Match Report Stoke 1 Newcastle 3

Demba Ba – who almost joined Stoke earlier this year – haunted the Potters on Halloween night, by returning as a Newcastle United player to score a brilliant hat-trick in a 3-1 win which lifts Alan Pardew’s unbeaten side into third place in the Barclays Premier League. Ba, who scored a hat-trick for Newcastle earlier in the season, was all set to sign for Stoke from Hoffenheim in January, but failed a medical. He joined West Ham instead, and following the Londoners’ relegation returned to the top-flight with Newcastle. Booed by Stoke supporters from the start, he had an astonishing impact on this match, heading home an opener after 12 minutes, adding a second after 40 minutes, then completing a treble from the penalty spot with nine minutes left. In between, he also conceded a penalty for a push on Peter Crouch, which Jonathan Walters converted to pull Stoke briefly back into the match. But Ba’s third goal ended Stoke’s resistance, and Newcastle headed north buoyed by yet another excellent result in what is developing into a terrific season. Newcastle had not won a league match at Stoke since 1985 but their start to the campaign meant they were confident to take the game to their hosts. And it paid off as they scored with their first genuine chance in the 12th minute. Goalkeeper Tim Krul’s kick was headed on by Leon Best to Gabriel Obertan, who found himself in plenty of space behind left-back Marc Wilson. The Frenchman’s inviting cross into the six-yard area picked out Ba and the Senegal international nodded home his sixth league goal in five matches. The Magpies doubled their lead five minutes before the interval when Upson could only help Fabricio Coloccini’s lofted pass on to Best on the right of the penalty area and he mis-hit a shot low for Ba to tap in his second. Referee Mike Dean handed Stoke a lifeline when he adjudged that Ba had shoved Crouch over in a crowded penalty box, and Walters converted, but the official saw a push at the other end which allowed man of the match Ba to complete the hat-trick.

Stoke join QPR in Crouch Chase

Stoke boss Tony Pulis has joined the race for Tottenham striker Peter Crouch.Pulis is planning a £10m bid for the England star after missing out on top targets Carlton Cole and Cameron Jerome.The former Liverpool, Portsmouth and Aston Villa player is also wanted by QPR, but the Premier League new-boys cannot ­afford the fee.Pulis met with Stoke chairman Peter Coates yesterday to discuss a move for Crouch, who has been told he can leave Spurs after netting only one league goal last season.Coates said: “It is true a striker remains Tony’s priority and we would expect that to happen. We are confident we will be able to improve the squad before the deadline closes and there is a long way to go before that ­happens of course.“We are working on a few things, but football is a messy business and these things take time.”Pulis is looking to bolster his front-line after selling Tuncay in January and off-­loading John Carew at the end of the season.

Crouch – who has racked up transfer fees of over £30m in his career – has the European experience Pulis will require as he tries to guide Stoke through the Europa League.

QPR interested in Crouch

Peter Crouch could be set for a dramatic return to former club Queens Park Rangers.Neil Warnock has been frustrated in his attempts to add to his squad ahead of the club's return to the Barclay's Premier League but wants the Tottenham striker to spearhead his attack.Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is desperate to land Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor, which would cast Crouch's future into doubt.Crouch, 30, wants regular first-team football but is keen to remain in London, which limits his potential options.And the beanpole hitman could be receptive to rejoining the club where he made his League debut in 2000.Spurs need to off-load players to fund their bid for Adebayor as they must see off Real Madrid, whose valuation of the Togo striker is capped at £10million.Warnock, who has so far been restricted to free transfers, will have to convince QPR's owners to stump around £6m for Crouch.But he believes he is close to convincing the club's hierarchy that significant investment is needed if they are to remain in the Premier League.

