Friedel the hero as gritty Villa frustrate Spurs

American goalkeeper Brad Friedel inspired Aston Villa’s determined defensive performance as the visitors secured a gritty 0-0 draw against Tottenham on Saturday.

Friedel pulled off a series of impressive saves to keep Harry Redknapp’s side at bay at White Hart Lane, with his first half effort to deny Ledley King the pick of the bunch.

Spurs were left frustrated after dominating possession and will consider this to be two points dropped as they missed out on the chance to return to fourth spot in the Premier League.

Redknapp claimed before this game that his side’s ambitions were not merely restricted to scraping into the top four – they were eyeing the third place spot currently occupied by north London rivals Arsenal.

That, however, remained a longer term target and Spurs’ immediate priority was to reclaim fourth after being pushed out of the Champions League places following Liverpool’s victory over Everton a couple of hours earlier.

That certainly appeared to provide Spurs with added motivation as they dominated the opening stages of the game and should have used their territorial advantage to establish an early lead.

That they didn’t was due to a combination of poor finishing, excellent defending and an outstanding reaction save from Friedel.

Spurs’ first real opening came after just 14 minutes when David Bentley directed a corner towards the unmarked King, who headed straight at Friedel.

Three minutes later Peter Crouch won yet another header, knocking the ball down to Luka Modric whose return ball sent the forward clear inside the area and it took a last-ditch tackle by Villa skipper Richard Dunne to divert Crouch’s shot wide.

Villa suffered an early blow when England striker Emile Heskey was forced off with an injury in the 21st minute.

But even that didn’t explain why the visitors’ attacking moves lacked conviction and Tottenham keeper Heurelho Gomes was forced into just one meaningful first half save to push away James Milner’s powerful right foot drive.

At the other end Friedel was being kept far busier and the former Blackburn man reacted smartly to beat away Tom Huddlestone’s long range effort.

Despite controlling the game, Spurs were finding it difficult to gain a clear sight of Freidel’s goal.

And when they did work a clear-cut opening, the Villa number one produced an outstanding save from King to ensure the two sides reached half-time on level terms.

King connected from close range after Crouch headed down from Bentley’s inswinging free kick and Freidel showed superb reactions to protect his goal before Jermain Defoe scooped the rebound over the bar.

Villa’s first half performance had been effective, if uninspiring.

But O?Neill’s side showed a much more positive approach after the break when they finally exerted a period of sustained pressure, although they rarely looked like breaking the deadlock.

Gabriel Agbonlahor’s pace caught out King and the defender was forced into a clumsy foul, conceding a free-kick in a dangerous area.

England midfielder Stewart Downing, however, was unable to punish the Tottenham skipper his dead-ball effort over the bar.

Tottenham appeared to have lost their way until they staged a late flurry and almost nicked the win through an instinctive free kick from Crouch. But Friedel was never likely to be beaten in this mood.