Bill Edgar's tactical analysis

Juande Ramos’s management of Tottenham Hotspur has reached a critical phase. Tomorrow evening, against Arsenal in the Carling Cup, he can guide the club to a Wembley final and five days later they will face Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup. No wonder this performance smacked of distraction and eccentricity. Or rather it might have, had Tottenham not been so erratic.

There were moments of genius.

Playing Tom Huddlestone as a centre half looked an inspired move as the former Derby County midfield player distributed from the back with elegance and composure. And Sunderland struggled with the pace of Aaron Lennon, who gave Tottenham the lead inside two minutes. But there were moments of desperation, too.

Roy Keane, the Sunderland manager, abandoned the tactic of playing Kenwyne Jones as a lone striker and his team put Tottenham under such pressure that they probably deserved to have recorded their first away victory of the season.

It looks sometimes as if it barely matters who is the Tottenham head coach; they cannot find consistency within a match, let alone over a month. But Ramos had the courage to stick with Radek Cerny in goal, in preference to Paul Robinson, and the Czech made several wondrous saves to keep Sunderland at bay.

At the end, Robbie Keane scored his 100th goal for the club and you could forgive Tottenham fans for wondering if the script had been ripped up; it might have meant more, surely, had he reached the milestone against Arsenal in the second leg of their Carling Cup semi-final. “I’m pleased that it’s out of the way because there’s been a lot of talk about it,” Keane said. “It’s gone now and I can just concentrate on playing football.”

It mattered to him, though; he resurrected his cartwheel celebration and proclaimed that it would not be seen again for a while. But if he scores the goal that takes Tottenham to Wembley, how could he resist it?

Roy Keane joked that the “only one Keano” chants that rang round White Hart Lane were for him, but he must be bottling up plenty of frustration. “I said it was only a matter of time before he got the 100 goals and I’m sure he’ll be buying our defenders a drink because they let him walk through them and slot it away,” he said.

The Sunderland manager is upbeat about whether he makes any signings before the transfer window closes. “If a few targets come off, then fantastic, but that won’t make or break Sunderland Football Club,” he said. “We’ve got some good young players and if I have to chuck them in, I wouldn’t lose a minute’s sleep about it.”

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): R Cerny 8 – P Stalteri 5 (sub: P Chimbonda, 79), T Huddlestone 7, M Dawson 7, Lee Young Pyo 5 – A Lennon 6, K-P Boateng 5, J Jenas 6, J O’Hara 6 (sub: T Tainio, 55 5) – D Berbatov 6, J Defoe 6 (sub: R Keane 74). Substitutes not used: P Robinson, D Rose. Booked: Lee, Chimbonda. Next: Everton (a).

Sunderland (4-1-4-1) : C Gordon 5 – P McShane 5 (sub: A Cole, 75), N Nosworthy 6, J Evans 6, D Collins 5 – D Yorke 7 – A Stokes 5 (sub M Chopra, 39 7), L Miller 5, D Whitehead 6, D Murphy 6 – K Jones 6. Substitutes not used: M Fulop, I Harte, R O’Donovan. Booked: McShane, Chopra. Next: Birmingham City (h).

Referee L Mason
Attendance 36,070