Ipswich stun Spurs

George's goal was a moment of true quality

Tottenham 1-2 Ipswich

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Alun Armstrong grabbed three vital points for bottom side Ipswich with a crucial late goal at White Hart Lane.

The striker flicked a header past Neil Sullivan with two minutes remaining to stun the home crowd and give the visitors only their second league win of the season.

Teddy had his shirt pulled for about 30 seconds and just pushed the player in the face to get him away

Spurs boss Glenn Hoddle

The strike capped a remarkable performance from the Suffolk side, who fell after a Simon Davies strike and needed a Finidi George goal to level matters before half-time.

Spurs also suffered the ignominy of playing the last 35 minutes with 10 men after skipper Teddy Sheringham was sent off.

Ipswich will remain bottom, but with Southampton losing and Leicester drawing, they can draw some comfort that they closed the gap on them.

For Spurs, this was their second defeat in three games, proving that they may lack the consistency to mount a Premiership challenge.

  Match facts

12 mins: Davies scores opening goal 1-0

38: George equalises 1-1

54: Sheringham sent off for violent conduct

88: Armstrong scores Ipswich winner 1-2

Despite their lowly status in the Premiership, Ipswich matched their opponents in the first half, although they did concede an early goal.

George and Jim Magilton had already gone close for the visitors before Davies opened the scoring in controversial circumstances.

That strike came in the 12th minute, with Sergei Rebrov, starting in place of Les Ferdinand, threading a ball through for Davies who hit the net from eight yards out.

Ipswich believed that Davies was offside when he received the ball and referee Mike Riley booked Jermaine Wright for his protests.

Another chance came the way of Ipswich, with John McGreal narrowly missing a headed chance from close range.

We've not played badly at all this season but today we had all the determination and desire to outpass a quality side like Tottenham.

Ipswich boss George Burley

Spurs nearly doubled their lead from the unlikely source of Steffen Freund, whose long-range drive was held by Matteo Sereni.

The hosts should have exploited their possession during the middle stages of the first half and were made to pay when George equalised.

That came in the 38th minute, with Herman Hreidarsson nodding down for George to score, hooking the ball over his shoulder and past Neil Sullivan.

Darren Anderton came close with a fierce drive from outside the area came that smashed against the post.

Sheringham will miss crucial games through the suspension

The next big incident in the game came nine minutes after the restart, when Spurs' captain Sheringham was shown the red card for raising his arms at McGreal.

The Ipswich man received a yellow card for his part in the squabble.

Anderton took the captain's armband and almost immediately received a yellow card for a dangerously high challenge.

The game remained even for the majority of the second half, before George's surge down the wing opened up the Spurs defence, and his cross was flicked in by Armstrong.

Plucky Ipswich ultimately deserved their reward after soaking up all of Tottenham's pressure and keeping their composure in a hectic second half.

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Tottenham: Sullivan, Perry (Gardner 45), King, Richards, Taricco, Davies (Poyet 75), Freund, Anderton, Ziege, Sheringham, Rebrov (Ferdinand 67).

Subs Not Used: Keller, Sherwood.

Sent Off: Sheringham (54).

Booked: Anderton.

Goals: Davies 12.

Ipswich: Sereni, Makin, McGreal (Bramble 83), Hreidarsson, Venus, Magilton (Armstrong 71), Holland, Wright, Reuser, George, Marcus Bent (Naylor 76).

Subs Not Used: Branagan, Clapham.

Booked: Wright, McGreal.

Goals: George 40, Armstrong 88.

Att: 36,040

Ref: M Riley (Leeds).