Tottenham Hotspur vs Torino FC 2-0

di Andrea Rosselli

At the end of an overall disappointing performance, Toro suffered a 0-2 setback against Tottenham Hotspur in the long-awaited friendly match played on Saturday afternoon at White Hart Lane.The hosts, who as expected were in a much better shape, largely dominated the first part, with the Granata practically unable to react and always forced to defend their half (with a very effective Natali). Martin Jol’s team took the lead after 16 minutes with a superb volley shot by Robbie Keane, who fired a powerful left-footer from inside the box, and went close to the second goal a few more times, but Sereni made a number of very good saves. The guests were overwhelmed by the Spurs’ pace and strength, both in the middle and on the wings, and just couldn’t build a decent offensive play, wasting several balls with a number of useless long launches. Novellino’s team showed a good reaction at the beginning of the second half, with Stellone and Bjelanovic replacing the disappointing offensive duo Ventola-Di Michele, and went close to the equalizer precisely with the new strikers (shot by Stellone and header by Bjelanovic), but soon Tottenham recaptured full control of the midfield, just like in the first part. The second and final goal came in the 65th minute thanks to Berbatov, who took profit of a great play by Malbranque, while Bent hit the post in the final minutes. As for Toro, a few more good saves by Sereni, several substitutions and little more.