smashed it brutally home from distance.

It was as good as it got: despite having much of the possession, Spurs found it hard to create clear chances.

Hull then came back into the game on 54, and in comic fashion: a bungled effort from close range by Curtis Davies spun across the six yard box and Brad Friedel spooned it into the net.

Spurs tried to find openings but found determined resistance in the last third. They nearly won it on the final whistle when sub Harry Kane hit a lovely effort from 25 yards against the crossbar.

A free header from a corner on 98 by Paul McShane gave the visitors the lead but still there was more to come. Kane found himself in space deep in Hull’s half, skated over a challenge and drove an equaliser home with just five minutes remaining.

And so it was to penalties. Friedel made a great save at the start but poor Erik Lamela, who had shown flashes of the brilliance that persuaded Spurs to pay £30m for him over the summer, fluffed his lines when he had the chance to win it. It went into sudden death and at 8-7, Friedel stopped a low effort from Ahmed Elmohamady, and booked Spurs a quarter-final home tie against West Ham.

Spurs: Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Paulinho, Lamela, Naughton (Chiriches, 67), Defoe, Dembele, Sigurdsson, Eriksen (Chadli, 67 – subbed for Kane, 80).
Subs: Lloris, Chiriches, Holtby, Capoue, Chadli, Kane, Benttaleb

SPURS COMMENT by Dan Carrier

AVB's comments about the tension felt by the squad when playing at home after the game against Hull were misconstrued: he wasn't having a go at the fans, just issuing a rallying cry and using some classic reverse psychology.

How else could the fans respond, but to let everyone on the pitch and bench know they are up for doing the job allotted to them? Even 15 minutes before kick-off, with the ground at best half full, the noisy mob in the southern part of the Shelf and right across the Park Lane end were working through their repertoire, and raucously applauding the players names as they were read out.

As the referee blew for kick-off, the whole stadium were singing AVB's Blue and White Army, I Love Steffen Freund, Spurs Are On Their Way To Wembley, and pretty much every other Spurs song you can think of.

On it went, incessantly, for most of the game.

The best of the bunch was, "Win When We're Singing, We Only Win When We're Singing", followed by, "Andre, Give Us A Song…"

Though the performance was laboured at times on the pitch, with Hull stubborn and frustrating opponents, the fans did themselves proud – and got the result their hoarse throats deserved.