It was a day when Tottenham’s need of a new stadium screamed out: grey, wet, vast rows of empty seats in the top tier and the yellowing turf of an overused pitch.
Happily, from their own perspective, they faced a side who are already beginning to give the impression that the Premier League is way beyond them.
It should have been done and dusted by the interval. Neil Warnock had joked that he was considering employing ten defenders for the task in hand, though even that may have been pushing it.
Eric Dier slots it past Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Etheridge inside 10 minutes to give Tottenham the lead at Wembley
The midfielder found himself all alone in front of goal to tap home as easy goal after the ball fell nicely for him
Dier (centre) is congratulated by team-mates Harry Kane (left) and Davinson Sanchez (right) after breaking the deadlock
MATCH FACTS, LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE
TOTTENHAM: (4-2-3-1) Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Rose (Davies 87); Dier, Winks; Sissoko (Wanyama 85), Lucas, Son (Lamela 72); Kane
SUBS NOT USED: Gazzaniga (GK); Walker-Peters, Skipp, Llorente
GOALS: Dier (8)
BOOKINGS: Sanchez (51), Kane (58), Alderweireld (68)
COACH: Mauricio Pochettino
CARDIFF: (4-4-1-1) Etheridge; Bennett, Bamba, Morrison, Ecuele-Manga; J.Murphy, Ralls, Arter, Camarasa; Hoilett (Harris 78); Paterson (Ward 78, Reid 85)
SUBS NOT USED: B.Murphy (GK); Richards, Zohore, Gunnarsson
GOALS: None
BOOKINGS: Arter (90+5)
SENT OFF: Ralls (58)
COACH: Neil Warnock
REFEREE: Mike Dean
MAN OF THE MATCH:
VENUE: Wembley Stadium
ATTENDANCE:
Eric Dier (15) breaks the deadlock early on as he pounces on a ball inside the box before slotting it home into the bottom-left corner. For more of Sportsmail's fantastic MATCH ZONE feature, click here.
Season at a glance
- Premier League
- Premier League
- Championship
- League One
- League Two
- Scottish Premiership
- Scottish Div 1
- Scottish Div 2
- Scottish Div 3
- Ligue 1
- Serie A
- La Liga
- Bundesliga
Cardiff, in their dubious wisdom, decided that investing just £28m in a side which did not even have goals in it in the second tier would work. The outstanding Lucas Moura, aided by Harry Kane and Heung-Min Song, comfortably deconstructed that notion.
They were ahead inside seven minutes. A short corner routine worked between Kieran Trippier and Moura allowing the Englishman space to find the cross from which – after Davinson Sanchez’s weak header caught Cardiff defender Joe Bennett flat on his feet - Eric Dier poked home.
There was a point of contention. The ball was outside the arc when Tripper struck it. But Cardiff really could have no complaint amid such Tottenham superiority.
Joe Ralls (centre right) cynically fouled Lucas Moura (left, No 27) before Kane (right, No 10) angrily reacts to the challenge
Match official Mike Dean shows Ralls a straight red card for his challenge on Lucas as his team-mates protest the decision
The 24-year-old marches down the Wembley tunnel as the Cardiff backroom staff and bench watch on in the second half
If there was a positive to reflect on last night then Warnock’s centre halves provided it. It looked like an avalanche would be on the cards at times. Sean Morrison, the captain, did most to rescue the side from that, leaping into three blocks as the confused midfield before him was overrun.
But this was an experience which will have had full-back Bennett awake in the small hours. The floodlights had not even been illuminated before Son and Sissoko had both raced around him.
Tottenham’s defence was not entirely immovable, either. Cardiff’s struggle for goals – still only four for them – saw Warnock try a third of his strikers, Josh Murphy, whose pace did take him past Danny Rose, midway through the first half. Hugo Lloris’s offered a ponderous response, failing to advance out. Murphy, picked up this summer from Norwich, clipped past the goalkeeper but saw Eric Dier cleared from the line.
