Spurs through despite jitters

12 April 2012

Tottenham earned a place in the knockout stage of the UEFA Cup after Dimitar Berbatov came off the bench against Anderlecht to spare the blushes of Michael Dawson as they drew 1-1.

Dawson was the senior centre-back of a makeshift defence but his error led to the opener from Bart Goor at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium in Brussels.

Defeat would have left Juande Ramos' men looking for help elsewhere in Group G for them to progress, but Berbatov levelled from the penalty spot after coming off the bench.

Younes Kaboul's recent errors cost him a place in the squad and Anderlecht were attempting to penetrate a defence which had midfielder Didier Zokora at centre-back.

Anderlecht were limited to half chances in the first half - but so too were Spurs. Paul Robinson made his first save of the match in the 34th minute when Nicolas Frutos found a yard of room on the edge of the box, but his weak shot lacked direction.

Robbie Keane forced a save from decent save from Daniel Zitka in the first minute of the second half after Aaron Lennon and Pascal Chimbonda had exchanged passes down the right flank.

Robinson was required to save shortly afterwards when Chimbonda lost the ball and Frutos slipped past Dawson. The England goalkeeper was down well at his near post.

Jan Polak was booked for a rant at the referee when a decision went against him but he was among the celebrating home players in the 68th minute. Cyril Thereau centred from the right, Dawson allowed the ball to cross past him and Goor smashed into the bottom corner.

But Spurs were level within three minutes when Jermaine Jenas was brought down by Jelle Van Damme and substitute Berbatov sent Zitka the wrong way from the penalty spot.

Robinson produced a stunning save to deny Thereau a winner when the substitute had most of the goal to aim at from close range, but the Spurs goalkeeper dived to claw the ball back. Spurs survived to claim the point they needed but Young-Pyo Lee was carried off on a stretcher - more worrying news for Ramos' threadbare defence.

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