A moment of lackadaisical defending from Spurs allowed Turkish league leaders Besiktas to steal a 1-0 win on home turf in our final game of the Europa League group stages.
The first half had been interrupted by a floodlight failure which saw the players stuck in the tunnel for just under 15 minutes, but early during the second period attacker Cenk Tosun latched onto Olcay Sahan’s cross to bundle home in front of a helpless Michel Vorm to liven things up a bit.
However Roberto Soldado was once again responsible of missing guilt-edged chances in both halves, but thankfully for the luckless Spaniard the results of previous weeks meant Spurs were already through to the next round as runners-up.
Player Ratings
Michel Vorm 5 – Had little to do but was slow off his line for the only goal of the game.
Kyle Walker 7 – Our brightest spark at the back, a breath of fresh air as a right back for certain. Got to the byline countlessly but did look wary of aggravating his injury. Hopefully fit for Sunday.
Vlad Chiriches 5 – Definitely an accident waiting to happen at the back but just got away with most of it tonight. Caught out by the ball over the top for the Besiktas goal.
Younes Kaboul 5 – Was on hand to clear most of the threat from crosses but has to be at fault for the goal conceded. Allowed Tosun in front of him to poke home and came under intense scrutiny.
Danny Rose 6 – Got forward well from left-back but final product was once more the issue. Won a few corners thanks to his running but as usual, set-pieces were atrocious.
Benjamin Stambouli 5 – Undoubtedly skilful on the ball but lacked the deep-lying creativity provided by someone like Mason or Bentaleb. He also runs like he’s running in treacle.
Mousa Dembele 5 – More mobile than usual and looked somehow quicker, but hardly made an impact when employed as a 10.
Paulinho 5 – Put in the side to provide energy but the whole team lacked it tonight. Unsure of his position in the team, certainly not the creative number 10.
Nacer Chadli 6 – Ran the channels willingly but was caught offside on countless occasions. Eventually made the move to centrte-forward as Soldado dropped out.
Andros Townsend 5 –Another disappointing Europa League outing from Andros who failed to bring the spark that the side needed. Rarely ran at his fullback and looked reluctant to cross or shoot,
Roberto Soldado 5 – He simply cannot go on missing the chances like the one he did tonight. The “lack of confidence” can only be blamed so many times, but Soldado wasn’t up to it tonight.
SUBS
Etienne Capoue 6 – Didn’t make an impact.
Erik Lamela N/a
Aaron Lennon N/a
