Tottenham conceded a stoppage-time equaliser to drop two points against Roma on Thursday evening.
The first half was a delicious Europa League mix of excitement and defensive chaos as both teams showed invention going forward and gaps at the back. Spurs took an early lead after a VAR-advised penalty was tucked home by Son Heung-min, but Roma — prompted by the excellent Paulo Dybala — equalised via Evan N’Dicka and then had a Stephan El Shaarawy effort ruled out for offside.
Brennan Johnson then put the home side back in front with a typical finish after fine work from Dejan Kulusevski — one of eight shots on target Ange Postecoglou’s side had in the opening 45 minutes.
Things continued in a similar fashion after the break. Roma looked dangerous but were repeatedly foiled by Spurs’ defensive line and the offside flag, while the home side looked repeatedly dangerous on the break. But it was the visitors who finally scored another — Mats Hummels finishing from close range on the second phase of a corner.
Jack Pitt-Brooke, Jay Harris and Liam Tharme break down the key moments from the game.
Another reminder of Spurs’ ability on the counter
We all know how Tottenham like to play: dominating the ball in the opposition half, trying to find overloads, and wearing the opposition down with their movement until they finally find a way through. Many Spurs games end up with them facing a low block, trying to find their way through.
But the past week has been a reminder that when Spurs do get the opportunity to break forward on the counter, they can be deadly. That was how they enjoyed so much of their success against Manchester City, taking advantage of the running power of Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke and eventually Timo Werner to attack the space City left behind their defence.
(Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
That was the story against Roma, too. Spurs’ second goal was a beautiful counter-attack, Pape Matar Sarr playing a perfect ball up the line for Kulusevski to run onto. Bursting down the left, Kulusevski got his left-footed cross just right and Johnson was there to sweep the ball into the net. It was a great example of how dangerous Spurs can be when they get the chance to attack like that.
Sometimes they almost look a bit short of practice at it though. Early in the second half, Spurs had a five-vs-three scenario but still managed not to score, Hummels covering and managing to tackle Kulusevski just in time. In the end, it cost them.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Heading into this game, all of the attention was on Forster after Tottenham’s first-choice goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario, fractured his right ankle during last weekend’s 4-0 victory over Manchester City and underwent surgery on Monday. It is vital that Forster replicates Vicario’s bravery in possession. Postecoglou joked that “I don’t need my goalkeepers to be (Michel) Platini or (Paolo) Maldini, but it is about executing really simple passes and it is more about mindset”.
Forster made a couple of passes in the first half, including a chip towards Dominic Solanke, that you would not describe as simple, but he improved throughout. He produced a fantastic line-breaking pass at the beginning of the second half and did not show any signs of panic despite having two of Roma’s forwards chasing him. Strangely, Roma put the ball past Forster four times, but three of those goals were ruled out for offside. There was nothing Forster could have done to stop El Shaarawy’s crisp volley, but he should have done better with Artem Dovbyk’s finish.
(Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Forster’s best moment came in the 17th minute. Zeki Celik played a cute pass into space for Dybala. It was a tight angle for the Argentina international and he attempted to cleverly poke the ball over Forster with the outside of his boot. Forster saved Dybala’s shot and, crucially, held onto it.
He then made a great save in stoppage time to push Gianluca Mancini’s volley away, but Roma’s equaliser came from the resulting corner.
Jay Harris
So close for the Tottenham defensive line
For a makeshift centre-back pairing, Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin more than held their own. Tottenham, as always, were playing margins — Roma had three goals disallowed for offside, including two in as many second-half minutes. Tottenham caught them offside nine times, the most by any team in a Europa League game this season (after Qarabag were offside six times versus Tottenham in September).
Claudio Ranieri’s side set up with a 3-4-3 wing-back system featuring two No 10s behind a striker, with the focus clear: get it wide early and cross it. Dragusin especially was dominant in defending his box (four clearances) and the one time Dovbyk did escape Davies and finish one-touch past Forster from Celik’s cross, the flag went up.
Roma’s two goals came from set pieces. The first was a wide free kick that N’Dicka headed in, unmarked, and the late equaliser came from a fizzed pass across goal on the second phase of a corner — after Forster had made an excellent save from a half-volley. There’s work to do on in-game management for Postecoglou.
(Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)
Liam Tharme
Why we shouldn’t be too harsh on Spurs
Tottenham missed so many chances here that they could easily have won by a distance. But at the same time, Roma missed quite a few themselves — and had three goals disallowed — and will fly home regretting that they did not win. It was that sort of game: open, dramatic, marked by a mix of both good and bad quality from both teams.
It is easy enough to pick holes in Spurs’ performance, not least the long spell in the middle of the first half when they switched off and the long spell in the middle of the second, and then of course the conclusion to the game, when they conceded the equaliser. Every time they kept giving the ball away, conceding chances, and they were eventually punished in added time.
There were some problems with game management and the lack of efficiency in both boxes, but maybe we should not be too harsh. Spurs came into this game without their best goalkeeper or two first-choice centre-backs. Richarlison and Wilson Odobert both have long-term injuries. Destiny Udogie was rested and kept on the bench. Spurs’ calendar is so busy for the rest of the year — continuous Thursday/Sunday games — that they will struggle to play their best football for 90 minutes twice a week. There may well be more games like this to come.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
What did Ange Postecoglou say?
After the game, Postecoglou said: “Yeah, it’s frustrating. We should have killed it off a lot earlier. We should have killed it in the first half with the chances that we had. At 2-1, you’re keeping the opposition in the game, so they’re throwing men forward. It’s disappointing that we couldn’t see the game out, but we’re still in a decent position.”
On squad depth, the Spurs manager said: “It is what it is. We’ve been in this situation for quite a while. We are fairly thin in terms of squad depth at the moment. We had four kids on the bench. I still think we had enough of the game and enough clear-cut chances to win the game.”
Postecoglou commented on Forster’s performance, saying he has faith in the 36-year-old. “I don’t think he’s lacking in confidence. He is an experienced guy,” he said. “It’s helped he’s already played this year. He’s played his part tonight and it’s just disappointing we weren’t able to capitalise on the football we played to get the three points. It’s always good for him to at least pull off a couple of big saves for us tonight and get him back into the group.
What next for Tottenham?
Sunday, December 1: Fulham (home), Premier League, 1:30pm UK, 8:30am ET
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(Top photo: Getty Images)
