Spurs Hold Out With 10 Men to End City's Perfect Home Run

The supporters of Tottenham Hotspur are never slow to chant the name of Ricky Villa whenever they visit Eastlands - or previously Maine Road - and, 26 years after the Argentinian danced, shimmied and swerved towards one of the most memorable FA Cup final goals in history, they were reveling in Manchester City's misery again last night en route to a Carling Cup semi-final.

Juande Ramos' renascent team, playing with the kind of defiance and spirit that was conspicuous only by its absence earlier in the season, confirmed a place in the last four thanks to Jermain Defoe's early goal and a breakaway second from Steed Malbranque late on, in the process blowing a gaping hole in City's previously immaculate home record. That, however, tells only a fraction of the story from an entertaining and controversial night in which Tottenham had to play all but the opening 21 minutes with 10 men after Didier Zokora was sent off for a two-footed challenge on Elano.

The referee was Steve Bennett, three days after the same official had denied Sunderland what looked like a legitimate last-minute winner against Aston Villa, enraging Roy Keane to the point where he allegedly had to be restrained from confronting him in the tunnel after the match. Bennett, a familiar subject for students of refereeing demonology, could at least cite the fact that Zokora had dived in dangerously with his studs raised. Tottenham's argument was that he won the ball but Elano could conceivably have been badly hurt had he not seen what was coming and pulled out of the challenge.

Where Bennett indisputably let himself down was by failing to punish Malbranque with another red card only a few minutes later after a two-footed challenge on Vedran Corluka that was considerably worse than Zokora's. Malbranque, unlike Zokora, scythed into his opponent, his studs buried into the defender's ankle, but the offense took place directly in front of the Tottenham dug-out, where Juande Ramos and his assistant, Gus Poyet, had been angrily berating Bennett for his earlier decision. The referee duly appeared to lose his nerve, flashing only a yellow card when he ought to have made Spurs play the remaining three-quarters of the match with nine men.

By that stage Defoe had been confirmed as the unluckiest man in the ground, scoring only five minutes into his first start since November 3 but making way for Teemu Tainio as Ramos tried to compensate for Zokora's loss. Tainio went to right-back and Pascal Chimbonda replaced Zokora as Younes Kaboul's partner in the center of a makeshift defence.

It was easy to sympathize with Defoe because until that point he had looked the best player on the pitch and his early goal was clinical in its execution. City, however, were entitled to argue that he was offside as he turned in Aaron Lennon's cross at the end of a crisp exchange of passes involving Dimitar Berbatov and Jermaine Jenas.

Protecting the best home record in the country, and with 11 against 10, Sven-Goran Eriksson's team subjected Tottenham to long spells of pressure, particularly in the second half, yet frequently with little end product. If there is one area Ramos has improved since replacing Martin Jol it is defense and Tottenham's new manager can be encouraged by his team's spirit of togetherness - even if they were indebted at times to the lack of a top-class striker on the opposing team.

The Ramos effect also seems to have invigorated Paul Robinson's confidence, the beleaguered England goalkeeper pulling off saves of authentic brilliance to deny first Darius Vassell and later Rolando Bianchi. Yet Bennett's seemingly magnetic attraction to controversy also saved Spurs when Richard Dunne went on a rare foray into the opposition penalty area and was tripped by Chimbonda.

Eriksson will also reflect on a number of other chances but, on the counter-attack, Berbatov and the substitute Jamie O'Hara combined to set up Malbranque for a splendid second goal, eluding Dunne before finishing neatly beyond Joe Hart. And City are still to reach a semi-final since 1981.