Tottenham Hotspur 1 - West Bromwich Albion 1

oshawabaggie:

After a dour struggle in the first half, in which it seemed only a matter of time before we went behind, I was glad to hear the half time whistle. We seemed to have no confidence on the ball and couldn't string more than three or four passes together. Clarkie must have sorted it out though, because after the break we looked more like the team that performed so well gainst Liverpool in the second half. Our midfield pushed up further and took the initiative away from Spurs. Gradually we became more of an attacking threat and both Fortune and The Beast were unlucky not to score. It was a big blow therefore to go behind off a Dorrans deflection when it was looking more and more like we would get at least a point.

But it is a testament to the team's tremendous fighting spirit that they kept plugging away and got the deserved equalizer from a cool Mozza in stoppage time. It was great to see the joyous celebration after the goal when the whole team, including Foster, mobbed Mozza.

Clarkie has a real dilemma - Long doesn't deserve to come out, but The Beast has to start, in my opinion. He just causes so much trouble for defences. Perhaps there is room for Long and him. Imagine facing those two pests at once. Maybe one of them plays wider instead of Fortune or PO.

When I looked at the fixtures before the season started, I felt it was quite conceivable we could go 0 for 3 again, so to come away from the first two games with 4 points is a great start. Everton, though, may be the hardest challenge of the three. On current form I would rate them in the top 4 after the two Manchesters and Chelsea. If we can emerge from that game still undefeated it will be a great platform to build on.

Philip Cole (RSABaggie):

Whisper it softly after only two games, but I genuinely think West Brom look like a really decent team that are going to surprise many of the top teams this season. Make no mistake, this was a deserved draw for our second half performance and for our willingness to go for the win towards the end. Spurs didn't like it one bit, did they?

I agree with almost every point made by oshawabaggie in his excellent post, except it might still be too early to start Lukaku. Don't get me wrong, he's a beast of a player of the type defenders hate to play against and is going to have a huge impact for us this season. But Long was clearly on as part of Clarke's strategy to keep it tight up to 60 minutes and then go for it if we were still in the game.

It didn't really work in the first half and I agree that we looked very ragged with passes going astray all over the show. Spurs started like a house on fire and for the first half hour were all over us. But, in a repeat performance to Liverpool against us last week, the final product wasn't there. I'm not really sure what AVB was thinking playing Defoe as a lone centre-forward - his main strengths are as the little man in the classic big-little striker combo. Defoe always scores against us too, as does Adebeyor, and my heart was in my mouth a few times when he was able to run at our defence.

Second half we were much better and visibly pressed up on Spurs in midfield. This is where we won ourselves back into the game and the longer it went on the more I felt we could nick it - the crowd were starting to turn and a number of Spurs players were starting to look nervy. It was therefore a real blow when Assou-Ekottu got the benefit of a wicked deflection, although to be fair it was also a very powerful shot that would have needed a great save by Ben Foster.

But this is not the Albion of Mowbray or even di Matteo, that tended to deflate once they went a goal down. We came right back at Spurs and continued to look for the equaliser. Spurs defence looked rocky and it was both deserved and unsurprising when we equalised in the first minute of extra time. I loved the celebration by our whole team converging in massive group hug - its shows the spirit in the team. Everton, who have also started strongly and also look to have improved from last year, will be a test next week. But I'm looking forward to it! COYB!

It's perhaps worth adding that from satellite TV both Spurs 'goals' were correctly called offside. Both were not easy decisions for the linesman with many players moving at speed but the slo-mo showed tthat the correct call was made both times. Well done, officials!

Marks:

• Foster(8): Some great saves when Spurs got on target and was called upon to do more than last week against 'Pool. Probably the most important signing of the summer for us.
• Reid(6): Run ragged by Bale in the first 30 min but recovered and gave a good account of himself. Always vulnerable against pace however and we will need a quicker right back at times this season.
• McAulay(9-MOM): My MOM for a defensive masterclass in the air all game. OK, Defoe as centre-forward is hardly an arial challenge but I noticed the way he always headed into space, setting up break-aways a number of times.
• Olsson(8): Another very good performance from our Mr Reliable. Get him signed up on a new contract, JP!
• Ridgewell(7): Like Reid had a torrid time against Lennon in the first half hour but stuck to his tasks well. Some nice forward balls in the second half.
• Mulumbu(8): Offical site MOM and you can see why with another bustling performance that won back control of midfield in the second half. Marked down 1 by me however for his silly handbags that got him a yellow card and is still always a risk with him.
• Yacob(8): Again the perfect partner for Mulumbu doing the little things well with lots of short, accurate passes into space, especially second half.
• Morrison(8): Another excellent performance where he really put his stamp on the game the longer it went on. He is now very dangerous when he runs forward and is a key player for us.
• Fortune(6): Accepting that for the first 30min we could scarcely get hold of the bal and then promptly lost it most of the time, still didn't hold up the ball as well as we know he can. I was surprised Lukaku came on for Long rather than him.
• Long(7): Again not really in it in the first half but was starting to come into the game more when he was taken off. Didn't like the decision, which is a good sign that our attackers are hungry!

Subs:

• Lukaku(8): I suspect he'll be an impact sub for a while, especially away from home. He's just the player defenders hat to play against when legs are starting to tire - strong, pacy, direct - and he gave another good performance only slightly marred by a couple of poor decisions to go it alone when a pass would have been better.
• Brunt(7): Didn't see much of what he did to be honest but did nothing wrong. We may have a captain who finds it difficult to start a game!
• Rosenberg(7): Again, not really on long enough to mark but showed a couple of signs. I suspect that he might work best with Peter Odemwingie in a conventional 4-4-2 (if we play it at any time that is) as he looks like he's always looking for his team mates. Good short cameo...

Manager:

• Despite being overrun for the first half hour Steve Clarke again had come with a plan and had coached his players well. Clearly told them to press up and get into Spurs midfield at half time and it worked well!