Tony Cottee scored the 200th goal of his League career as Leicester City
extracted a measure of revenge for their Worthington Cup final defeat two weeks
ago by ending Tottenham's 18-match unbeaten home record.
Veteran striker Cottee's moment of triumph came in the 67th minute when he
tucked away Emile Heskey's cross in familiar style after big defender Matt
Elliott was credited with giving the visitors the lead two minutes before half
time.
So Leicester, beaten by a last-gasp Allan Nielsen goal at Wembley, enhanced
their prospects of Premiership football again next season with three of the
eight more points manager Martin O'Neill believes they need for full safety.
But almost inevitably, after an often-spiteful Cup Final clash, there was a
less than tasteful sequel at White Hart Lane with referee Neale Barry struggling
to keep control of inflamed passions and finishing with seven names in his
notebook.
The last one was David Ginola after Tottenham's French ace showed his total
frustration with obvious dissent after being pulled up for shirt-tugging.
If Leicester's decision to form a guard of honour among their players to
welcome their Wembley conquerors onto the pitch was intended as a peace-offering
it had little effect.
Spurs fans jeered the visitors right from the start and Frank Sinclair, who
was dropped from the Foxes Cup final team for "a breach of club discipline"
was lucky not to be booked in the opening minute for a reckless challenge on
Allan Nielsen.
Leicester's Robbie Savage was instantly targetted for abuse from the Spurs
fans who believe he was the villain of the Worthington final but he kept digging
in with firm and spiky challenges and riled his accusers again. Somehow he
stayed out of the book this time.
And in the event it was Justin Edinburgh, the man sent off at Wembley, who saw
the first yellow card for shirt-tugging as referee Barry collected six names,
including Sinclair, before the interval.
Quite why Leicester's Steve Guppy was among them will long remain a mystery
after what looked an innocuous shove but Spurs German midfielder Steffen Freund,
who had a long-running verbal feud with almost every opponent, fully deserved
his card for a histrionic reaction to a clumsy challenge by Heskey who was also
booked.
Spurs could have scored twice in the first five minutes when Kasey Keller
bravely smothered the ball at Les Ferdinand's feet after Steffen Iversen barged
his way through the middle and then impressively kept out the Norwegian's
full-blooded drive.
Leicester barely threatened as an attacking force for 43 minutes but then went
ahead with a an almost comical goal.
Guppy angled in a free kick from the right and although Elliott rose to meet
it the final touch seemed to come off either Sol Campbell or Ferdinand as both
challenged.
The deflection totally bemused goalkeeper Ian Walker and the ball sailed over
him. Elliott looked suitably embarrassed when the Public Address announcer
credited him with the goal but it was hard to begrudge the big Scotland defender
his glory after a midweek own-goal for his country.
He had almost repeated that unwanted statistic when hooking Nielsen's cross
inches over his own crossbar when Tottenham's first half pressure was at its
height but Spurs faded badly after a bright start, clearly missing suspended
England midfielders Tim Sherwood and Darren Anderton.
They looked certain to equalise early in the second half when Nielsen's
long-throw was inadvertently helped across the face of goal by Elliott but Ruel
Fox somehow failed to make contact with the goal beckoning.
They paid for the lapse when Leicester again broke out of their defensive
shell for Cottee to grab his milestone goal in the 67th minute.
Heskey did the donkey-work with a muscular run down the right and his low
cross was expertly turned in by the former West Ham goal-poacher who, in typical
style, reacted to the opportunity quicker than any Spurs defender.
Ferdinand, still seeking his first goal since December, put a flying header
just too high from Steve Carr's cross and Keller somehow turned Nielsen's low
shot over up and over the bar from the foot of his left-hand post.
And in the end Spurs were desperately appealing for penalties although they
appeared to have a good case when substitute Andy Sinton was taken down in the
box by the battling Heskey even though an earlier claim by another substitute
Chris Armstrong followed what looked an honest challenge by Pontus Kaamark.
Teams
Tottenham: Walker, Carr, Young, Campbell, Edinburgh (Sinton 74),
Fox (Armstrong 66), Freund, Nielsen, Ginola, Iversen, Ferdinand.
Subs Not Used: Nilsen, Dominguez, Baardsen.
Booked: Edinburgh, Freund, Young, Ginola.
Leicester: Keller, Sinclair, Elliott, Ullathorne, Impey, Savage,
Lennon, Izzet (Kaamark 55), Guppy, Cottee, Heskey.
Subs Not Used: Marshall, Gunnlaugsson, Miller, Arphexad.
Booked: Sinclair, Guppy, Heskey.
Goals: Elliott 43, Cottee 67.
Att: 35,415
Ref: N Barry (Scunthorpe).
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