Tottenham stumbled in their pursuit to reach the Europa Conference League knockouts but their fate is still in their own hands despite a shock 2-1 loss at Mura.
Antonio Conte made nine changes to his Spurs side, with only Japhet Tanganga and Harry Kane remaining in the starting XI from the 2-1 win over Leeds on Sunday.
This led to a disjointed first half which went from bad to worse, with Tomi Horvat giving the Slovenian outfit an 11th-minute lead with a superb strike before Ryan Sessegnon saw red in the 33rd minute for a second bookable offence.
Chasing the game and down to 10 men, Conte had seen enough nine minutes into the second half, making four changes when introducing Eric Dier, Ben Davies, Son Heung-Min and Lucas Moura.
And some 20 minutes later – after a few near-misses – Spurs levelled through Kane, who superbly lifted the ball over the Mura goalkeeper following Moura’s through ball.
Spurs’ quality saw them dominate the final stages despite Mura’s man advantage, but a late twist saw Amadej Marosa score in injury time for the hosts’ first win of the Conference League campaign.
With a game to spare Rennes are Group G winners after drawing 3-3 with Vitesse Arnheim, who are third and level on points with second-placed Spurs.
The final round of group fixtures sees Spurs host Rennes and Vitesse host Mura on 9 December. Spurs will look to beat Rennes and finish second to reach the knockout stages, which sees the Conference League group runners-up face a side who finished third in their Europa League group.
Tottenham player ratings
- Pierluigi Gollini – 6
- Matt Doherty – 5
- Japhet Tanganga – 6
- Joe Rodon – 5
- Davinson Sanchez – 5
- Ryan Sessegnon – 3
- Oliver Skipp – 6
- Tanguy Ndombele – 6
- Dele Alli – 5
- Bryan Gil – 5
- Harry Kane – 7
Subs
- Eric Dier – 6
- Ben Davies – 6
- Son Heung-Min – 6
- Lucas Moura – 7
- Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 6
Hoddle: Spurs embarrassing
Spurs legend Glenn Hoddle told BT Sport: “It is embarrassing. The way they played. The first half was dreadful. There was only one class moment, Harry’s goal.”
On Davinson Sanchez’s role in Mura’s late winner, Hoddle added: “If this is a 16-year-old defender… He allowed the player to come inside. He’s forgotten what happened in the first half. I can’t for the life of me understand it.”
.More reaction and analysis to follow
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/312BkzW
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