West Brom 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2: Sunday Mercury big match report and picture gallery

Nov 27 2011 by Chris Lepkowski, Sunday Mercury

ALBION’s good fortune came to an end – thanks to a late show by Tottenham.

The Baggies were heading for a worthy point against the Londoners only for Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor to score in the final minutes, giving the scoreline a more flattering look for the visitors.

Albion took the lead through Youssouf Mulumbu’s first-half header, before Adebayor equalised after Lee Probert controversially awarded a penalty for a foul by Nicky Shorey on Aaron Lennon. Adebayor’s spot-kick was saved by Ben Foster, but the loanee followed up to complete the job.

Tottenham’s second came through Defoe in the 81st minute, with Adebayor’s second finishing off the game at the end. Albion had chances to score themselves with both Simon Cox and Chris Brunt wasting excellent opportunities.

The Baggies also appealed for a penalty of their own after Jerome Thomas tumbled as Kyle Walker challenged.

Albion opened Spurs up for the first time in the fourth minute. Youssouf Mulumbu broke through the centre and played in Shane Long. Younes Kaboul just did enough to put the Albion striker off his stride to deny the home side a clear goalscoring opportunity.

At the other end Ben Foster breathed a sigh of relief when Sandro’s long-range effort squirmed through his hands but rolled out for a corner.

The Baggies were ahead after 10 minutes. James Morrison played in Zoltan Gera who laid the ball off for Steven Reid. The Baggies right-back curled in a right-wing cross which was nodded in simply by Mulumbu, who was left unmarked in the centre.

Albion’s fortunes took a dip in the 18th minute when Gera’s afternoon was ended prematurely. The Baggies winger’s knee buckled as he tried to change direction as he chased the ball. It was immediately clear that Gera’s match was over and he was replaced by Simon Cox.