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Dempsey opens Tottenham account with game winner against Manchester United

Clint Dempsey Spurs (Getty Images)

Another big game, another goal for Clint Dempsey.

Tottenham Hotspur ended their long winless streak at Old Trafford that dates back to 1989 on Saturday, and it was Dempsey who provided the decisive finish in Spurs' 3-2 victory over Manchester United.

Dempsey opened his Tottenham scoring account early in the second half by knocking home a rebound seconds after a Nani goal had trimmed Spurs' lead. United scored shortly after to make things interesting again, but they never found a response to Dempsey's tally.

The goal was Dempsey's biggest contribution in a 70-minute outing in which he put in a lot of work defensively but was relatively quiet offensively. Dempsey did a lot of hustling on defense to help stymie United's stacked attack but it was not until he found the back of the net in the 52nd minute that his impact was really felt.

Here's the goal:

 

What do you think of Dempsey scoring the winner over Man Utd? Impressed with Spurs' win? Think this will help Dempsey go on a tear?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Every wouldbe goal scorer misses shots. You may have noticed Dempsey is fairly proficient in generating “shot opportunities”. He was proficient enough to be one of the leading goal scorers in EPL. And yes he does score goals for country; without his hustle in front of goal, we do not make it out of the group stages in the 2010 WC.

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  2. Very seldom do I see Dempsey try to blow by defenders 1v1 a la Bale, Lennon, and Defoe. When he is in space taking the ball up the field, he is usually looking tp distribute the ball rather than trying to beat the defender(s) in front of him or shooting the ball if the defense gives him space too close to goal.

    What he does do in tight spaces is try to find the right pass to another player or try to create just a bit of space to manufacture a shot on goal. He has just enough skill on the ball to do this plus be able to draw fouls (he is also an accomplished diver).

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  3. Haha you’re way off base with all of the things you say Dempsey lacks, he takes and beats players 1v1 all the time. How do you think he draws so many fouls?

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  4. Chicharito is on the bench right now mostly because he was hurt before the start of his second season for Man U. and never really got going.

    When you play for Man U. especially if you are a striker, failure to produce is heavily penalized. Ferguson is very quick to move onto the next big thing. If Chicharito does not have a big year this year he is probably gone.

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  5. The term trolls is a judgement call on your part. The other readers can make up their own minds. We don’t need you to do our thinking for us but thanks anyway.

    They may be real Fulham fans and may have a long standing enmity against Clint for what they feel was the less than stellar part he played in the clumsy scenario involving his transfer. Everyone concerned could have handled the whole thing better.

    Fulham do not owe Dempsey anything.

    He played well for them. They gave him a shot. He brought them a handsome return on their investment. They sent him to a potential Champions league club, he did not have to leave London and he gets a lot of money in return.

    Good business for all concerned.

    Still Fulham fans have just as much right to vent their displeasure with Clint as you do to defend him, though he hardly needs you to do that. I’m not shedding any tears for him right now.

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  6. Sorry, GW, but when Fulham trolls swoop in and attack Clint for having a bad game when he scores the winning goal against Man U. at Old Trafford I reserve the right to encourage them to give him the respect he deserves for all he did for Fulham and to let other readers know that trolls are at work. I would not have mentioned Jol or the transfer otherwise.

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  7. If you want to call a spade a spade, then you have to be objective in your comments, and not provide misleading statements based on loose citations of Twitter.

    I just read all of the matchday comments of a spurs fansite with over 8,000 members (tottenhamhotspurs dot tv), and NOT ONE post was critical of Dempsey. The ones that mentioned him were thrilled with his goal.

    Now back to calling a spade a spade — Dempsey did have one really bad giveaway on the backwards header that almost lead to an RVP goal. He also had a misdirected backpass that caused spurs to have to go backward, but did not result in a turnover. He also didn’t tackle as hard as he could of a couple of times, such as on the play that setup the Kagawa goal. But Dempsey did not cause any of the United goals, he did not “consistently turn the ball over”, and to say his play was “bordering on awful” is just an egregious falsehood.

