Tottenham kept up their quest for fourth place in the Premier League with a hard-won 2-1 victory over Stoke at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.
In a blustery opening with little by way of skilful football, Gareth Bale was twice targetted for tough tackles by Tony Pulis' side. First, a challenge by Robert Huth left the Welshman needing treatment before Ricardo Fuller was booked for an obvious foul on the youngster.
The tough nature of the game clearly got to Spurs' striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who was forced off to be replaced by Eidur Gudjohnsen.
The long throws of Rory Delap were causing difficulty, particularly in the 35th minute when one of the Irishman's 'rockets' was met by Dave Kitson. Heurelho Gomes fumbled the ball but Spurs managed to clear.
The second half was twenty seconds old when Spurs scored the opener. Gudjohnsen played a give and go with Crouch and showed good strength to hold off Abdoulaye Faye and fire past Sorensen.
Three minutes later, Stoke were down to ten men. Dean Whitehead was sent off for the second time in his career for a challenge on Modric. He had earlier been booked.
Midway through the half, Stoke were level against the run of play when Benoit Assou-Ekotto stupidly challenged Kitson in the box. A penalty was awarded, with Matthew Etherington scoring.
Assou-Ekotto made up for his error thirteen minutes from time, however, when he crossed from the left. Gudjohnsen cleverly left the ball for the onrushing Niko Kranjcar, who scored the winner.