VIDEO: Remember when Tottenham Hotspur striker bit someone?

Jermain Defoe will demand positive write-ups in the press tomorrow following his brilliant goal in Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-1 win over Manchester City, but it wasn’t long ago that he was attracting the headlines Luis Suarez is today, after biting Ivanovic. During Spurs’ game against West Ham in 2006 Defoe was seen biting Javier Mascherano in response to being fouled.

However, as Steve Bennett booked Defoe for the incident, no further action could be taken as the FA didn’t deem it an exceptional incident, like Ben Thatcher’s elbow on Pedro Mendes.

“The referee was standing over me and if he felt I had done something bad he would have sent me off,” said Defoe, who was 24-year-old at the time of the incident. “It doesn’t look great on TV and I accept that I have a responsibility to conduct myself in the right way. When the West Ham player fouled me, I reacted in a bit of a mischievous way – my character is a little like that at times.”