Man City 1 - 0 Tottenham

Manchester City qualified for the Champions League for the first time as Peter Crouch's own goal gave them the decisive victory over Tottenham at Eastlands.
Crouch's strike here late last season sent Spurs into Europe's elite competition at City's expense - and he was unwittingly involved at the same end again as he deflected James Milner's cross past keeper Carlo Cudicini in the first half.
It proved enough to give Roberto Mancini's side the win they required after a tension-riddled affair controlled for long spells by Spurs, who dominated possession in the second half to test the nerves of an increasingly anxious City support.
Celebrations swept around Eastlands as referee Mike Dean sounded his final whistle to send City into the Champions League, the destination desired by the club's Abu Dhabi hierarchy from the moment they started to bankroll the club in such lavish fashion.
And Carlos Tevez added to the sense of elation for City with a lively cameo as a late substitute in which he set up a chance for Patrick Vieira and was only denied a goal by a fine stop from Cudicini, who replaced the injured Heurelho Gomes
Tevez must now wait to discover if he has convinced Mancini that he has recovered sufficiently from the hamstring injury that has sidelined him for a month to play a significant part against Stoke City in Saturday's FA Cup Final at Wembley.
He was forced to wait until the closing stages before his introduction with the game so finely poised - a state of affairs that proved highly frustrating for the Argentine and he appeared to vent his feelings in Mancini's direction as he waited to enter the action.
City's win also brought joy for Stoke, who now qualify for next season's Europa League as a result of securing a place at Wembley.
Spurs, in contrast, now face a battle with Liverpool to finish fifth and they can feel unfortunate not to have earned at least a point from a spirited performance, with City keeper Joe Hart keeping them at bay with a superb save from substitute Steven Pienaar's header early in the second half.
This is a landmark moment for City, who can now mix it with Europe's biggest clubs on the pitch after proving more than a match for them with their financial firepower off it.
And Champions League qualification also provides a footballing incentive as they pursue high-profile signings in addition to the riches already on offer for their transfer targets.
Tevez returned on the bench for the first time since tearing his hamstring at Liverpool early last month in an attempt to stake his claim for a place in City's Wembley line-up.

Spurs, meanwhile, replaced Gomes with veteran Italian Cudicini - although they insisted this was because of a back injury sustained by the Brazilian in training rather than a reaction to his recent indifferent form and expensive errors against Chelsea and Blackpool.
And Cudicini showed his quality after only nine minutes with a point-blank block from Edin Dzeko after the outstanding David Silva laid the ball into his path only eight yards out.
Silva's diminutive stature and elegance brought inevitable comparisons with the gifted Modric, who also excelled in the first half and twice almost put Spurs in front.
The Croatian had a shot deflected wide and was only inches away with a side-foot finish that beat Hart and was so close to finding the target that Spurs coach Kevin Bond initially rose to his feet and punched the air in celebration.
Spurs' disappointment was doubled as City went ahead seconds later. They failed to track Milner as he worked a short corner with Adam Johnson and his low driven cross was turned into his own net at the near post by Crouch.

Spurs take a "Real" smashing

A goal in each half from former Arsenal front-man Emmanuel Adebayor, a third from Angel di Maria and late fourth from Cristiano Ronaldo plus an early red card for Peter Crouch all conspired to ruin Tottenham's big night at the Bernabeu.Now a performance even better than previous successes against Inter and AC Milan in the second leg at White Hart Lane will be needed for Harry Redknapp's side to carry on their amazing Champions League adventure.It is unlikely to happen though and Spurs must already know that Jose Mourinho is set to head into the semi-final of the competition he has already won with Porto and Inter.

Whatever Tottenham's pre-match plans were, they needed to be changed seconds before kick-off when Aaron Lennon was taken sick and had to be replaced in the starting line-up by Jermaine Jenas.They held out for all of four minutes when Jenas failed to pick Adebayor up from a corner and the ex-Arsenal striker powered Real in front, with Luka Modric, the man on the line, unable to keep out a header that had already beaten goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.The Togo striker, on loan from Manchester City and shorn of the long locks he sported in England, loved playing against Tottenham when he was a Gunner and this was his ninth goal against them.

It was a very disappointing start from the visitors given that it was extremely unlikely that the diminutive Lennon would have been handed the job of marking Adebayor from set-pieces so it was a mystery why Jenas was his challenger.Further disaster was not far away when Crouch, who had already been booked for a foul on Sergio Ramos, lunged at Marcelo and was shown another yellow and an inevitable red. Just 15 minutes were on the clock and Rafael van der Vaart was left on his own up front against the team that sold him in August.

Gareth Bale was always going to be Tottenham's main hope of turning the tide and he fired into the side-netting before being fouled by Pepe on another pacy counter-attack but the half ended with the action at the other end, with Michael Dawson and then William Gallas surviving strong penalty appeals.

