Stoke 1-2 Tottenham: The Daily Mirror match report

The rain had started falling so steadily from the slate-grey Potteries skies that he had to shelter underneath a golfing umbrella.

The mildness of the previous few days had been replaced by a last blast of winter and an east wind was cutting through him and anything else in its path on this dismal evening.

Yet, as he stood there in only his Tottenham tracksuit to shield him from the elements, Eidur Gudjohnsen didn’t want to be anywhere else. He just smiled at his reintroduction to the good old British weather and declared: “I feel alive again.”

Easter may be 13 days away but Gudjohnsen already feels reborn at Tottenham.

After having a footballing near-death experience at Monaco, he has been resurrected and his clinical strike at the Britannia was his first goal in over 13 months and his first in the Premier League since January 2006.

The former Chelsea and Bolton star hated playing in front of a few thousand in the lifeless Stade Louis II and is buzzing at being back in England.

“People may say the weather in Monaco and Barcelona is better, but I don’t really care,” he said. “Football is about being happy in what you’re doing and I have felt alive again since I came back to England.

“In France I just didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t really enjoy my football there. That’s why I decided to move back to England.”

The 31-year-old got his chance because of an injury to Roman Pavlyuchenko and his 54-minute appearance is his longest since he joined Spurs on loan in January.

Harry Redknapp, who is interested in making Gudjohnsen’s loan move permanent in the summer, was surprised by his pace and says he has a lovely touch.

“He’s a really top player, he sees everything,” said the Tottenham manager. “He played against us at Wembley for Barcelona in pre-season and he was fantastic.

“I thought then what quality he had and how well he’d do for us. We couldn’t get near him.”

Gudjohnsen’s strike – just 20 seconds into the second half – helped secure Tottenham, who were missing nine players, a fifth successive League win.

They held their nerve after Stoke’s 10 men gallantly fought back to equalise on 64 minutes when Benoit Assou-Ekotto was adjudged to have pushed Dave Kitson and Matthew Etherington converted the penalty against his old team.

Assou-Ekotto made up for the mistake by crossing for Niko Kranjcar to rifle home a great strike for the winner on 77 minutes.

The Tottenham players showed much how the result meant to them when they all celebrated in a huddle at the final whistle – all except Assou-Ekotto, who trudged off towards the tunnel on his own.

The Spurs left-back was still angry at Vedran Corluka for having a pop at him over what position to take up for a corner and Stoke’s Ricardo Fuller had to act as peacemaker when the pair pushed each other.

Tony Pulis was unhappy with Mike Dean’s part in Stoke’s defeat. The ref sent off Dean Whitehead – the third Stoke player he has red-carded this season.

Pulis felt particularly aggrieved because referees’ boss Keith Hackett had ignored him when he flagged up Dean’s previous with Stoke.

“We were just making the point that when Mike Dean has refereed us there have been very contentious decisions that have gone against us,” said the Potters boss. “Then it was up to them. We weren’t telling them what to do.”