Roman Strike Sinks Rovers

Which teams will be going in to the weekend smiling? Predict the results in Midweek 10 and you could have something to smile about too!

Harry Redknapp's amazing start as Tottenham manager continued as Roman Pavlyuchenko fired the winning goal against Blackburn Rovers to help the north London club move out of the bottom three.

Redknapp has managed to completely transform the team following his arrival a month ago and has lifted any dark clouds that were hovering over White Hart Lane.

ROMAN PAVLYUCHENKO

Despite a rare blip against Fulham last week, Redknapp has now seen his team win six of his opening eight games in charge.

The Spurs boss has somehow managed to lift the confidence among the players including Pavlyuchenko who is finally starting to show the form which made the club pay out £13.8million for his signature during the season.

The Russia striker has now netted four goals in his last four games and is showing that he can form a lethal partnership with Darren Bent in the Tottenham attack.

Blackburn's misery was compounded when Martin Olsson was sent off late in the first half for two bookable offences. Paul Ince's side have now gone eight league games with a win and must be wondering where their next victory is going to come from.

Despite bringing in former UEFA Cup hero Tony Parks as Tottenham's new goalkeeping coach, Heurelho Gomes was back to old tricks after just five minutes of the game.

The Brazilian keeper produced another fumble when he failed to deal with a corner from Morten Gamst Pedersen.

Chris Samba almost knocked home the loose ball, but Vedran Coruluka just managed to clear the danger.

Blackburn were made to pay when Tottenham broke the deadlock on nine minutes.

Olsson was caught in possession by Aaron Lennon who raced away from the Blackburn defender and weaved his way into the box.

The England winger cut the ball back for Pavlyuckenko, who made no mistake striking the ball past Paul Robinson into the corner of the net.

The Russian striker came within a whisker of adding a second on 17 minutes.

David Bentley's free-kick picked out Pavlyuchenko, who rose above the Blackburn defence but saw his header cannon back off the post.

Rovers were almost gifted an equaliser on 18 minutes following another crazy piece of goalkeeping from Gomes.

The Tottenham keeper raced out of his goal but got nowhere near the ball. Brett Emerton lifted the ball over Gomes, but Jonathan Woodgate was on hand to stop Benni McCarthy nodding home.

McCarthy then blew a golden chance to bring his side level on 23 minutes.

Olsson's cross into the box fell to the South African striker who was unmarked, but he volleyed his effort inches over the bar.

Blackburn's task became even harder on 38 minutes when Olsson received his second yellow card of the game, following another reckless challenge on Lennon. Referee Howard Webb had no hesitation in brandishing the red card.

From the resulting free-kick, Lennon saw his shot deflect off Ryan Nelsen which forced a superb reflex save from Robinson.

After the interval the visitors came more and more into the game, but they were unable to forge many clear-cut openings to trouble Gomes further.

The best opening came early on in the second period, but Roque Santa Cruz's header was too close to the home keeper.

Tottenham should have sealed the victory on 84 minutes when Bentley's cross picked out Fraizer Campbell who was totally unmarked inside the box, but he flashed his close-range header wide of the post.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp commented: ""Every time Aaron Lennon got on the ball he was a threat to them.

"He is in great form and he has such pace, when he runs at defenders he gives them problems.

"I'm delighted with the win. When it is 1-0 and you are missing chances, it only takes one break and it can all turn and they are back in the game."

Rovers boss Paul Ince added: "The longer it was 1-0 I thought we were going to nick something, but the way the lads played I was proud of them.

"We have just got to keep performing like this, people put too much emphasis on where we are at the moment.

"There are another 20-odd games to go, we're in good spirits and we put in a good performance against a very good Tottenham side with ten men for most of the game."

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