man Spurs as Turkish giants triumph in UEFA Europa League
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Tottenham Hotspur missed the chance to top the UEFA Europa League table as they fell to a 3-2 defeat to Galatasaray at RAMS Park.
Ange Postecoglou’s side were so often masters of their own downfall as Victor Osimhen, the on-loan Napoli striker, bagged a brace to add to Yunus Akgun’s stunning opener.
Teenager Will Lankshear notched his first senior goal but was then sent off for a second bookable offence, and Dominic Solanke made an instant impact off the substitutes’ bench with a delicate backheeled finish from Pedro Porro to halve the deficit and keep Spurs in touching distance.
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However, the visitors kept crumbling under the intense pressure from the raucous home support, who whistled furiously in an attempt to tease out mistakes.
Errors continued to plague the inexperienced Spurs side - which had seven changes made to it after Sunday’s 4-1 victory over Aston Villa - as their insistence on playing out from the back had them punished twice, but it really should have been more.
Okan Buruk's hosts were ahead inside just six minutes when former Leicester City loanee Akgun half-volleyed a beauty into the top corner after Archie Gray had nodded away a free-kick, and it seemed as though Spurs' young starlets would falter under the intimidation and deafening noise around the stadium.
They responded brilliantly, however, with their first foray forwards resulting in an equaliser - scored by the teenager Lankshear - after great persistence from Son Heung-min down the left, before Gray picked up the pieces on the underlap.
The deputising left-back got his head up to find Brennan Johnson peeling away at the far post, and the Wales international had the awareness to pick out Lankshear with a ball across the face of goal, which the junior striker prodded into the back of the net.
Back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster was in fine form to halt Osimhen on 25 minutes when he was slotted through by the rampaging Gabriel Sara, and the Nigerian thought he had the Turkish side's second when he nodded past the English shot-stopper, only to be denied by the flag.
Osimhen, however, would get on the scoresheet just two minutes later, with more sloppiness from the visitors playing out, and Dries Mertens latched onto the loose ball, sliding in the loanee to poke it past the onrushing Forster to re-establish Gala's lead.
Forster was on hand to thwart Osimhen once more as Radu Dragusin was again caught dawdling on the ball, and just one minute later, Osmihen doubed his tally for the evening, with Spurs' concentration waning as the attack reached its second phase. Mertens picked the ball up down the right, bending in an inviting ball that Osimhen buried.
Postecoglou was forced into action at half-time, hauling off Son and Johnson for Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, but the changes had no impact on the game's momentum as the pendulum swung even further in Gala's favour, the hosts piling on the pressure.
Mauro Icardi latched onto another loose ball in Spurs' final third but lashed over, before a penalty-box melee ensued as Mertens fired a shot at Bentancur. From the resulting corner, Akgun stung the palms of Forster with a vicious effort from range, before Osimhen missed a golden opportunity for his hat-trick as he directed a header high and wide from a delicious Mertens delivery.
The Turkish side could have been made to rue their profligacy as Solanke emerged off the bench to snatch what would turn out to be just a consolation for Tottenham, who were down to 10 after Lankshear was sent off for two yellows: first elbowing Kaan Ayhan, and then mistiming a challenge on Gabriel Sara tight to the touchline.
Icardi had the ball in the visiting net on 76 minutes after he linked up nicely with substitute Hakim Ziyech to slice through the wide-open Spurs defence, but the former Inter Milan forward, who was stretchered off later in the encounter, was flagged for offside.
The north London outfit slip down to fifth in the league table with the defeat, and they will need to dust themselves down quickly with tricky tests against Roma and Rangers coming thick and fast.
Galatasaray, meanwhile, top the tree on 10 points - at least temporarily - and they travel to AZ Alkmaar next.
TALKING POINT - WILTING UNDER PRESSURE
Postecoglou was forced into wholesale changes for this one after injuries to two of his first-choice players.
Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, his go-to centre-back pairing, were left at home on the treatment table, while it seemed as though those defensive problems may worsen when Pedro Porro felt his hamstring in the dying embers here.
This was an audition for some of Spurs' second string to impress, but it will be a case of chance missed in Postecoglou's eyes, with the Australian forced to turn to those he had planned to rest in a desperate attempt to salvage something.
Dominic Solanke of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the UEFA Europa League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 match between Galatasaray A.S. and Tottenham.
Image credit: Getty Images
PLAYER OF THE MATCH - VICTOR OSIMHEN
Two goals, and a brilliant performance. The Nigerian ran the Spurs defence ragged, terrorising them with his physicality and his pace in behind.
He showed his deadly goalscoring knack in the penalty area with two extremely well-taken finishes. He was very unlucky not to walk away with the match ball.
PLAYER RATINGS
Galatasaray: Muslera 6, Ayhan 6, Sanchez 6, Bardakci 6, Yilmaz 7, Torreira 7, Sara 7, Akgun 7, Mertens 8, Osimhen 9, Icardi 7. Subs: Ziyech 6, Jelert 6, Demirbay 6, Batshuayi 6, Kutlu 6.
Spurs: Forster 7, Porro 6, Dragusin 4, Davies 5, Gray 5, Bergvall 5, Bissouma 5, Maddison 5, Johnson 6, Lankshear 6, Son 6. Subs: Kulusevski 6, Bentancur 6, Solanke 6, Sarr 6.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
KEY STAT
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