Gent vs Tottenham a few quick thoughts
Dan Tracey
February 17, 2017
2,033 Views
- It seems as if I was too quick to gloat after Arsenal’s defeat on Wednesday night
- As Tottenham managed their own European slip up last night in Belgium
- A trip to Gent presented the perfect opportunity to banish the woes of last Saturday night’s defeat to Liverpool at Anfield
- But it would turn out to be another miserable away day as Gent pulled off what can only be labelled as a deserved 1-0 win
- What will be of concern is the fact that it was a very strong team that was put out by Mauricio Pochettino
- Perhaps not full strength but certainly one that should have been able to cope with the opposition in front of them
- That lineup perhaps shows that the Europa League is taking a higher precedent over the F.A. Cup but it could be that domestic silverware is our only hope of a trophy if that deficit is not overturned next week.
- It was a relatively uneventful first half as Tottenham again lacked any real spark and failed to breakdown the Gent defence
- Gent would have gone into the break the happier of the two sides as they were keeping Tottenham well contained
- If anyone was to going to open the scoring it looked more likely to be the Belgians
- That said Harry Kane did clip the post after the break and you thought that this was the start of a strong spell for Tottenham
- But that momentum never carried over as the away side look devoid of ideas in the final third
- Again Moussa Sissoko failed to live anywhere near to his £30m price tag as he looked almost lost at times
- Perhaps it was not helped by the fact that he was moved around the pitch in a number of tactical shifts but once again people will be asking why the French international can not turn in a performance anything like what he did for his country last Summer during Euro 2016
- With Spurs failing to really cause problems they were then dealt a hammer blow when Gent took what must be said a deserved lead
- French striker Jeremy Perbet controlled and slotted into the corner from Danijel Milicevic’s pull-back on the hour
- Spurs were shell shocked, this was exactly what they did not want as there stuttering run of form now looked likely to continue
- They tried to step things up in search of an equaliser but to no avail
- And things could have got a lot worse as Hugo Lloris was required to tip Milicevic’s effort from close range onto the post
- Thankfully the advantage was not doubled from a Spurs point of view
- That would have given them even more to do at their ‘home’ of Wembley
- With that being a ground that is still relatively alien to them in terms of European nights, even this 1-0 deficit could be too much to overturn
- The night would also see Harry Kane pick up an injury with the likelihood that he will miss the F.A. Cup clash with Fulham on Sunday
- Hopefully that is more of a precautionary measure than anything else and he is back not only for the 2nd leg but the return to Premier League action next Sunday when they face Stoke at White Hart Lane
- Quite simply and quite worryingly Spurs did not create enough chances and were outclassed by a side that sit only eighth in the Belgian First Division
- Sunday will probably see a much changed side and Fulham may well fancy their chances of claiming another top flight scalp in the cup
- Let’s just hope it’s not two cup defeats in the space of three days come the end of the week
Like this:
Like Loading...
Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
