Lloris sent off as Tottenham let late lead slip against PSV
Christian Eriksen starred on his return but Hugo Lloris’ late red card allowed PSV to snatch a late 2-2 draw and all but end Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League campaign.
As both sides had each lost their opening two matches against Inter and Barcelona, they knew a win was the minimum requirement if they wanted to have realistic hopes of reaching the knockout rounds.
AS IT HAPPENED: Tottenham 2 v PSV 2
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Barcelona’s 2-0 win in the 8pm kick off means both sides can mathematically catch Inter, but they will need results to go their way if they are to finish in the top two of their group.
For Tottenham a win was desperately needed as this match kicks off a hectic schedule which sees them play six matches in 18 days, including a clash against defending Premier League champions Manchester City on Monday.
The headlines should have been about Eriksen as he showed no rust on his first return to the starting lineup for five weeks following an abdominal injury, but Lloris’ moment of madness and Luuk De Jong’s late equaliser meant his efforts were largely in vain.
The Dane started the move that lead to Lucas Moura’s opener and then created what seemed to be Harry Kane’s second-half winner, after Hirving Lozano had given PSV the lead following Toby Alderweireld’s defensive error.
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However, a red card for goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with 10 minutes to play reduced Spurs to 10 men and they couldn’t see out the final minutes to record the win they desperately needed.
Until going down to 10 men, Tottenham dominated much of the match and suffocated their Dutch opponents in their opponents’ half, but two defensive errors proved to be their undoing.
There was no Dele Alli yet but Eriksen showed what Spurs had been missing without their playmaker and the Dane was at the centre of almost everything good that Spurs put together at the Philips Stadion.
Spurs took an early grip on proceedings and it was Eriksen who seamlessly slotted back into his role of ‘string-puller-in-chief’ but it was Kane who was threatening PSV’s defence early on with a hat-trick of attempts including a header that came back off the bar.
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Gastón Pereiro then sent a free kick centimetres wide of Hugo Lloris’ left-hand post before Newcastle flop De Jong put a header over the bar.
Spurs were comfortable despite those two PSV chances, but half an hour in disaster struck, and one of their most usually dependable players was at the heart of it.
Last man Alderweireld was dispossessed by Lozano; he recovered brilliantly as Lozano bared down on goal but the Belgian could only deflect the Mexican’s shot over Lloris and into the net.
Spurs thought they had an instant reply to that sucker punch, but Davinson Sanchez’s goal was contentiously disallowed for offside.
The Colombian’s strike was clean, Kane was offside but ruled to be involved in the play despite being behind the goalkeeper and standing in the opposite corner of the goal to where the ball went in.
However, if Tottenham were left fuming by the call they didn’t show it and they were deservedly level just minutes later.
Eriksen’s delightful defence-splitting pass found Kieran Trippier whose first-time cut-back was smacked home by Lucas Moura via a deflection off Pablo Rosario.
The first-half action wasn’t done though, and Pereiro almost put PSV back into the lead when his rasping shot from inside the box hit the bar.
The second half started in much the same vein, and Eriksen could have put Tottenham in front but his shot from a delightful Trippier pass was too close to Jeroen Zoet. However, the Dane made amends just moments later.
Delicious interplay between the Dane and Heung-min Son sent Eriksen into space on the left and his cross found Kane with a simple header past Zoet to give Spurs the lead they deserved.
Kane then almost scored his side’s third but his header close-range header was kept out by Zoet’s boot. Substitute Erik Lamela then became the third player to hit the bar in the match. Those two misses were to prove costly.
Spurs had looked on track to record a routine win but there was a late twist with Lloris’ red card in the 80th minute.
They lost the ball in midfield and one pass sent Lozano through on goal, Tottenham’s captain rushed out to meet the Mexican but couldn’t get to the ball first and brought down Lozano outside the box.
Replacement keeper Michel Vorm was then required to save the free kick to keep their slender lead.
Spurs were rattled and were duly punished when Vorm was powerless to stop De Jong scoring PSV’s second when the striker flicked on Rosario’s mis-hit shot.
Both sides pushed for a winner in the five minutes of injury time, but neither side could punish some nervous defending as time ticked away in the match, along with each of their Champions League hopes.