Oh, what a night in north London as Tottenham Hotspur FC and Sporting CP fought to a dramatic 1-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Antonio Conte’s Spurs remain in control of Group D but have yet to secure passage into the knockout stage of the competition.
Late drama as Tottenham thought they had a winner against Sporting only for VAR to rule out Harry Kane’s effort. #TOTSPO | #UCL pic.twitter.com/avy9V9Ja4O
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) October 26, 2022
Spurs were dire in the first forty-five minutes of action in the English capital and would eventually go 1-0 down after former Tottenham academy product Marcus Edwards, now a star in the Portuguese capital put the visitors in front with a well-struck effort from outside the area after picking the ball up and progressing play before he let fly from range.
It would have been a hard pill to swallow for the Premier League side but Conte’s men bounced back in the second half and upped their level of play considerably, wrestling control away from Rúben Amorim’s Leões but initially were unable to make their dominance count.
That would eventually change in the 80th minute when standout midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur headed home after an inswinging corner from Ivan Perišić narrowly evaded the outstretched punching attempt by Antonio Adán before the Uruguay international leveled matters.
Tottenham was fully in the ascendancy before the equalizer and remained as such, but tonight will be defined by what could have been after club icon Harry Kane and the entire Spurs fandom though the potential all-time club record goalscorer bagged the match-winner from less than two yards out with the last kick of the game. The resulting video review by VAR judged the England star to be offside despite the ball being nodded back by Emerson which makes the decision even that much more contentious.
Antonio Conte is the only man sent off in both the Premier League and the Champions League this season.
— Richard Jolly 🇺🇦 (@RichJolly) October 26, 2022
In the resulting outburst, Conte was given his marching orders by the match official and will not be on the touchline when Tottenham locks horns with Olympique de Marseille on matchday six with Group D separated by just two points overall.
As things stand, should such a frustrating result occur, fans will undoubtedly look back on Kane’s disallowed goal – and a host of other spurned chances in the second half – as the club’s defining moment in Europe this season.
Tottenham Player Ratings
GK: Hugo Lloris (7) – Lloris can hardly be held to account for Edwards’ well-struck effort and, overall, he performed well in goal all things considered tonight.
RCB: Cristian Romero (7) – Booked for a hard tackle that on another night may have produced a different color, Romero was stout in defense as usual.
CB: Eric Dier (6) – Frustrating for the England international who is guilty of spurning multiple guilt-edged chances from close range that could have sealed all three points for Spurs before Kane’s disallowed winner.
LCB: Ben Davies (6.5) – Another call on the night that saw an unexpected change was Davies in for summer acquisition Clément Lenglet. Davies was pretty okay overall, as he typically is when called into action.
RWB: Matt Doherty (6.5) – A satisfactory evening from Doherty, who came fingertips away from scoring the equalizer for Spurs before being promptly replaced by Gil in the 71st minute.
CM: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (7) – The Dane was good once again in midfield alongside Bentancur, and offered some positive play when on the ball during certain spells as well. Solid as ever.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur (7.5) – A goal and another all-around good display from the Uruguayan international who continues to produce quality in quantity under Antonio Conte.
LWB: Ivan Perišić (7.5) – An assist for the Croatian international off the corner that found the head of Bentancur highlighted another overall strong performance from the summer signing.
RAM: Lucas Moura (6) – Given a chance in the XI tonight on a massive evening for Tottenham but the Brazilian was unable to truly inspire (due to being deployed uncharacteristically as a right wing-back) before being taken off with less than ten minutes remaining.
LAM: Son Heung-min (7) – Bright throughout but was unable to find the back of the net or turn supplier, but he did manage to test Adán and generally performed well overall.
CF: Harry Kane (6.5) – So close yet so far for the club icon and England captain. Before his disallowed goal, Kane struggled overall on the night though Sporting gave him his due respect in how they dealt with him on a tactical level.
Sub: Bryan Gil (6.5) – Came off the bench and offered a spark when driving play forward for Tottenham that eclipsed the contributions of Lucas Moura on the night.
Sub: Clément Lenglet (6.5) – seen on the bench at kick-off, Barcelona loanee Clément Lenglet still is yet to be viewed as a guaranteed first-choice option under Conte, but when he is called upon, he is generally at least decent. Tonight was more of the same.
Sub: Emerson Royal (6) – There is no shock that Conte has turned to Doherty more and more in recent weeks for big matches as Royal was average at best when introduced. Likely will be upgraded as soon as possible.
