1-1 v Norwich City - 30 January 2013 - Away

Tottenham Hotspur Badge

Spurs 1

Norwich City

Norwich City

1

  • Hoolahan
    32'
Details
Match Number

6979

Opposition
Norwich city

Norwich City

Competition
Premier League

Premier League

Season

2012/13

Date

30th January 2013

Kick Off

19:45

Venue

Carrow Road

Attendance

26,818

Referee

Neil Swarbrick

League Position

4th

Opposition League Position

14th

Opposition Form

DLLDDL

Weather at Kick Off

9.1° - Clear

Facts & Milestones
  • 6943rd overall match (3292 wins, 1533 draws, 2105 losses)

  • 5385th competitive match (2398 wins, 1270 draws, 1717 losses)

  • team

    78th match vs Norwich City (33 wins, 22 draws, 23 losses)

  • competition

    796th Premier League match (306 wins, 210 draws, 280 losses)

  • 6372nd match in England (2974 wins, 1436 draws, 1949 losses)

  • 44th match at Carrow Road (15 wins, 11 draws, 18 losses)

  • Aaron Lennon
    Aaron Lennon: 300th appearance
  • Lewis Holtby
    Lewis Holtby: Debut
Report

Tottenham's Gareth Bale broke from his own half to score a stunning solo goal and deny Norwich victory.

The Canaries were much improved from their humbling FA Cup defeat by non-league Luton and went ahead through a well-worked Wes Hoolahan effort.

Sebastien Bassong was inches from doubling the lead before Spurs finally threatened through Jermain Defoe.

The visitors were the better team after the break and Bale finished expertly after a 60-yard dash to earn the draw.

Champions League-chasing Spurs were unbeaten in seven games, while Norwich had slid towards the Premier League relegation zone after taking one point from the previous 18 points available.

Tottenham draw is a 'fair result' However, City, who held Spurs at White Hart Lane in the Premier League earlier this season and beat them in the League Cup, edged a scrappy start.

The swirling wind at Carrow Road was causing problems for Spurs and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had to tip a header from Grant Holt around the post after Michael Dawson failed to deal with a cross.

That was a sign of things to come and the breakthrough for the Canaries came when Hoolahan put them ahead from six yards.

The Spurs defence was absent as Snodgrass's deep centre found Holt, who nodded back to Anthony Pilkington, with the winger then showing excellent composure to pass to the well-placed Hoolahan.

At that stage, there was a real lack of energy from the pedestrian north London side, a state of affairs not matched by their opponents.

The contrast in industry was exemplified when centre-back Bassong was denied a second goal for Norwich from two yards after he was edged out when he followed up his own pass from the halfway line.

Bassong was then saved by the fingertips of his goalkeeper Mark Bunn just before the interval after he was caught in possession by Defoe for the visitors' first effort on target.

Norwich had conceded 11 goals in their last four league games and there were signs of Spurs slowly trying to probe that weakness after the break.

Bale - who mostly operated in the middle of the pitch - forced a decent save from distance before Defoe blazed over after dribbling past Russell Martin.

Tottenham finally began to build some sustained pressure but were unable to pick a gap in the massed Norwich defence.

Manager Andre Villas-Boas handed German playmaker Lewis Holtby a debut from the bench but it was a moment of razor-sharp incision from Bale that saw them draw level.

There seemed to be little on when the Welshman received a lay-off from Defoe inside the centre-circle but he put on the after-burners to race to the edge of the Norwich area.

Full-back Javier Garrido was then bamboozled with a mesmerising step-over before he stroked home with the outside of his boot.

Norwich back on track - Hughton It was yet another stunning goal from a remarkable player.

Buoyed by Bale's brilliance, Spurs pushed for the win that would aid their bid for Champions League qualification.

The momentum was now with them and substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson saw his rasping shot superbly tipped round the post by Bunn to ensure a draw.

Norwich manager Chris Hughton:

"Until Spurs scored, I thought we were good value. They did cause us problems and had good possession and our goalkeeper Mark Bunn made a super save, but apart from that, they had limited good chances and we were always a threat.

"We have a great support and it was important after Liverpool and Luton that we put on a performance.

"We were better today, we have had some misfortune lately, but if we continue like this, we will be OK."

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas:

"He [Gareth Bale] got lucky [in the build-up to his goal] that Alexander Tettey did not break his ankle when he was running to score, I think it was a yellow card or probably a red card to give. But moving on, it was a great goal, with such pace and power.

"In the first half we were not as good as we can be, in the second half, we really put on a show to level the game. It was a pity as it was three points I think we wanted to win and move forward to profit in some way from the Arsenal and Liverpool game.

"The boys recognised they were not themselves in the first half, so they showed great commitment in the second half to come out strongly. Their commitment was excellent and I think it should serve as an example for what we want to do moving forward."

Timeline
KO

Wes Hoolahan

32'

Javi Garrido

36'
HT

Grant Holt

60'

Robert Snodgrass

69'

Wes Hoolahan

75'
FT
Location
League Table
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Manchester united
23 18 2 3 57 30 27 56
2
Manchester city
24 15 7 2 45 19 26 52
3
Chelsea
23 13 6 4 47 22 25 45
4
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
23 12 5 6 40 28 12 41
5
Everton
23 9 11 3 35 26 9 38
6
Arsenal
23 10 7 6 46 27 19 37
7
Liverpool
23 9 7 7 40 28 12 34
8
Swansea city
24 8 10 6 34 27 7 34
9
West bromwich albion
23 10 4 9 33 32 1 34
10
Stoke city
24 6 12 6 24 29 -5 30
11
Sunderland
24 7 8 9 27 31 -4 29
12
West ham united
23 7 6 10 26 33 -7 27
13
Norwich city
23 6 8 9 24 39 -15 26
14
Fulham
23 6 7 10 33 40 -7 25
15
Newcastle united
24 6 6 12 30 42 -12 24
16
Southampton
23 5 8 10 30 40 -10 23
17
Wigan athletic
24 5 5 14 27 45 -18 20
18
Aston villa
24 4 8 12 20 46 -26 20
19
Reading
23 4 7 12 28 43 -15 19
20
Queens park rangers
24 2 10 12 18 37 -19 16
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Manchester united
24 19 2 3 59 31 28 59
2
Manchester city
24 15 7 2 45 19 26 52
3
Chelsea
24 13 7 4 49 24 25 46
4
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
24 12 6 6 41 29 12 42
5
Everton
24 10 11 3 37 27 10 41
6
Arsenal
24 10 8 6 48 29 19 38
7
Liverpool
24 9 8 7 42 30 12 35
8
Swansea city
24 8 10 6 34 27 7 34
9
West bromwich albion
24 10 4 10 34 34 0 34
10
Stoke city
24 6 12 6 24 29 -5 30
11
Sunderland
24 7 8 9 27 31 -4 29
12
Fulham
24 7 7 10 36 41 -5 28
13
West ham united
24 7 6 11 27 36 -9 27
14
Norwich city
24 6 9 9 25 40 -15 27
15
Newcastle united
24 6 6 12 30 42 -12 24
16
Southampton
24 5 8 11 31 42 -11 23
17
Reading
24 4 8 12 30 45 -15 20
18
Wigan athletic
24 5 5 14 27 45 -18 20
19
Aston villa
24 4 8 12 20 46 -26 20
20
Queens park rangers
24 2 10 12 18 37 -19 16
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