Point Means Progress – Spurs Through To Last 32

Spurs booked their place in the knockout stage of the Europa League with a 3-3 draw against LASK, on a night the Tottenham defence and Joe Hart, in particular, will be keen to forget.

Jose Mourinho made eight changes from the side that showed such resilience at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Ndombele, Hojbjerg and Son were the only three players retained in the line-up here. Those drafted in around them began the game with a visible lack of confidence and went downhill from there. None will have advanced their cases with the Tottenham manager for a starting place in the Premier League.

LASK should have been ahead within six minutes. Loose play from Matt Doherty – who had a torrid first half – led to Ranftl teeing up Goigrnger for a shooting chance inside the six-yard box. Davinson Sanchez came to Spurs rescue with a diving block. Seconds later, with Tottenham unable to clear the danger, Eggestein’s curling shot from the edge of the area struck Joe Hart’s left post.

Spurs, so compact of late in the Premier League, were wide open. Tottenham’s right flank of Bale and Doherty proved an accommodating combination for the Austrian attack which targeted that side of the pitch relentlessly throughout. Bale is still searching for fitness while Doherty, only recently recuperated from Coronavirus, lacked the energy to recover when caught upfield.

Rene Renner almost profited from Bale’s failure to track, when he was played through on goal with half an hour played. Hart’s fine smothering save delayed what felt increasingly inevitable.

With less than five minutes remaining of the half, LASK finally took the lead. It came as no surprise that the goal emanated from Tottenham’s right side. Doherty under no pressure slipped on the ball in an advanced position. LASK launched a swift counter as the outnumbered Spurs defence shorn of its stranded right-back retreated. Unobstructed Michorl had sufficient time to line up a speculative shot from 25 yards.

The pitch of his dipping effort eluded Hart and gave the Austrians the advantage they fully merited. It was a goal reminiscent of those conceded by Hart in his final outings as England’s number 1. It was not to be the last time in this match that his susceptibility to shots from long range was exposed.

Now in first-half stoppage time, the goal stung Spurs into their first piece of progressive play in the match. Lucas Moura – who had spent the preceding 45 minutes fruitlessly trying to flick on long diagonal punts from Hart – exchanged passes with Son near the byline. The Brazilian forward burst into the box and cut the ball back to Ndombele, who fired a shot goalwards.

The appeals from the Tottenham players that Andrade had blocked the effort with his hand were immediate, the Polish referee considered them for a moment before pointing to the spot. Poor Andrade has been a key player in Tottenham’s Europa League campaign, having scored an own goal in the corresponding fixture in north London. Gareth Bale made no mistake with what proved the final kick before the interval.

Spurs continued to toil at the start of the second period, and Mourinho began priming his subs to warm up. Then on 55 minutes, a careless touch in the LASK midfield fell to Ndombele who instantly released Son with a sublime slide-rule pass. Defying goalkeeping convention Schlager made himself as small as possible as the South Korean advanced upon him, offering up the whole right side of his goal. Son duly dispatched the ball into that corner of the net for his twelfth of the season.

Having taken the lead Tottenham suddenly looked dangerous. LASK were leaving the sort of space in behind that Son loves to run into. Bale and Son both got clear of the LASK line of defence just after the hour mark. Bale carried the ball into the area and rather than shooting tried to square the ball for Son. The Welshman’s pass was behind his teammate, and a golden chance to kill the game went begging.

In short order, Mourinho replaced Moura, Ndombele and Lo Celso with Sissoko, Bergwijn and Dier. Switching to a back five it was clear he was happy to see out the game. With less than ten minutes to play and the weekend’s North London Derby looming large, the Spurs manager also replaced his two goalscorers. Bale and Son made way for Aurier and Alli. All the changes only served to disrupt Tottenham’s concentration.

Eggerstein nipped in behind a sleeping Sanchez and unleashed a low shot at goal from outside the box. It was powerfully struck but not sufficiently well placed to be of undue concern for Hart as he plunged to his right. Again though the ball eluded the keeper. In trying to parry with his forearm, rather than his hand, Hart only contrived to divert the shot into his own net.

As after LASK’s first goal, Tottenham found an immediate response. Bergwijn outstripped the home defence and was pulled down by Wiesinger in the penalty area. Following the referee’s whistle, Dele Alli spotted up the ball and coolly sent Schlager the wrong way to restore the lead for Spurs with five minutes left to play.

Such was the fragility of Tottenham’s defence though maintaining their lead for even that short period proved beyond them. In injury time Mamoudou Karamoko found a pocket of space in front of the packed Spurs rearguard and sent a sweet curling shot beyond Hart into the corner of the net. The quality of the strike meant no blame could be attached to the keeper this time.

The result means that Spurs must now beat Antwerp in the group’s final game next week to clinch top spot and gain a theoretically easier draw in the last 32. One suspects Hugo Lloris and Toby Alderweireld may well be required for that one.