It was the briefest respite against a Spurs side who spurned a half dozen good chances. The excellent oura jabbed a left-foot shot wide of the post after Son had located him on the left side of the box. Son powered across into space on the opposite side of the area and blasted over.
Josh Murphy lifts the ball over the on-rushing Hugo Lloris before Toby Alderweireld has to clear the ball off the line
Lucas Moura (centre) dances through the Cardiff defence inside the box before trying to get a shot away
Kane has a shot on goal as Tottenham had the majority of the possession as well as having plenty of chances in the first half
Joe Ralls of Cardiff looks to dispossess Kane during their encounter at Wembley on Saturday afternoon
Danny Rose (right) goes down under the challenge of Sean Morrison (left) as they two fight for possession
Then, the moment of ugliness which underlined the gulf in class. Moura was sprinting down the right touchline in pursuit of a ball he’d pushed past Joe Ralls, two minutes before the hour, when Ralls sized him up, thrust out a left leg and took him out. Harry Kane’s reaction sprinting 20 yards to barge the 24-year-old and pin him by the arms – said everything.
Referee Michael Dean seemed to reach for a yellow card before opting for red, responding to the players’ fury, it seemed. Warnock, needless to say, was unhappy though it was a marginal call to have dismissed the player. Ralls was not the last defender. His challenge was more cynical than dangerous.
The Tottenham performance will not live long in the memory. It was scrappy at times. Harry Winks did not display those early hints of world class that he has been struggling to replicate.
Moussa Sissoko (left) strides forward as Joe Bennett keeps up with the Frenchman as Tottenham go forward
Junior Hoilett and Co looked dangerous going forward in the first half and threatened Spurs' goal on a number of occasions
Those here to bear to witness sensed this. Cardiff’s contingent made all of the noise.
Cardiff might even have equalised son after the dismissal. Lloris was less then imperious again – scrambling a Morrison header from a free-kick onto the post, requiring Toby Alderweireld to clear up more danger.
But the job was done. A skills shortage was revealed yesterday to be he factor which is delaying completion of Tottenham’s new £850 stadium. There was enough in supply on the temporary field of play.
Cardiff are the cause for concern. For only the third time in the club’s history, they have failed to win any of their first eight games to a league campaign.
There are no immediate threats to the future of the manager who has delivered them back to the high ground, but the omens looked as grey as the sky.
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock calls for calm after his side concede early on following Dier's eighth-minute opener
Davinson Sanchez (No 6) heads the ball away from danger as Cardiff looked for a equaliser in the first half
Son Heung-Min (right) was a constant threat down the left-hand side for Spurs but Bruno Ecuele-Manga defended him well
https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/tottenham-1-0-cardiff-eric-diers-early-opener-sees-off-neil-warnocks-10-men/
News Pictures Tottenham 1-0 Cardiff: Eric Dier's early opener sees off Neil Warnock's 10 men
You don’t have to pack away your bikini just because you’re the wrong side of 20. These body-beautiful stars reveal their secrets to staying in shape and prove you can smoulder in a two-piece, whatever your age. Read on and be bikini inspired!
TEENS
Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st
To achieve her kick-ass figure, Hayden – who plays cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes – follows the ‘quartering’ rule. She eats only a quarter of the food on her plate, then waits 20 minutes before deciding whether she needs to eat again.
Hayden says: “I don’t have a model’s body, but I’m not one of those crazy girls who thinks that they’re fat. I’m OK with what I have.”
Nicollette says: “I don’t like diets – I see it, I eat it! I believe in eating healthily with lots of protein, vegetables and carbs to give you energy.”
kim cattrall
Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb
SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.
Kim says: “I am no super-thin Hollywood actress. I am built for men who like women to look like women.”
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1/2018/10/06/15/4819048-6247121-image-a-112_1538835697915.jpg
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