Forgotten man Pav to rescue

ROMAN PAVLYUCHENKO may be heading out of the Tottenham exit door in January but his match-winner against Sunderland could be one of the most crucial strikes in the club’s season as the north London club look to keep their title hopes alive.

Pavlyuchenko seems certain to leave the club following his lack of first-team opportunities and his frosty relationship with manager Harry Redknapp.

But even though the Russian striker has been forced to contend with action in the Europa League this season, he has refused to throw his toys out of the pram and reminded everyone why Tottenham forked out £13.9m for his signature back in September 2008 with a clinical finish to net his first league goal of the season.

The win moved Tottenham above Chelsea into third place and showed once again that they are still serious contenders to challenge for the Premier League crown this season.

Tottenham were certainly going to have do things the hard way after they suffered a major injury blow in the lead up to the game.

Influential midfielder Gareth Bale was ruled out with a foot injury and there were reports that he was even on crutches at the club’s training ground on Saturday, which could suggest a lengthy absence for the Wales international.

That is the last thing that Redknapp needs at a critical stage of the campaign.

The Tottenham manager was forced to reshuffle his side and play Luka Modric out on the left-hand side with Sandro coming into the middle of the pitch to play alongside Scott Parker.

Tottenham struggled for large parts of the game to break down a hard working Sunderland side who have been rejuvenated following the arrival of Martin O’Neill.

Redknapp must have wondered if it was going to be his day after he suffered another major injury blow after just 27 minutes when Aaron Lennon was forced to leave the field with a hamstring injury.

Not even Redknapp could have predicted his replacement Pavlyuchenko at that stage would go on to become the match winner.

The change certainly affected Tottenham’s play and Sunderland had several good chances to break the deadlock.

The home side had Brad Friedel to thank for keeping them in the game as he made fine saves to deny Kieran Richardson and Sebastian Larsson.

The Tottenham keeper was at his best once again shortly after half time when he produced another fine save to deny David Vaughan.

The turning point of the game came just after the hour mark when Pavlyuchenko stole all the headlines with his stunning strike to secure all three points for the home side.

Wes Brown’s wayward pass was intercepted and Rafael van der Vaart laid the ball into the path of the Russian international. Pavlyuchenko showed all his predatory instincts when he fired an unstoppable shot past Irish keeper Keiren Westwood into the corner of the net.

It was a moment for the 30-year-old to remember as he raced towards the corner flag and pointed to the back of his shirt to show he is still capable of producing those kind of finishes.

Modric blew a golden chance to put the game beyond Sunderland on 67 minutes.

Van der Vaart played a superb pass once again which picked out Emmanuel Adebayor, who raced towards goal and saw his chip well saved by Westwood.

The rebound fell to Modric, who had an open goal at his mercy but somehow managed to drag his shot over the bar.

In the end his glaring miss never mattered as Tottenham made it six home league wins in a row and dreams of winning the title were kept firmly alive as the north London club prepare for another mouthwatering home game against Chelsea on Thursday night.