Tottenham qualify for Europa League knock-outs in entertaining back-and-forth with LASK

[ASFN Admin]

Tottenham secured a place in the Europa League knockout stages but it was not the thoroughbred performance Jose Mourinho was expecting, with his team conceding two late equalisers. Mourinho had described his team as “important horses in the race” in the Europa, compared to being ponies in the Premier League race. But they fell behind to Peter Michorl’s opener before Gareth Bale and Heung-Min Son put them ahead. Johannes Eggestein levelled late on before Dele Alli’s penalty put Spurs within sight of victory, only for Mamoudou Karamoko to snatch a spectacular late leveller. Needing a point to secure a place in the knockout stages, Spurs were disjointed and lacked urgency and were fortunate to go into the interval on level terms. LASK showed why they are competing at the top of Austria’s Bundesliga as they created chances and could have taken the game out of sight. Eggestein, on loan from Werder Bremen, was one of their key players going forward and he struck the base of Joe Hart’s post when he shot from the edge of the area. He also slipped through team-mate Rene Renner, who was bearing down on goal but saw his finish saved well as Hart raced out and spread his body, saving with his legs. But the former England goalkeeper would have been disappointed with an opening goal which came from 30 yards and gave him time to look at Michorl’s drive. The move started when Matt Doherty slipped on the ball, with the hosts shifting the ball forward to Michorl, whose drive deceived Hart with late dip. Spurs’ route back into the match came through fortune more than skill. Andrés Andrade could do little to get out of the way of Tanguy Ndombele’s shot from a few yards away but a penalty was awarded. Bale tucked away the spot-kick to bring up his double-century of goals for Spurs, Real Madrid Southampton and Wales. It was also his first European goal for Tottenham since he netted against Inter Milan in the Europa seven years ago. Mourinho did not appear happy at the break but his team improved and took the lead when Ndombele seized on a mistake by LASK and sent a perfect ball through for Son, who coolly finished. Eggestein took advantage of Davinson Sanchez being out of position to make it 2-2 with a drive that Hart got an arm to, misjudging his dive with a near-post shot he should have kept out. Steven Bergwijn earned a penalty which Dele put away, but Karamoko curled home from the edge of the area for a share of the spoils.

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