A lot is being made of good start to the game. But isn't that just standard NLD procedure?

Perhaps I should watch the game again.

But I agree that they cannot use the sending off as an excuse for losing that game.

and had them under pressure

anyway could see that

One goal, one chance, and a massively offside goal. Wow.....

I wasnt massively worried at 1-0, any more than i believed that once adebayor was sent off a romp was inevitable.

What would have happened had he stayed on is up for debate. But we will never know unfortunately.lets not try and pretend that we do.

It was simply a matter of us settling down. We were actually pressing the ball quite well for some of the opening spell.

we were playing poorly at that point. We were giving the ball away far too easily. Some part of that was due to our own ****ty play, some down to their pressing. The 30 minutes after the sending off, we were outstanding.

The stats dont tell the whole storey. A ball that was inches away from putting theo clean through shows up as an incompleted pass. It was as good a sign as any that there was plenty in the game for us.

They were playing well but this was relying on a physical pressing game that was bound to cost them with cards or catch up with them in tiredness. Adebayor's idiotic tackle was part of that, and both sandro and lennon could have been inmtrouble by half time with a sterner ref.