Despite trashing Manchester City 4-0 in the Premier League at the weekend and going into Thursday’s UEFA Europa League fixture against AS Roma as a favorite, Tottenham Hotspur failed to take all three points as they were held to a 2-2 by the visitors at the Tottenham Stadium in North London.
Ange Postecoglu’s men fell out of the automatic qualification places after failing to secure all three points from a game they scored first. Son Heung-Min’s fifth-minute penalty opened the scoring, but the lead only lasted eight minutes as Evan Ndicka equalized for the visitors.
Brennan Johnson’s goal in the 33rd minute put the hosts back in front, and everything went smoothly until the final minutes of the game when the Italians snatched a valuable point from a losing position through German defender Matt Hummels.
The result leaves Tottenham in ninth place on the Europa League table, just behind the Scottish side Rangers, who are eighth in goal difference, and both teams will clash at Ibrox on December 12.
Tottenham were in second place after three games, but now they’re sitting in ninth position outside the automatic places, a situation that manager Ange Postecoglou describes as frustrating.
“It’s frustrating, particularly when they score so late in the game. But it was a good game. We should have put it to bed early, and it’s disappointing not to see it through. We should have shown a bit more composure. We had a couple of chances cleared off the line. We sort of kept them in the game.” Postecoglou said.
Meanwhile, fellow Premier League side Manchester United are also outside the automatic spots despite new manager Ruben Amorim getting his first win in charge with a 3-2 win over Bodo/Glimt.
Tottenham will host Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday in a London Derby at their next fixture.