Spurs make a statement with steely display We are almost in quarters: Pep
COMEBACK Inspired performances by Kane, Eriksen help Tottenham shed image of developing cold feet under pressure
LONDON: There is an old cliche that has followed Tottenham Hotspur around pretty much since the club’s glory days in the 1960s.
A bit “Spursy” is the expression that has often summed up their football, meaning style without substance. Harsh or otherwise, the perception was that Tottenham could not be relied upon under pressure.
Seven years ago, when the north London club reached the knockout phase of the Champions League at the first attempt under then manager Harry Redknapp, they went to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid in the quarter-final first leg and lost 4-0.
Memories of that chastening defeat came to the fore when Juventus’ wily striker Gonzalo Higuain, part of that 2011 Madrid squad, scored twice in the opening nine minutes at the Allianz Stadium on Tuesday as the Italian giants seized control of the last 16 tie.
What followed was 80 minutes of near-total domination by Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs side as they stormed back to earn a 2-2 draw with goals by Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen.
This was a Juve side featuring seven starters from last year’s final, who had conceded one goal in their previous 16 matches in all competitions and who had never let slip a two-goal lead since moving to their new stadium in 2011.
The measured way Tottenham pushed Juventus deeper and deeper sucked the life out of the Serie A side and silenced their fans. Victory on the night would have been fully deserved. It was all very “un-spursy”. Pochettino has assembled a team with no obvious weaknesses and world-class back-up on the bench to boot.
In the likes of goal machine Kane, cultured defender Jan Vertonghen, keeper Hugo Lloris, Mousa Dembele and Eriksen, Son Heung-min and Toby Alderweireld he boasts players with the big game mentality.
Juve must still be finished off but whatever happens at Wembley on March 7, Tottenham are unlikely to be “Spursy”. Tottenham came back from two goals down against last year’s finalists Juventus to grab a decisive advantage in their Champions League tie. HT looks at the turning points from the scintillating draw:
proved once again why he is rated as one of Europe’s finest strikers. He scored his side’s first goal with a composed finish after getting around Gianluigi Buffon 10 minutes before the break. And, in doing so, Kane became the first visiting player to score at the Turin stadium since November 5. persistence in attack and Mousa Dembele’s domination of the midfield, Spurs turned the screws on the home side after going two goals down in the
has scored in his first nine Champions League appearances, more than any player in the history of the competition, ahead of Ronaldinho, Simone Inzaghi, Didier Drogba and Diego Costa (8).
has scored in the Champions League this season, equaling Steven Gerrard’s record for most number of goals scored by an English player in the competition. first nine minutes. Aside from creating several openings, Eriksen - also adjudged the Man of the Match - scored the equaliser off a brilliantly executed low free-kick. two goals in the space of nine minutes to put Juve in pole position. The first came from a well-drilled volley into the bottom corner, the second from the penalty spot. But the Argentine was guilty of missing a couple of great opportunities that could have put the game to bed in the first half, including a penalty miss just before half-time. just one goal in their last 16 games and had not let in two at home for more than a year. But Tottenham’s unrelenting show last night meant they became the first team to overturn a two-goal deficit at the Allianz Stadium since Juventus moved there in 2011.
Juve now face a daunting task when they travel to Wembley having granted Spurs’ two away goals. BASEL,SWITZERLAND: Ilkay Gundogan says there is still more to come from Manchester City after their “perfect” 4-0 rout of Basel left them on the verge of the Champions League quarterfinals.
The runaway Premier League leaders destroyed Basel’s morale with a three-goal burst after just 23 minutes of the first leg last-16 mismatch.
City’s first three goals came in a devastating nine-minute spell thanks to a header from Gundogan, a Bernardo Silva volley and a long-range Sergio Aguero strike. It was Aguero’s 14th goal in 11 games in 2018.
Gundogan added a fourth after the break and was only denied a hat-trick by the dogged determination of Basel goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik. The tie looks all but settled ahead of the return leg at the Etihad on March 7.
Gundogan says City can do better and he threw down the gauntlet to their Champions League rivals. “The result was maybe perfect, but there are still plenty of things to improve,” said Gundogan. The 27-year-old German singled out City’s playmaker Kevin de Bruyne for his part in his opening goal.
“I had the opponent on my back so it was not really easy to head it, but the timing was perfect and the ball was perfect from Kevin,” said Gundogan.
Pep Guardiola’s City starved Basel of the ball, enjoying 69-percent possession.
‘CLINICAL’
“To win 4-0 away in the last 16 is an amazing result, we are almost in the quarter-finals, but I am not saying we are already there, out of respect for Basel,” said Guardiola. “We defended well and we were clinical -- we had four chances and took them all.
“If we get to the quarter-finals that is already better than last season and that is the first step for us.” The Spaniard heaped praise on Gundogan and his midfield
Kane 35 Eriksen 71
team-mates, including David Silva who made a return off the bench after injury.
“Ilkay is a guy with special quality, he is an amazing midfield player who has a sense for goal,” said Guardiola. “He was out for six or seven months last season and we missed him, he is an outstanding player who doesn’t feel the pressure.”
KEY RETURNS
City’s captain Vincent Kompany made his first Champions League appearance this season after a calf injury. He urged his team to give themselves a rousing victory margin in the second leg.
“If we have this game at the Etihad and it’s a 3-2 or a 2-2 draw that won’t give us a good feeling to go to the next round,” said the burly Belgian.
“We have showed we were the better team today and only for a lack of motivation or effort can we not do the same at home.”
Guardiola said the return of David Silva and Leroy Sane, who both came on in the second half, boosts City’s chances in the coming weeks.