This is why you don't sit back up 2 goals

I’ve seen many one sided matches end in 0-0 or 1-1 draws, but rarely if ever this one sided ending in 3-3. Tottenham snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and gifted Fulham a point in a match that they had no business being in.

Fulham have to thank Diomansy Kamara who scored a spectacular equalizer on 90 minutes to grab the draw against Tottenham. How, up 3-1, this could happen comes down to one thing: playing not to lose.

Tottenham took the lead early through a Younes Kaboul tap in. Dimitar Berbatov added a second shortly after a sweet strike after breaking free on the right. But Clint Dempsey pulled a goal back for Fulham with a great header but regardless Tottenham were cruising. Gareth Bale put them 2 goals ahead again when he passed the ball past Neimi’s near post. But then Smertin got a lucky deflection over Tottehnam keeper Paul Robinson and Tottenham were under pressure again. Kamara’s excellent goal was not a surprise.

Tottenhnam had decided to sit back in midfield shortly before Smertin’s goal. I’d blame Jenas and Huddlestone for this. Every time the ball went forward late on they stranded the advanced players forcing longer passes and lost causes. In fact, the back 4 for Tottenham played quite well. None of the goals were leaked directly from the defenders and they were responsible for scoring 2 of Tottenham’s goals.

Martin Jol substituted Robbie Keane for Jermaine Defoe to keep pressure on the Fulham defense and the team didn’t respond. The midfielders had so many chances to score, as well as the forwards. For all the excellent movement up front how can you pass up opportunities one v one against the keeper and square the ball to walk the ball into the net?? It happened at least 4 times, Jenas was responsible for 2 of them.

This is why you don't sit back up 2 goals, why would you when you have the kind of control Tottenham did. Did you see Liverpool do that yesterday? No. Up 2 goals you go sniffing for more because if you make a mistake you have a cushion and more often than not you find another.

Tottenham should have scored 5 goals putting lapses in concentration or mistakes beyond Fulham’s capacity to score goals; they didn’t, leaving the punditry to continue questioning a good manager who put on a striker to keep the pressure on Fulham. His midfield didn't respond. That's where I'd make changes.

Lehmann or rued chances, which is the real clanger?

Man, I gotta tell you, over the weekend Arsenal should have won against Fulham by the score of 37-1.

Jens Lehmann gifted Fulham a goal within the 1st minute of play, a debut goal by David Healey when Lehmann failed to pass the ball cleanly back to his defense. In his first seasons at Arsenal I thought he was the worst goalkeeper with his feet that the Premiership has ever seen. Is it just me or does anyone remember all the shaky reactions to back passes and tense clearances under pressure? Unfortunately for Arsenal it re-emerged in a moment of uber clang.

But, worse for me, was the incredible number of chances Arsenal wasted in front of Fulham’s goal. Tony Warner, it must be said, was a rock at the back, but this was a pure lack of finishing and attempts to walk the ball into the net.

On quite a few occasions Arsenal took the extra touch which caused the defense to close down and the attacker lose nerve, Hleb was guilty of this on at least 4 occasions that I counted. Then, the penultimate “perfect ball or else” moment was in the 56th minute when Fabregas had Rocisky wide open on the left and chose to try and play the perfect thru ball instead to van Persie before the inevitable offside flag went up.

Van Persie should have finished 3 chances easily. Rocisky at least 3. Hleb a couple as well and a horde of other shots on goal in which Arsenal should have done better.

Ok, enough complaint. Arsenal are pleasing on the eye aren’t they? Does any team carve up the midfield better? No. Sagna and Eboue were a fantastic combination on the right, Rocisky silky, Hleb’s footwork unmatched and Fabregas’s quality is just marvelous. I sure hope Eboue continues to start on the right in midfield, he’s so effective. Wasted chances aside, Arsenal did enough. They got their goals very late on and won the day but it shouldn’t have been so tense and frustration filled. It took a penalty and Hleb’s 90th minute heroics.

Like many teams I saw over the weekend Arsenal spent money but haven’t seemed to solve their problems. The buildup was brilliant, the finishing not so. Look at the history of this blog and see how many times you’ve seen that written.

The Diop screamer

During the 2005 season Papa Bouba Diop certainly made a name for himself with a brilliant smash when Fulham drew against Manchester United at Craven Cottage.

The Senegal international rifled home from 25 meters in the 87th minute to equalize the game.
A long ball was played in from the left by Bocanegra and was fought over with the heads in front of the box. The ball eventually fell to Radzinski’s foot and he tapped the ball centrally to Mark Pembridge who guided it on to Diop.

Diop ran onto the ball and unleashed a ferocious strike on goal. The ball flew like an arrow and left keeper Roy Carroll with no chance. Excitedly, Diop ran all the way across the pitch and did a celebration dance. It was a stunning effort, one of my favorite goals, one of my favorite players:

See the entire greatest goals ever series