Sporting CP Player Ratings
GK: Antonio Adán (7.5) –
RCB: Gonçalo Inácio (6.5) –
CB: Sebastián Coates (7) –
LCB: Matheus Reis (6.5) –
RWB: Pedro Porro (7) –
CM: Manuel Ugarte (6.5) –
CM: Hidemasa Morita (6.5)
LWB: Nuno Santos (7.5)
RAM: Trincão (6.5)
LAM: Marcus Edwards (7.5)
CF: Paulinho (7)
Sub: Mateus Fernandes (6.5)
Sub: Flávio Nazinho (6)
Sub: Arthur Gomes (6)
Sub: Issahaku Fatawu (6)
Sub: Jeremiah St. Juste (6)
Social Media Reactions
Charging up for kick-off 🔋
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 26, 2022
Six changes for Tottenham as Antonio Conte looks to get his side back to winning ways.
Lucas Moura makes his first start of the season, while Cristian Romero and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg both return.
LIVE: https://t.co/AT6M4krRTh#TOTSPO | #UCL pic.twitter.com/Y7OK4aLrwK
— Standard Sport (@standardsport) October 26, 2022
Here’s our 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙓𝙄 #SportingCP #TOTSCP pic.twitter.com/pY7hIcrzXF
— Sporting CP English (@SportingCP_en) October 26, 2022
Tottenham have won 10 of their last 12 home games in the Champions League group stage…#UCL pic.twitter.com/A14WuHsbRo
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) October 26, 2022
Marcus Edwards bags on his return to north London!! 🙌
The former Spurs youth product has scored a screamer to put Sporting 1-0 up! 💫#UCL pic.twitter.com/IluJUJceCY
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 26, 2022
👦 Joined Tottenham aged 8
❌ Made one first team appearance
➡️ Loaned out twice
⚽️ Scored vs Spurs in UCL👏 Marcus Edwards pic.twitter.com/WDNOarzkqO
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) October 26, 2022
Marcus Edwards sending us to the Europa League pic.twitter.com/Aouu9lU5em
— Simply (@Simply_Spurs) October 26, 2022
👕 Tottenham Hotspur’s First-Half 🆚 Sporting CP:
🥅 Goals Conceded: 1
🧩 Total Shots: 4
🎯 Shots On Target: 2
❌ Possession Lost: 58
💪 Duels Won: 22
🔐 Tackles: 12
📍 Interceptions: 3
💯 Possession: 51%🤔 Thoughts On Spurs’ Performance So Far?#THFC | #COYS | #TOTSPO | #UCL pic.twitter.com/FZDboOSAg4
— Last Word On Spurs (@LastWordOnSpurs) October 26, 2022
A few boos at half time for the Tottenham team. That was aneamic and lacking any ideas or creativity. Sporting look dangerous on the counter. 1 up at HT @StanSportAU #ChampionsLeague
— Mark Pougatch (@markpougatch) October 26, 2022
Spurs roundly booed off at half-time after a listless performance where frankly they looked like they didn’t care. #THFC
— Jonathan Veal (@jonathandveal83) October 26, 2022
HT 0-1
Spurs have lost their last two and they’re heading for a third unless they improve at basically everything. They’ve been dreadful.
There’s just no energy. They’re completely on autopilot, no one’s taking risks. Anaemic performance and no surprise they’re booed off.
— Tim Spiers (@TimSpiers) October 26, 2022
Hopefully Spurs will play at home in the second half.
— Alasdair Gold (@AlasdairGold) October 26, 2022
Bissouma being readied… but Spurs have 11 men on the pitch. Mmmm. Maybe he’s going to come on early in the second half
— Jack Pitt-Brooke (@JackPittBrooke) October 26, 2022
Bryan Gil on for Doherty, 71st minute. Lucas Moura to RWB. Attack, attack, attack.
— Tim Spiers (@TimSpiers) October 26, 2022
It happened again but 71st https://t.co/PmuXgkZLkW
— Tim Spiers (@TimSpiers) October 26, 2022
80’ – Bentancur climbed the highest to head home from a corner kick! 💪 #TOTSPO 1-1 https://t.co/3Xes8n4Ckh
— Tottenham Hotspur (@Spurs_MAS) October 26, 2022
This could wind up being a massive goal for Tottenham. Rodrigo Bentancur heads in the equalizer vs. Sporting #UCL
(via @CBSSportsGolazo) pic.twitter.com/dPvfLqE2aa
— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) October 26, 2022
The Lucas at RWB experiment is over. I actually thought he did OK there. Emerson Royal on.
— Jack Pitt-Brooke (@JackPittBrooke) October 26, 2022
Hugo? He’s out chasing a Sporting attacker to the corner flag, misses the tackle, then when the cross comes in and he’s sprinting to get back the flag finally goes up for offside and Lloris is like are you actually kidding
— Tim Spiers (@TimSpiers) October 26, 2022
Things are properly back to normal with Emerson Royal at wing-back.
— Tim Spiers (@TimSpiers) October 26, 2022
Dier misses an absolute sitter. Five yards out. That was the chance. Completes a poor night for the defender #THFC
— Jonathan Veal (@jonathandveal83) October 26, 2022
