Tottenham Hotspur fell to their first Europa League defeat of the season on Thursday evening away to Galatasaray. Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from the game.
I had hoped the comical performances of Tottenham‘s changed XI were a thing of the past after three decent Europa League showings so far this season. However, the old Spurs clown show was back in full force this evening, with the Lilywhites struggling to remember what sport they play professionally for the first 70 minutes.
The likes of Radu Dragusin, Pedro Porro and Archie Gray gave the ball away for fun at the back and struggled to contend with the world-class ability of Osimhen. Meanwhile, Lucas Bergvall looked lost at sea at RAMS Park, while the experienced Maddison and Bissouma did little to steer him. Hopefully, this was a simple case of a much-changed team struggling in a very unique atmosphere, and not a sign of things to come for Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou.
It feels crazy to type this but somehow Spurs should have escaped with a point this evening. After surviving a tirade of second-half attacks but somehow keeping the score at 3-1, Dominic Solanke pulled one back for the Lilywhites with 25 minutes on the clock. As Galatasaray tired, the ten men of Tottenham started to find some gaps and carved out two glorious opportunities for a winner.
The first one came when Pape Sarr had a simple through ball to set Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke through on goal. Had he played it well, it surely would have been a simple square ball and tap-in to equalise for Spurs, but the pass ended up sending Deki wide. The second fell to the Swede himself when Galatasaray’s keeper went walkabout and left him with an empty net to aim for from 45 yards. Unfortunately, Kulusevski rushed his effort and swept it wide.
We should have been talking about how the silver lining this evening was Will Lankshear‘s first senior European goal but the red card somewhat overshadows that. Don’t get me wrong, the goal will do him the world of good either way, but the red definitely tarnishes the memory for him. I’m sure he will learn a thing or two about diving in on a yellow card from that experience though, and he should be pleased with his overall performance. Onward and upward, Will!
There are still games to play at the time of writing, but Spurs look like they will remain in the top eight heading into gameweek five. All things considered, Tottenham probably have their hardest away match out of the way now and can look forward with confidence.
If you had offered Spurs fans three wins from four at the start of the season, they undoubtedly would have taken it. I’m sure some important lessons were learned by Postecoglou and his players this evening too – number one being that it is probably a decent idea to mark Victor Osimhen from time to time.
Postecoglou is clearly trying to manage minutes in the legs of some of his players. I think Pedro Porro looks in desperate need of a good rest on that right side. Udogie will undoubtedly return at left-back this weekend, but Ipswich Town at home feels like a good chance to hand Spence a start at right-back too.
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