A superb display from David Marshall saw the visitors
thwarted throughout the game, only for the Brazilian to notch and move the
north London side level on points with Arsenal
Substitute Erik Lamela broke down the right-hand side in
the 93rd minute and played a low cross into the Brazil international, who
impudently flicked the ball into the net.
The win was a just reward for the visitors after they
dominated large parts of the game, but Paulinho's strike was harsh on Cardiff
goalkeeper David Marshall.
Tottenham will fee fortunate to come away from the
Cardiff City Stadium with three points having struggled to find a way past an
impressive David Marshall.
Up the other end, Hugo Lloris was lucky to stay on the
field after appearing to handle outside the penalty area for the second week
running.
However, Paulinho's late strike sees Spurs keep up pace
with their rivals, Arsenal, and hands yet another clean sheet to the France
No.1. Marshall made superb stops from Roberto Soldado and Christian Eriksen in
the first-half, before repeating the trick after the break to deny Paulinho and
Soldado again.
Hugo Lloris was rarely tested at the other end as the
hosts concentrated on preserving a point, although substitute Peter Odemwingie
did come close to a debut goal.
Malky Mackay made two changes to his Cardiff side, with
experienced pair Craig Bellamy and Marshall both returning to the starting
line-up. Bellamy took the captain’s armband as he replaced Don Cowie, while
Marshall came in for Joe Lewis in goal.
There was just the one change for the visitors from their
win over Norwich, meanwhile, as Andre Villas-Boas brought in Kyle Naughton for
the injured Danny Rose at left-back.
Cardiff started at a ferocious pace and felt their
opponents should have been reduced to 10 men in the opening five minutes after
Lloris challenged Fraizer Campbell on the edge of the area.
Lloris came sliding out towards the perimeter of his
penalty box and cleared the ball with his hand, with the home side insistent
the France international had done so outside the area. However, referee Mark
Clattenburg waved play on.
When Tottenham did get their attacking game going, they
found Marshall in fine form, the 28-year-old making good saves to deny Soldado
and Eriksen.
The first came as the former Valencia striker met a low
Kyle Walker cross only for the keeper to get down well to deny him, while the
second saw Marshall react superbly after Eriksen latched onto the loose ball
after another Soldado effort had been blocked.
Marshall maintained his performance in the second half
with another wonderful save from Soldado.
The Spain international looked set to break the deadlock
after reacting quickest to the loose ball following a Gylfi Sigurdsson strike
that crashed onto the crossbar, but Marshall made a superb reaction stop with
his legs to continue to frustrate the striker.
Mackay then introduced Odemwingie just after the hour,
and the Nigerian nearly capped his debut with a goal.
The 32-year-old’s opportunity arrived three minutes after
coming on for Campbell, but he sent his shot just wide of Lloris’ goal after
beating Jan Vertonghen.
Aron Gunnarsson had the hosts best chance of the game
with 10 minutes to play as Odemwingie pulled a perfect ball back from the
byline. The midfielder hit his effort first time but he leant back and sent the
ball flying over the crossbar.
And Villas-Boas' side finally broke the deadlock in
stoppage time as Lamela played a one-two with Soldado before finding Paulinho,
who got in front of his marker to finish smartly from close range.
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