Abby Brammell

By Simon Cass

Roman's army: Pavlyuchenko, who was not expected to feature, celebrates his brilliant volley that put Tottenham ahead


Having spent much of his career dreaming of leading a team to Wembley, Harry Redknapp is making something of a habit of it.

After being forced to use all of his years of experience to see off Fulham and book an FA Cup semi-final place, Redknapp will visit Wembley for the fourth time in three years next month to try and see off former side Portsmouth.

After leading Pompey to FA Cup glory two years ago, the task for Redknapp is to heap more misery on the club who have already endured a dreadful campaign

Had it not been for the inspired introductions of first David Bentley and then Roman Pavlyuchenko, it could easily have be Fulham who were on their way to Wembley after dominating the first-half of their 50th outing this season.

As it was a wonder strike by Bentley, a volley by Pavlyuchenko and a bundled clincher from Eidur Gudjohnsen saw Spurs through after Bobby Zamora had given Fulham a first-half lead.

Redknapp said: ‘I took a gamble and made a couple of changes. Sometimes it works your way, other times it doesn’t. It went our way this time. It was a good win.’

Redknapp revealed he was hoping to meet up with Portsmouth boss Avram Grant on Wednesday night for a glass of wine, although Grant might not have been in the mood for celebrating after Portmouth’s 5-0 defeat by Chelsea.


England claim: Bobby Zamora's excellent first goal would have impressed the watching Fabio Capello


Assessing the threat posed by Portsmouth to their cup hopes, Redknapp said: ‘They will have a go at us. It’ll be a strange day but it will be great for them. They need something to lift their season.’

Fulham have to be content with the pursuit of the Europa League, although manager Roy Hodgson was once again pleased with his team’s efforts.

He said: ‘We played well in the first half but we conceded so early in the second and that gave them momentum. We paid the price for a couple of mistakes.’

Fulham made a bright start and deservedly took the lead inside 17 minutes. Damien Duff ’s inch-perfect through ball was slotted into the bottom corner by Zamora for his 17th goal of the season under the watchful eye of England manager Fabio Capello.

A back-heel from Iceland forward Gudjohnsen and a volley wide from Luka Modric was all Tottenham could offer and Brede Hangeland and Zamora spurned good chances to extend Fulham’s lead.


Super sub: David Bentley (not pictured) dumbfounds everyone to restore parity

Unhappy with what he had seen in the opening 45 minutes, Redknapp opted to introduce Tom Huddlestone for Benoit Assou-Ekotto and swap Niko Kranjcar for David Bentley. The effect was instant.


Bale was brought down by Fulham full back Stephen Kelly, who was booked. Bentley took aim on the left some 40 yards out and, with his first touch, sent in an in-swinging free-kick which evaded everybody before bouncing past the despairing leap of Mark Schwarzer.

‘I don’t think I’ve done that before,’ said Bentley, before describing what Redknapp had asked of his players in the dressing room. ‘We needed to put a stamp on the game, that’s what the manager told us. We needed to pick up the tempo.’

Spurs did that and Redknapp was already calling for Pavlyuchenko to strip and get ready for action soon after Bentley’s equaliser. If he was in any doubt, an injury to Vedran Corluka forced the Tottenham manager’s hand.

Bale signalled Spurs’ intent with a volley that flew just over the bar before Bentley almost produced a carbon-copy of his free-kick.


Clincher: Eidur Gudjohnsen slips home the third to finish a wonderful move


The winger was involved on the hour as Spurs went ahead on the hour. He was given space to deliver a cross to the back-post and Russia striker Pavlyuchenko, afforded the same luxury by Kelly, made no mistake, volleying left-footed past Schwarzer at the near post for his ninth goal in eight games.

Tottenham continued to pile forward, given their personnel there was little option, and Pavlyuchenko came close to sealing matters with another powerful strike.

That honour was reseverd for Gudjohnsen who, after collecting Modric’s pass, rounded Schwarzer before managing to hold off the attention of Aaron Hughes to score from close range.

The celebrations came early as news of Everton’s second goal against Manchester City filtered through; the result ensuring Tottenham remained in fourth spot despite having the night off from Barclays Premier League action.

The chance of another FA Cup and Champions League football for Redknapp — talk about saving the best for last.


source: dailymail