Assou-Ekotto let off the hook

Tottenham battled to a 2-1 win at 10-man Stoke, despite a crazy passage of play from Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

Gudjohnsen and Kranjcar earn win as Whitehead sees red

Tottenham ensured they will end the weekend in fourth place in the Premier League as they battled to a 2-1 win at 10-man Stoke, despite a crazy passage of play from Benoit Assou-Ekotto. Substitute Eidur Gudjohnsen and Niko Kranjcar scored the second-half goals either side of a Matthew Etherington penalty to earn the points to boost Spurs' hopes of UEFA Champions League football and Assou-Ekotto will have breathed a sigh of relief. The full-back produced a bizarre period following Gudjohnsen's 46th minute opener and Dean Whitehead's second booking in the 49th minute to gift Tony Pulis' Stoke a route back into the game. Assou-Ekotto first of all avoided punishment after a strange shoving match with team-mate Vedran Corluka and he then handed the Potters a penalty for a rash challenge on Dave Kitson, which ex-Spurs man Etherington converted. Fortunately for the Cameroon international, Kranjcar struck an excellent winner in the 77th minute to place Spurs out of reach of Liverpool and Manchester City, who are not in action until Sunday. The much-touted comeback of Ryan Shawcross for the first time since the horror injury suffered by Aaron Ramsey did not happen as the Stoke man suffered an ankle injury in training.

Pavlyuchenko injury

And Jermain Defoe's absence from the Spurs side with a hamstring injury gave Peter Crouch a rare chance to fashion a productive striking partnership with Roman Pavlyuchenko. Despite having the considerable target of keeping hold of fourth place, Harry Redknapp's men started sluggishly and it was the home side who provided the more consistent threat. The visitors might nevertheless have grabbed a barely-deserved lead in the 18th minute when Kranjcar's long-range effort was spilled by Thomas Sorensen and Crouch almost poked in the rebound. Stoke came close in the 22nd minute when Glenn Whelan's ball into the box was flicked on by Kitson into the path of Abdoulaye Faye, whose own header flashed wide of target. Danny Higginbotham then took his turn to head just over from another Whelan set-piece while at the other end Pavlyuchenko sent a weak shot into the arms of Sorensen. Whitehead was handed his first booking by referee Mike Dean before Stoke called Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes into action for the first time, a Kitson header forcing the Brazilian to dive low to save. The apparently injured Pavlyuchenko was replaced by Gudjohnsen just past the half-hour mark but there were precious few other incidents of note in a first period which petered out.

Delightful

All that changed after the break, with Gudjohnsen slotting away the opener 18 seconds after the restart when Crouch played him through with a delightful chip. And things would get worse for the home side four minutes later when Whitehead was sent off for his second bookable offence after clattering into Luka Modric in the centre circle. Spurs were seizing control of the game and using their extra man advantage to surge forward, with Assou-Ekotto hitting a low shot which deflected narrowly wide - earning Corluka's wrath as they became involved in an odd scuffle. Possibly still seething at the incident, Assou-Ekotto hauled down Kitson in the Spurs box four minutes later, earning the home side the spot-kick, which Etherington converted to level. Fuller should have completed a remarkable turnaround for the home side in the 70th minute when the ball bobbled his way across goal but his left-footed shot screwed hopelessly over the bar. And Stoke were made to pay in the 77th minute when Assou-Ekotto's cross from the left was dummied by Gudjohnsen, allowing Kranjcar to race into the box and fire Spurs' second past Sorensen. Stoke boss Pulis rang the changes, but his side left themselves open pushing for an equaliser and Gareth Bale lashed a shot across the face of goal from the left.

Stoke City	Team Statistics	Tottenham Hotspur
1	Goals	2
0	1st Half Goals	0
2	Shots on Target	6
6	Shots off Target	8
2	Blocked Shots	4
6	Corners	7
7	Fouls	9
0	Offsides	1
1	Yellow Cards	2
1	Red Cards	0
59.6	Passing Success	77.4
23	Tackles	16
82.6	Tackles Success	75
42.6	Possession	57.4
49.8	Territorial Advantage	50.2