Berbatov tired of tottering Spurs

DIMITAR BERBATOV almost single-handedly hoisted Tottenham to the top of the Premier League goalscoring table but even that was not enough to quell his frustration at the end of this extraordinary afternoon.

Berbatov scored four times at White Hart Lane against hapless Reading, taking Spurs’ season tally to 41.

Incredibly, even that statistic is not enough to lift the club out of the bottom half. The four goals leaked here served as a reminder of the defensive frailties which have dogged the north Londoners all season and Berbatov, for one, is not impressed.

“We have the potential because we finished fifth last year with pretty much the same team and we’ve shown our qualities many times,” said Berbatov. “But we also show how bad we can be sometimes. We must cut that out.

“Everything is possible so we’re going to fight and see what will happen.”

Woeful marking from set-pieces and Nicky Shorey’s pin-point delivery caused panic in the hosts’ defence, with Ledley King’s return to fitness now looking important to Spurs’ hopes.

“We won it, but in the end we must look over the mistakes we made and the goals we allowed to be scored,” added Berbatov. “We conceded easy goals from free-kicks and corners and that’s not good because we keep doing that in every game.

“If we cut out the mistakes then we can go a long way. If you make mistakes it means the game is entertaining but, for me, I’ll go home now, watch the game again and correct my mistakes.”

With the transfer window set to open, Ramos is determined to keep Berbatov, even if he can’t guarantee the future of any of his players.

“I can’t do that for Berbatov or anybody else,” he said.

“We want Berbatov to stay and we think he will. ”

Berbatov opened the scoring against Reading but his next two goals were equalisers after the visitors had scored through Kalifa Cisse, Ivar Ingimarsson and Dave Kitson — all from Shorey set-pieces.

Kitson put Reading ahead again before Steed Malbranque made it 4-4.

The key goal was Jermain Defoe tucking away the rebound after Robbie Keane’s penalty was saved, although Reading felt the goalscorer encroached.

Berbatov rounded off the scoring with his fourth, leaving Reading to reflect on another crazy scoreline. They lost 7-4 to Portsmouth earlier in the season and face them next on New Year’s Day.

Kitson, a Tottenham Hotspur fan as a child, said: “I feel a bit of an idiot now because I said after the Portsmouth game ‘that only happens once in a blue moon’. It must be a blue moon again.”

TOTTENHAM (4-4-2): Robinson 6, Chimbonda 5, Kaboul 5, King 5 (Defoe 61, 7), Lee 5, Lennon 6 (Boateng 67, 5), Jenas 6, Huddlestone 7, Malbranque 7, Berbatov 9, Keane 8 (Tainio 80, 5).

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Taarabt.

READING (4-4-2): Hahnemann 6, Murty 5 (De la Cruz 71, 5), Sonko 5, Ingimarsson 5, Shorey 6, Hunt 7, Cisse 6, Harper 6, Convey 7 (Long 84, 5), Doyle 7, Kitson 8.

Subs Not Used: Federici, Lita, Bikey.

REFEREE: Keith Stroud (Hampshire) 8: An easy game to referee, but that is no guarantee of good officialdom. Stroud’s willingness to let the game flow was refreshing.

MATCH RATING: ***** An extraordinary game that encapsulated all that is great — and gruesome — about English football.