Van der Vaart was replaced by Defoe for the start of the second half but Adebayor made it 2-0 with another unchallenged header, this time from a cross from the left from Marcelo, in the 57th minute.

Gomes tipped over another Adebayor header to prevent him from claiming the match ball but Real kept the pressure on an Di Maria beat the Brazilian with a thunderbolt into the top corner with 18 minutes remaining.

A three-goal margin would have given Spurs a slim hope of over-turning the deficit but Ronaldo's fourth - a low drive that beat Gomes at his near post - changed that.

AC Milan 0-1 Tottenham

Tottenham earned a memorable first-leg win at AC Milan to give themselves the upper hand in their last-16 Champions League tie against the Serie A leaders.
Peter Crouch stroked in the winner after 80 minutes from a pass by Aaron Lennon, who had led a blistering Spurs counter-attack.
Tottenham keeper Heurelho Gomes had twice kept his side level with two superb saves from Mario Yepes headers.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a late goal disallowed for Milan as Spurs held on.
The match was marred by a touchline fracas which saw Milan's combative midfielder Gennaro Gattuso appear to headbutt Tottenham assistant manager Joe Jordan after the final whistle.
Gattuso had already been in an altercation with Jordan, seemingly shoving him in the face close to the Spurs dug-out when they clashed during the game and the Italian continued his battle after the match.

The result would not have helped the combustible Italian's temper, in addition to the AC Milan captain picking up a yellow card which rules him out of the return leg, as his side were made to look second best for most of the game at a rain-soaked San Siro.
A touch of nerves from Spurs almost let Milan back into the game but, after Robinho's far-post shot had been diverted wide, Ibrahimovic was rightly punished for pushing Michael Dawson before guiding in a shot with his back to goal.
The aim of Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp was to make sure his side were still in the tie going into the return leg at White Hart Lane but his players did so much more.
Crouch, who had come on as a late substitute when his former club Liverpool lost to AC Milan in the 2007 Champions League final, had led the line tirelessly before being rewarded with his late goal.
It marked a win which came from some of the attacking football Spurs are capable of but also the type of resolute display Redknapp had doubted his team could produce.

Spurs' swashbuckling style has made them one of the entertainers of this season's competition but, despite Redknapp vowing to attack, he also had one eye on tempering his side's adventure with vigilance.
The memory of Tottenham being four goals and a man down after 35 minutes when they played Inter Milan at the San Siro in the group stages might have had an influence on his thinking.
He preferred the more defensive-minded Steven Pienaar to Niko Kranjcar, who had grabbed two winners in the last two games, on the left of a midfield also including holding players Sandro and Wilson Palacios.
However, there was still plenty of threat up front and the visitors were unlucky not to have a penalty when Rafael van der Vaart's cross appeared to be blocked by the arm of Milan centre-back Alessandro Nesta in the opening minutes.
The aerial threat of 6'7'' striker Crouch made life uncomfortable for the Italian league leaders and he almost scored when Vedran Corluka's incisive pass released Lennon, whose cross was intercepted by keeper Christian Abbiati.
In diving to palm away Lennon's cross, Abbiati got a knock to the head and had to be replaced by Marco Amelia.

Crouch shows his delight after his winner at the San Siro
Spurs had a degree of control and comfort, while Milan looked lethargic and laboured.
A long range Van der Vaart left-foot strike was tipped over by Amelia before the Dutchman produced a sublime chip which went agonisingly wide as Spurs went close.
Milan had brought on Alexandre Pato for the ineffectual Clarence Seedorf at the break and, as they began to to carry more of a threat, Spurs keeper Gomes was called into making a crucial save.
From Gattuso's dinked cross AC Milan centre-back Yepes guided a header towards the top corner and it took a dive at full stretch for Gomes to palm his effort wide.

The home side's increased appetite spilled over into overly aggressive play at times and ex-Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini should have been sent off for a two-footed lunge on Corluka but he somehow escaped with a yellow card.
Jonathan Woodgate, who had not played since November 2009, came on for Corluka as some of Milan's antics started to ruffle Spurs' feathers.
It took another crucial save from Gomes to keep his side level as he again kept out a Yepes header from close range.
But the visitors stunned the San Siro crowd when Lennon left the AC Milan side in his wake as he stormed upfield and the winger had the composure to slide the ball across to Crouch to slot in for a famous victory.