Match Thread Vs Panathinaikos

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Thursday 6th December 2012
K.O @ 20:05 GMT

we have to rest lennon and dembelle. with bale out and dembelle just back from injury we need to rest them for everton. have them on the bench in case we need them. we only need a point..

brad
naughton caulker jan walker

falco hudd livermore stig
ade dempsey

i bring on carrol second half

forgot sandro. hes played a lot of games and had a sligt calf strain. i def rest him. the team we are playing are rubbish. surley we can do without him

Definitely rest some of the better players but have them on the bench just in case. A draw will be enough but would like to see a win.

yep we are 3rd and if we can get good result aganst everton then we have more players to come back and a decent run of games. the goons have a really hard january so maybe we can get even further ahead of them

its more about getting ahead of chelsea now i hope, sure avb would enjoy that .

Published: Tuesday 27 November 2012, 11.54CET

A place in the knockout stages is at stake though Tottenham Hotspur FC have the upper hand as they welcome Panathinaikos FC to north London for their final Group J encounter.

Group J
...............................P......Pts
1....Lazio.................5.....9
2....Tottenham........5.....7
3....Panathinaikos....5.....5
4....Maribor..............5.....4


Tottenham Hotspur FC will look to confirm their place in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 as they take on Panathinaikos FC, the only side that can deny them a top-two finish in Group J.

Group J permutations
• S.S. Lazio are through and will top the group with a victory or if Tottenham Hotspur FC fail to win. If Lazio and Tottenham finish level on points, first place will be decided on overall goal difference, overall goals scored then coefficient.

• Tottenham will be through with a draw or win.

• Panathinaikos will be through with a win.

• NK Maribor are out.

Previous meetings
• The sides drew 1-1 when they met for the first time on matchday two. Michael Dawson headed the English team ahead in a first half characterised by a slow tempo, but Spurs paid for a lapse of concentration as Toché levelled with 13 minutes remaining.

• Spurs' five games against Greek clubs have ended W1 D2 L2 (W1 D0 L1 at home – W0 D2 L1 in Greece). They met PAOK FC in last season's group stage, drawing 0-0 in Salonika and losing 2-1 in London. They have not won in four matches against Greek opposition.

• Panathinaikos's record in 17 games against English teams is W1 D6 L10 (W1 D4 L4 in Athens – W0 D2 L6 in England). That lone victory came against Spurs' north London rivals ars*nal FC in the UEFA Champions League group stage on 26 September 2001.

• Panathinaikos ended a run of three straight defeats in London (all against ars*nal) when they drew 1-1 with the Gunners in their most recent visit to England, in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League group stage.

Match background
• Spurs are unbeaten in their last six European games, but that last defeat came against another Greek side – 2-1 against PAOK last season.

• Panathinaikos have lost their four most recent UEFA Europa League away games –the last three by the same 3-0 scoreline – without scoring.

• This is Panathinaikos's fourth UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaign, and they have successfully reached the knockout phase of the competition in all of their previous efforts.

• Spurs are returning to the group stage of this competition for a fifth time. Including their 2010/11 UEFA Champions League campaign, they have reached the knockout phase in four of their five previous UEFA group stage attempts, missing the cut for the first time in last term's UEFA Europa League.

Team facts
• This is Spurs' 100th UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League game; their previous 99 ended W56 D26 L17.

• Spurs and FC Twente have been the group stage's draw specialists, with four ties each from their five games. The Dutch side, however, are already certain to miss out on a place in the round of 32.

• Hélder Postiga played for both clubs: he represented Spurs in 2003/04 and then spent half a season on loan at Panathinaikos in 2008.

• Panathinaikos's Ghana winger Quincy Owusu-Abeyie had a trial at Tottenham in January 2009. He started his career at ars*nal, and also played for Birmingham City FC, Cardiff City FC and Portsmouth FC during his time in England.

• Other Greens players with Premier League experience include Jean-Alain Boumsong (Newcastle United FC) and Sebastián Leto (Liverpool FC).

• Panathinaikos defender José Manuel Velázquez and Tottenham attacking midfielder Iago Falqué spent a season together in the Villarreal CF B team in 2010/11.

• Tottenham manager André Villas-Boas received his first break in coaching as a teenager from then Porto boss Sir Bobby Robson, and later assisted José Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea FC and FC Internazionale Milano, before striking out alone at A. Académica de Coimbra and then leading Porto to a domestic double and the UEFA Cup in 2010/11. A move to Chelsea that summer proved to be ill-fated, but he took charge at Spurs in July 2012.

• André Pinto was on the books at Porto during Villas-Boas's spell in charge, though he spent that season on loan with Portimonense SC.

• Panathinaikos parted company with coach Jesualdo Ferreira after matchday four, with the Under-20 coaching team of Ioannis Vanortas and Juan Ramón Rocha taking charge for the remainder of the season. A midfielder for the club from 1979-89, Rocha was Panathinaikos coach from 1994-96, leading the Greens to the 1995/96 UEFA Champions League semi-finals, and was briefly caretaker boss again in 1999.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2013/matches/round=2000...

