Postiga: Goal drought did not worry me

Getting shirty: Postiga was booked after the first goal of his Spurs career

14 April 2012

Not even a yellow card for throwing his Tottenham shirt into the crowd could ruin Helder Postiga's moment of joy.

After 13 attempts, the £6.25million signing from FC Porto finally struck his first goal for the club as Spurs disposed of abysmal Manchester City to set up a Carling Cup quarter-final at home to Middlesbrough.

Postiga's delight at hitting the back of the net in the 30th minute was all too clear, although the 21-year-old's jubilation was not shared by referee Paul Durkin.

But the caution failed to dampen the Portuguese youngster's delight. "Not scoring didn't affect me at all," Postiga said. "I haven't felt any pressure. I have always said that it is more important that Spurs win games.

"I am happy to have scored my first goal for the club because it was very important for my confidence. I couldn't help but celebrate my goal in the way I did because I was so happy. But the manager told me not to do it again if I scored another because I could be sent off."

Spurs were a transformed side to the one that had been struggling at home in recent weeks. Inspired by midfielder Darren Anderton, they had City on the back foot from the start.

Anderton, still smarting from Tottenham's decision not to discuss a new contract, put them ahead with a stunning low drive after nine minutes. Postiga followed that with his opportunist strike and the only surprise of the first half was that Spurs failed to add to their tally.

Kevin Keegan's City were dreadful and only after an almighty dressing room blast from the former England manager did they finally take the game to Spurs. Robbie Fowler gave them a chance of forcing extra-time when he took advantage of a howler of a clearance from Gary Doherty but Spurs booked their quarter-final place when Paul Konchesky's cross was turned in by substitute Freddie Kanoute.

It was a welcome return for Kanoute, back after a six-week lay-off with an ankle injury following a bad challenge by Leicester's Muzzy Izzet.

But Kanoute revealed Izzet had since apologised to him by leaving a message on his mobile phone.

Tottenham's top scorer said: "It has been a frustrating time for me but I just needed 15 minutes. My ankle was not very good last week but now it is healing well and I felt okay once it got warm.

"It has been tough because I was injured by a bad tackle but I've worked hard to come back as quickly as possible. Muzzy has since apologised. It was nice for him to do that. I have not got any bad feelings towards him now. It is in the past."

Kanoute's goal took his tally for the season to eight but he was more pleased to see Postiga get his first for the club.

Kanoute added: "I am very happy for him. It is always hard when you are a striker and don't score. We know what he can do on the training ground. This will give him the confidence he needs. I think he's been going through a little bit of a tough time but any striker goes through that when they are not scoring. He is young but it will hopefully be much easier for him now."

Acting manager David Pleat said: "When you go two goals up in a cup competition, you expect the opposition to throw the kitchen sink at you.

"We are not good enough to maintain the ascendancy for long periods but we looked dangerous on the break and some of our defending was terrific."

Keegan, however, was not so pleased. He declared: "I don't think I have ever been so angry as a manager as I was at half-time. We were not committed enough."

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