Rovers sunk by Spurs

Tottenham cemented their stranglehold on fourth place in the Premier League with a 3-1 win over Blackburn.

Pavlyuchenko on target again as Tottenham march on

Tottenham cemented their stranglehold on fourth place in the Premier League with a 3-1 victory over Blackburn. Jermain Defoe put Spurs on their way before a Roman Pavlyuchenko brace, either side of a reply from Christopher Samba, put the result beyond doubt. Harry Redknapp kept faith with Pavlyuchenko up front for Spurs, but the Russian wasted three good opportunities during a first half devoid of clear-cut chances. The game appeared destined to enter the interval all square, but Defoe snatched his 23rd goal of the season right on the stroke of half-time to edge the hosts in front. Blackburn failed to deal with a Niko Kranjcar corner, allowing Vedran Corluka to glance the ball into the path of Defoe, who lashed into an empty net from close range. Spurs then pulled further clear 10 minutes into the second half when Pavlyuchenko put the finishing touches to a flowing counter-attack by drilling low under Jason Brown. Redknapp's men looked to be cruising towards maximum points at that stage, but allowed Rovers a route back into the game 10 minutes from time when Heurelho Gomes failed to reach a hanging corner from the right and Samba rose highest to power home a header. However, any hope Blackburn had of snatching a point was extinguished on 85 minutes when Pavlyuchenko bundled home a low cross from Bale.

Target

Before the weekend, Redknapp set his side the target of 19 points to finish in fourth position this season, with Blackburn designated as a must-win fixture given a run-in that includes Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea. The odds were with them too because Sam Allardyce's side have only recorded one league victory away from Ewood Park during the campaign, with only their home form getting them within sight of safety. Despite their woeful record on the road, Rovers showed early attacking intent, largely due to David Dunn returning from a calf injury and making his first start since January. His 50-yard box-to-box run required Spurs midfielder Wilson Palacios to track back into his own penalty area, then he could have earned a penalty for the visitors. Dunn carried the ball into the area and Palacios won the ball fairly but Corluka cut across the midfielder at the same time, although World Cup referee Howard Webb decided to wave play on. Spurs' first chances came to Pavlyuchenko, preferred to Peter Crouch as Defoe returned from a tight hamstring. Pavlyuchenko's first effort was stabbed into the ground and over after Benoit Assou-Ekotto burst into the area, then Gareth Bale crossed and he fired wide. It meant Paul Robinson, granted a warm welcome from his former club, was not forced into a save before he was taken off with an injury to his left leg. Brown came off the bench to deputise and was nearly beaten shortly afterwards when Bale, who had the beating of Michel Salgado for pace, dashed around the Spanish veteran but fired wide.

Angled

Brown saved at full stretch before the break when Assou-Ekotto's early cross from the left angled towards the bottom corner, then he parried a Defoe effort after Luka Modric sent him through. But Defoe was on target in stoppage-time of the first half. Kranjcar's corner was flicked on by Corluka, who climbed above Martin Olsson, and Defoe was at the far post to tap home. Nikola Kalinic failed to control when he had sight of goal just after the break, and Spurs then punished Rovers in the 55th minute with the second goal. Spurs were defending a corner when the move started, with Modric carrying the ball forward and finding Defoe. The striker resisted the temptation to shoot and laid on Pavlyuchenko, whose finish went through Brown. Modric could have added another when Sebastien Bassong carried the ball out of defence and found his team-mate, but the Croatia playmaker dragged his finish wide. Bale felt he should have had a penalty when Salgado challenged but Webb pointed for a goal-kick and did not book the Wales international. Webb turned down another appeal when Bale went over a challenge by Morten Gamst Pedersen, with Samba then setting up a nervous finish when he headed home from Pedersen's cross. Pavlyuchenko, however, grabbed his second five minutes before the end when he clipped home Bale's cross. He was denied a hat-trick when Samba cleared off the line and Kalinic had a late effort chalked off for handball, summing up Rovers' afternoon.

Tottenham Hotspur	Team Statistics	Blackburn Rovers
3	Goals	1
1	1st Half Goals	0
6	Shots on Target	1
8	Shots off Target	4
2	Blocked Shots	7
5	Corners	6
12	Fouls	8
6	Offsides	1
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
79.4%	Passing Success	66.9%
25	Tackles	17
68	Tackles Success	76.5
56	Possession	44
49.3	Territorial Advantage	50.7

Barclays Premier League - To be in top 4 - Tottenham 5/2