Read more: http://www.spurs.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=34757&posts=6#ixzz2Djm1c41Y

going tonight so looking forward to this one now it depends on us getting at least a draw. could be quite tense if it gets a long way into the match and its still a draw. you know what were like trying to hold on to something lol, and it could only take a mistake by someone to ruin it. saying that , hoping for a good win i reckon.

Panathanikos need a win so I think if we get the first goal , we're nearly there .

Nice comfortable win tonight and we can put the EL competition aside till February is it?

carrol had a good first half. naughton can only play right back.
decent performance dempsey put in a good shift.

whats up with lennon not wanting to go past hes man down the right....

Loughtonlegend wrote:carrol had a good first half. naughton can only play right back.
decent performance dempsey put in a good shift.

whats up with lennon not wanting to go past hes man down the right....

It seemed to be the not willing to push ourselves against a team that was only intent on getting a 0-1.

It will be a lot more open at Goodison on Sunday, Verts will be left back and Gallas will be back.

Two late strikes against Panathinaikos eased the tension at White Hart Lane and ensured Spurs progressed to the knockout stages of the Europa League.

Emmanuel Adebayor opened the scoring from close range to set Tottenham on their way to victory.

Zeca nodded the Greeks level after the break but keeper Orestis Karnezis directed Clint Dempsey's header into his own goal to restore Spurs lead.

And Jermain Defoe dinked in a third after Aaron Lennon's mazy run.

Juan Ramon Rocha, a Spurs fan, took over the helm at Panathinaikos for a second time last month and although his reign as coach has seen an upturn in the club's fortunes, the Greek club's former midfielder admitted his team's chances of winning at White Hart Lane were not huge.

Panathinaikos would have qualified had they managed to beat Andre Villas-Boas's men but Rocha's pre-match caution rubbed off on his players who lacked adventure.

In the absence of the injured Gareth Bale, Dempsey deputised as the home team's tormentor-in-chief, linking cleverly with his strikers.

Yet for all of Tottenham's possession they failed to threaten the Panathinaikos goal until a defence-splitting pass from the American set the recalled Adebayor free to score his second goal of the season.

Adebayor's strike was all the more painful for the visitors as seven minutes earlier Toche had wasted their best opportunity of the half.

The Spanish striker had been put clear by a canny Giourkas Seitaridis free-kick, but he could only place the ball into Brad Friedel's hands, a straight-forward save for a goalkeeper making his first Tottenham appearance in a month.

Tottenham, and Defoe in particular, had chances either side of the break. The England striker lashed wildly from six yards in the closing stages of the first half and then hit the post with a low, whizzing effort in the 48th minute.

Despite Defoe's profligacy the hosts were comfortable, unsurprisingly considering they had won their previous three Premier League games - but there was to be a twist.

And the vocal visiting fans were soon celebrating wildly when Zeca headed a menacing cross from Nikos Spyropoulos beyond Friedel's outstretched frame.

Another Panathinaikos goal could have eliminated the hosts and an off-balance Toche added to the tension by going inches wide from giving his buoyed team the lead,

It was as close as the Greek outfit got, though, with Dempsey instrumental for Spurs once again.

Kyle Walker's free-kick found the summer signing, whose header ricocheted off the crossbar and into the net via Karnezis.

Six minutes later, Lennon set off on a wonderful sinuous run and released Defoe, who coolly chipped the ball over the diving Karnezis for his 13th goal of the season and rubber stamping Tottenham's presence in the last-32 draw on 20 December.

Re: Ratings Panathinaikos
Friedel 6 - doubt even Lloris would have got to that cross for their goal tbh

Walker 8 - had a hand in two goals (intelligent through ball to
Dempsey for Ade's goal) and looked on fire second half. Also a couple of timely clearances. Can still go missing though.

Caulker 7 - Solid

Verthonghen 7 - better from him than in recent games

Naughton 4 - totally lost it second half but had his moments early doors

Lennon 6 - excellent assist but needs to get past his man more often

Carroll 7 - mighty impressive first half, looks like he'll soon be running the game, predictably faded before being subbed

Sandro 6 - put in a decent shift but too many misplaced passes

Dempsey 8 MotM - sparkled most of the game, deserved to be credited for the header that went in off the goalie

Adebayor 7 - well-taken goal and some good approach /possession play

Defoe 7 -nice finnish. worked hard

Subs
Dembele 6
Sig 6
Livermore n/a.

Dempsey 8 MotM - sparkled most of the game, deserved to be credited for the header that went in off the goalie

You can't credit him for the goal Lought. His header hit the bar bounced out and only went in 'cos it hit the 'keepers back !!! But his 1st half performance was solid, encouraging I have to admit, even though he faded a bit in the 2nd half . . . . ..

naughton was nowhere second half and a better team would of got at him more. i know hes young i know hes playing out of postion but he seem to be playing more left wing then left back.