BBCSport.co.uk 29th August 2013 - Deadly Dalla Valle Sinks Spurs
Spurs 1 - 3 Wolves (Premier Division)
Didier Deschamps was left cursing forwards after this heavy home defeat, his own and Lauri Dalla Valle. The immaculate Finn grabbed a fantastic hat-trick to knock the stuffing out of brave Tottenham who completely outplayed Wolves in the first half.
'A game is 90 minutes,' said Deschamps 'But we really only played for 45. Im annoyed because we could have won the game. We SHOULD have won the game. We didnt take our chances and they did.'
Wolves nosed in front in the 21st minute when Falcao broke down the right and whipped the ball low into the box. Paul Robinson hesitated and Mike Bull flicked it past him for Dalla Valle to prod into an emtpy net.
The goal came against the run of play, and Tottenham equalised in farcical circumstances just 8 minutes later. A long ball upfield from Ledley King looked harmless enough until Ismael decided to try to walk the ball out of his area instead of picking it up. Berbatov promptly robbed him and rolled home from 18 yards.
The rest of the half was all Tottenham and both Berbatov, Austin, Downing and Paul Anderson all squandered excellent chances.
2 minutes into the second half and Dalla Valle swung the game. He collected Yuris through ball and coolly curled a shot into the top corner past the advancing Robinson. Wolves then overrun Tottenham in the midfield, with both Huddlestone and Moutinho sitting deep relying too much on counter attacks.
Yuri and Yasar took full advantage of the amount of pitch they were being given by combining to create Dalla Valles 3rd. The Finn still had a lot to do as he received the ball 30 yards out on the inside left, but noticing Robinson drifting out of position towards the near post he reacted sharply and curled a low curling 30-yarder around O'Shea and beyond Robinsons despairing dive into the far bottom corner.
The game was over then as a contest, and the introduction of Gomes and Walcott gave Spurs too much to worry about at the back to even think about going forward.
'I know Ive praised Lauri a lot lately, but how can I not acknowledge a performance like that?' said Gav Williams. 'Hes turned the game for us when we looked like getting beaten. Tottenham were all over us and could easily have beaten us. Lauris goals changed that and then we took control. Thats how valuable he is to us.'
It was Dalla Valles 5th League goal in 3 games, and 10th of the season so far. On this showing, it looks like John Austin is a long forgotten memory for Wolves fans as Lethal Lauri continues to score for fun.