Linz ASK vs Tottenham Hotspur. UEFA Europa League Group J.
Linzer Stadion.
Report as Tottenham qualify for last 32 of Europa League despite poor performance at LASK; Heung-Min Son, Gareth Bale and Dele Alli on target in Linz; Spurs will top group with win over Antwerp in final game
Thursday 3 December 2020 23:05, UK
Heung-Min Son, Gareth Bale and Dele Alli papered over a poor Spurs performance as a 3-3 draw at LASK ensured Jose Mourinho's side qualified for the Europa League last 32.
Spurs were outplayed in the first half on a freezing night in Linz and trailed to Peter Michorl's long-range effort which squirmed under Joe Hart (42). But the visitors were gifted an equaliser when Andres Andrade handled Tanguy Ndombele's shot and Bale beat Alexander Schlager from the penalty spot (45+2).
After the break, Spurs barely improved but, needing only a point to qualify, found another goal to afford them some breathing space as Son ran through to score after good work from Ndombele (56).
Bale should have put the result beyond doubt six minutes later with the goal at his mercy, but attempted to square for Son and missed his team-mate altogether. Hart was then again at fault to allow Johannes Eggestein to level from outside the box (84).
LASK had themselves to blame for losing another foothold within minutes, however, with substitute Steven Bergwijn brought to ground in the box by Philipp Wiesinger. Alli set himself to cheekily chip Schlager from 12 yards and restore Spurs' lead, with the sort of swagger the rest of their performance had been severely lacking.
There was still time for more drama in added time as another substitute, Mamoudou Karamoko, levelled with another effort from distance which this time left Hart with no chance. It was not enough to keep LASK's hopes alive, as their head-to-head record against Spurs saw them eliminated while their visitors progressed.
Needing only a point to qualify, Spurs rarely look like a side feeling any sense of urgency in Austria, and six minutes in, were given a wake-up call when Johannes Eggestein fired against the woodwork from 20 yards.
It was a warning they did not heed, with Hart forced into the first real save of the night by Rene Renner after 21 minutes, as the visitors' poor passing game causing its own problems and inviting pressure from the Austrian Bundesliga side.
The hosts' pressure told three minutes before the interval when Matt Doherty was robbed of the ball upfield, before an unmarked Michorl was given space to turn, shoot and beat Hart with a dipping 25-yard effort the goalkeeper should still have managed to turn away.
A half-time lead would have been exactly what Lask deserved but in a cruel twist of fate Andrade, whose own goal had given Spurs the lead in the return fixture, accidentally handled Ndombele's shot to give Bale the chance to score from 12 yards, and he sent the sides in level at the break with the last kick of the opening 45 minutes.
Little improved after half-time in terms of Spurs' performance, but 11 minutes into the second period they led for the first time when Ndombele nipped onto Mads Madsen's heavy touch and released Son, who ran through before finishing with typical composure.
Karamoko gave a brief insight in what was to come when he fired a snapshot wide from 20 yards moments after his introduction with 20 minutes to go, before his strike partner Eggestein left Hart with his head in his hands again as the goalkeeper palmed his near-post drive into the top corner to bring the hosts level.
Hart looked to have been given a let-off within two minutes as the otherwise impressive Wiesinger pushed Bergwijn over in the box to give away another penalty, before Alli gathered himself to beat Schlager from 12 yards with a cool chip.
Spurs had got themselves out of trouble three times but still had time for another misdemeanour, as more poor marking gave Karamoko time to pick his spot in the second minute of added time, and he punished the visitors an excellent finish into the corner past Hart's helpless dive.
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho: "We need to play like we did at home in every match that we played in the Europa League. We played Maccabi in the play-offs, Ludogorets and LASK and our team at home is a different team.
"But the contradiction to that is players like [Heung-Min] Son and Pierre-Emile [Hojbjerg], starting every match, are examples of the guys that it doesn't matter where, it doesn't matter the competition, they are there and they are in front of the team every time.
"I think it's a question of attitude, which I experienced before. Even at Manchester United, I had a similar situation when we lost two matches away in the group phase and when we get to the knockouts you get better opponents and more difficulties, the team faces matches in a different way."
And on Harry Kane's fitness...
"I'm not sure - he's on treatment. But I could be now doing some bluff or trying to pretend that he's in big trouble. He's not in big trouble. I believe that he's going to play."
Ndombele has played a lot of football recently - more than anyone else in a Spurs shirt - and not so long ago, you would have wondered if he had the commitment for three games in seven days.
But this is a new Ndombele, one who runs, harries, hassles and still has the quality on the ball that convinced Spurs to make him their record signing less than 18 months ago. He pounced on Madsen's heavy touch to make Son's second, having already won the penalty for Spurs' equaliser when his goalbound shot was handled before half-time.
On a night where Mourinho will have been left angered by the lack of commitment by his fringe players, Ndombele can count himself out of that number after his 2020 turnaround, with performances like this showing exactly why.
Tottenham host Arsenal in the north London derby on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4.15pm; kick-off at 4.30pm.
