Sloppy Spurs Defeated by Positive Paços in Portugal

Thursday 19th August 2021

Match Report

Paços de Ferreira 1 – 0 Tottenham Hotspur

Venue: Estádio da Mata Real, Paços de Ferreira, Portugal

Competition: Europa Conference League Play-off Leg 1 of 2

Kane's inclusion in Tottenham's 25 man UEFA squad left fans hoping to catch a rare sighting of the striker since Euro 2020.

He was nowhere to be seen though, having not travelled with the team to Portugal. His Man City transfer saga rolls on, as we draw closer to that August 31st deadline.

Spurs flew out off the back of a brilliant start to their domestic campaign – beating defending champions Man City 1-0 at packed-out Tottenham Hotspur stadium on Sunday. That definitely boosted popularity of new boss Nuno Espirito Santo amongst the Spurs faithful. His next test came in his native Portugal.

With all due respect, the opposition and competition were of significantly smaller stature – Paços de Ferreira, another club within the district of Porto. They finished 5th in the Primeira Liga last season. Spurs were up against them in this first round of fixtures in UEFA's all new Conference League. A competition devised to give a wider range of clubs a taste of European action.

It was an interesting line-up – debuts for Gil and Gollini, Romero's first start after a brief cameo in the City game, Lo Celso, Winks, Doherty, Davies and Sessegnon were all given a chance, and Scarlett, Nile John and Carter-Vickers were the academy boys making a breakthrough.

Spurs got off to a bright start with Brian Gil looking a real attacking threat – lively runs down the left wing and every now and then cutting inside. The Paços players were struggling to keep track of him. He looked at ease with the ball at his feet, and was showing the promise the Spanish media have hyped up about him.

Unfortunately, the other big name signing Christian Romero looked shaky. He allowed a ball to slip under his foot early on, and can thank Ryan Sessegnon for mopping up behind him with a well-timed sliding challenge on the edge of the box.

Carter-Vickers also looked nervy and off the pace. His decision making was poor which led to him failing to clear his lines, being sloppy in possession and giving away cheap free-kicks.

Paços sensed the anxiousness in the Spurs ranks and grew into the game. Despite the less than 10,000 seater stadium only being half full, their supporters really got behind the team, who started to look assured in possession and began creating chances against a discombobulated Spurs.

That's to be expected with 11 changes to the team, and still finding fitness for the upcoming season, but Spurs simply weren't good enough for most of the first half. It resulted in Paços taking a deserved lead on the 44th minute – Winks gave the ball away on the edge of the opposition penalty area, and Paços pounced on them with a quick counter attack, breezing by a lethargic Spurs side.

Romero was caught off guard again as he decided to step up and play the offside trap. This left him square-on with the attackers as they slid a ball straight past him and into the path of Lucas Silva. Carter-Vickers had dropped to go with the runner before realising the rest of his defensive line had stepped up. He tried to change his mind and follow suit, but only ended up playing Lucas Silva onside, who finished the move with a composed finish into the bottom right corner. 1-0.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – The first half was far from the exuberant display Spurs fans would have been hoping for, and it was down to Nuno to push them towards a positive response in the second half."

Unfortunately that never materialised, and Spurs' youth and fringe players continued to lack inspiration going forward. They began lofting hopeful balls toward young Dane Scarlett up top, only for them to be headed straight back out of any dangerous areas by a staunch Paços defence.

This was very much the theme of the entire second half, and the 1-0 victory Paços de Ferreira emerged from this first leg with, was an accurate reflection of the sluggish, disjointed performance from Spurs, and the professional, unified one from Paços de Ferreira.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – Now it's a question of whether Spurs will call on the 'big guns' to try and overturn this tie in the 2nd leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next week, or if they'll stick with giving chances to those looking to break into the first team, who are still a long way off doing so judging from what we saw today."

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 22. Pierluigi Gollini – 5 – Didn't have a whole lot to do. Some will say he should have been better positioned for their goal, but he was left in a one-on-one situation.

• 2. Matt Doherty – 4 – Not good enough. Expected more seeing as he has a point to prove after being reunited with former boss Nuno.

• 38. Cameron Carter-Vickers – 2 – A woeful display. Now 23, showed why he's failed to break into the First Team. Time to move on.

• 4. Cristian Romero – 4 – Disappointing night for the new 50 million man we've heard so much about. Needs to get himself up to speed sharpish.

• 43. Nile John – 5 – Difficult for him to get involved when packed into a busy midfield.

• 33. Ben Davies – 5 – Captain on the night. Tried driving the team forward on occasion but failed to make an impact.

• 19. Ryan Sessegnon – 5 – Another one with a point to prove having been shipped out on loan last season. Made a few promising runs, but more often than not he gave the ball away at the end of them.

• 18. Giovani Lo Celso – 4 – Very disappointing night for a player we all know possesses a lot of talent. Tried to assert his authority on the game, but his vision and passing was way off what we expect from him. Ended up frustrated with young Scarlett upfront, but he wasn't to blame for Lo Celso's dwelling on the ball and misplaced passes.

• 8. Harry Winks – 3 – Another horrible performance from the Spurs man. Gave the ball away for the goal before trying to recover with what's becoming a trademark Winks recovery lunge. Referee played the advantage, and Paços scored from the subsequent counter attack.

• 11. Bryan Gil – 7 – His quick, marauding runs would have delighted the fans early on. Unfortunately the spark fizzled out within the opening quarter of the match. Kept running all game and looked shattered, but all in all failed to make a breakthrough.

• 44. Dane Scarlett – 6 – Looked isolated upfront. Ran his socks off searching for opportunities, but the lack of supply from the midfield and a strong, disciplined performance from the Paços defence, meant he couldn't find any joy up top.

Substitutions:

• 43. Nile John <-- 45' --> 47.Jack Clarke – 6 – Showed some nice touches and stopovers, but similar to Sessegnon, had little impact with his end product.

• 19. Ryan Sessegnon <-- 80' --> 56. J'Neil Lloyd Bennett – 6 – Looked strong and determined when he came on. Didn't have enough time to really get involved.

• 38. Cameron Carter-Vickers <-- 86' --> 48. Maksim Paskotsi – N/A – Late appearance for the youngster.