Spurs undone by old boys at the Britannia

LONDON - Reuters

Stoke City forward Peter Crouch upset his former Spurs teammates with a goal. AFP photo

Tottenham Hotspur’s long unbeaten run in the Premier League ended in a pulsating 2-1 loss at Stoke City and Martin O’Neill’s reign as Sunderland manager began with a last-gasp win on Dec. 11.

Third-placed Spurs, who had won six successive league games and not lost one since August, fell behind in the 13th minute when striker Peter Crouch set up fellow former Tottenham player Etherington for a powerful finish. Modric could have levelled with a long-range shot that Sorensen tipped behind and Adebayor put the ball in the net in the 75th minute but was ruled offside. Just before that, Younes Kaboul’s goal-bound shot was blocked on the line by Ryan Shawcross’s arm.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp was not happy with ref Chris Foy.

“A couple of the decisions today were amazing,” he told Sky Sports. “Adebayor was a yard and a half, maybe two yards, onside. They’ve handled the ball on the line.”