    Dempsey mostly made good decisions with the ball, and besides scoring what ended up being the decisive goal, his movement off the ball constantly opened up spaces for teammates to run into. I have a new appreciation for deuce after this game for his sense of spacing, and ability to understand how to open up attacking channels for his team.

    So next time, leave the hyperbole about “the Tottenham fans” saying “all game across social media” that Deuce shouldn’t be on the field. It’s just not honest.

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  8. biff,

    “Time to move on, Fulham fans, and give Clint the respect and thanks he deserves from you.”

    ?? Coming from SBI’s resident conspiracy theorist that is Kettle,Pot,black.

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  9. I was howling for joy on the Clint Dempsey goal. The positioning was great. If you watch the replay and see how Clint carefully and brilliantly trails behind Bale to be in the rIGHT place at the right time. A step or two back and a defender could have cleared the ball and a couple of steps to far forward and Dempsey might not have been able to reach the ball. And something no one mentioned is that Dempsey was in perfect position when Vertongen drove in the first half and scored his goal with a bit of luck from the deflection off Jonny Evans. You can’t really complain because Vertongen got the goal, but, actually , the smarter play would have been for him to feed Dempsey who was wide open and does not miss shots like that.

    Watching AVB and Dempsey when Clint was subbed off and then after the game embracing, my feeling is that AVB likes Dempsey a lot. No doubt he likes Clint’s hard work in practice and tenacity on the field. That said, the AVB system is definitely going to be demanding and Clint will have to keep his nose to the grinding stone, which I have no doubt he will do.

    Tottenham looked awesome in the first half and I can get excited about this team. Plus, they played my favorite formation, a 4-2-3-1, which is what I wish Klinsmann would do using Clint as the same position he played yesterday for Tottenham. But to do that, Klinsmann is going to finally have to call in some wingers/attacking midfielders and go from using his preferred 3 defensive midfielders to only 1 or at most 2.

    I see in the comments up above that a good game from Deuce and the winning goal against Man U at Old Trafford has brought out a few disgruntled Fulham fan-trolls bashing Clint. Why I will never understand. Clint could have stayed at Fulham without signing the contract extension that Martin “Darth Vader” Jol was trying to stuff down his throat and he would have left in May on a free transfer. But no, Clint did the honorable thing and left in August, meaning that Fulham could collect a transfer fee of $9 million, more than $5 million more than they paid for Clint 5 1/2 years ago. That is a nice profit, not to mention the five years of dedicated top-quality service that Clint gave the club. Time to move on, Fulham fans, and give Clint the respect and thanks he deserves from you.

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  10. I had the same feeling. He didn’t do anything against a relatively poor Man U defense in the first half. So, I’m wondering how much playing time he’ll be getting. Maybe he needs to be made to work for it, like at Fulham.

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  11. Your missing my point, dempsey has missed many goals at the national level and for his team . He runs and fights for the ball like a warrior but he never hits the ball with aggression and ends up missing a goal. Truth hurts people ……… Why is javier chicharrito on the bench now because his mexican pride was not enough and his touch is horrible and can not finis besides running like a maniac and warrior.

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  12. I’m all for people beating Man U (and Spurs).

    That said, that photo of Clint is terrible. That vile kit and his awful guffah.

    Shame.

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  13. That’s how he usually scores goals; get to the right spot at the right time. If he cannot do this fairly consistently, he does not have a place in the Spurs’ starting lineup. He does not have pace, usually cannot take a defender 1v1, etc… attributes one would expect in an attacking player.

    He does have a knack for showing up to the right place at the right time. This is the biggest reason for his success in EPL. Also can get off a decent header; perhaps most proficient on the Spurs.

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  14. If you don’t have a garbage man, your trash piles up, your neighbors hate you, your lawn starts to look like sh@t, …and your house starts to smell.

    Garbage men ARE real men. Real men go to work and put in their shift…on offense, defense, whatever is asked of them.

    You must not have a garbage man.

    Tune in next week, when Clint teaches you about maestro’s and the metro sexual man.

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