Tottenham must beat AZ next week to keep their faint silverware hopes alive after Lucas Bergvall’s freak own goal gave the Dutch side a 1-0 lead in their Europa League last-16 tie.
Despite resting Heung-Min Son and Djed Spence in their last game against Manchester City eight days ago, Spurs’ freshness did little to help them as their hosts dominated from start to finish and were unfortunate not to win by a greater margin.
“Tottenham were miles off it,” said former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara on Sky Sports News. “Tottenham’s big players didn’t turn up.”
Despite AZ’s superiority, the first leg was only settled by Bergvall’s unfortunate intervention 18 minutes in, when he swiped at a corner and looped the ball over a hapless Guglielmo Vicario and in for the hosts’ winner.
Former Spurs forward Troy Parrott, who had already seen a shot blocked by Archie Gray, should have doubled AZ’s lead before the break but saw his poor finish kept out by Vicario.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Tottenham manager Anger Postecoglou believes his team didn’t have the right mindset to win their match against AZ Alkmaar.
The introduction of Wilson Odobert at half-time did little to help Spurs, who mustered an xG of just 0.37 all night – and barely threatened Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro’s goal after the break. Odobert came close when he nodded over in the final minute of added time, as Spurs fell to an 18th defeat of the season.
With their season now entirely dependent on their success in the Europa League, next Thursday’s return leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium now becomes a win-at-all-costs encounter for Ange Postecoglou and his side.
Son: Defeat a big wake-up call
Tottenham captain Heung-Min Son to TNT Sport:
“It is very disappointing we perform like this, it is a big wake-up call as next week is the biggest game of the season.
“It was not too much caution, it is always tough playing away in the Europa League and it looked like we did not create anything in the first half.
“It was very sloppy and we did not perform like we should do, everyone is very disappointed with the individual and team performance and we have to look at ourselves, there are no excuses, we were not good enough and nowhere near how we should perform.
“It is only 1-0, it is not finished and we have to do much, much better than we did today.”
