IT’S ROTTENHAM
Jose’s stuttering stars survive scare
JOSE MOURINHO admitted Spurs had an almighty scare after squeezing through against nine men.
Tottenham were trailing with just 10 minutes to go against the Bulgarians and it was probably lucky the TV feed went down for the thousands of fans watching at home.
But, somehow they turned it around as Lokomotiv Plovdiv had two players sent off, Harry Kane equalised from the penalty spot and then Tanguy Ndombele proved to be Mourinho’s unlikely hero.
It was a crazy finish to a very uncomfortable night for Spurs and yet they still face two more Europa League ties to reach the Group stages and it already seems a marathon journey.
Boss Mourinho said: “When they scored, it was a moment for them to dream and a moment for us to fear going out of the competition.
“To go from that feeling when you think you could lose to then the last feeling to win is good.
“They did not cross the halfway line in the second half, we dominated and then, after we scored, they were down to nine men and it was impossible for them.”
Tottenham dominated early on as they looked far too good for the Bulgarian underdogs.
Steven Bergwijn hit the bar and was denied what seemed like a clear penalty after what looked a foul by defender Lucas Masoero.
But the TV gremlins crept in before half- time for subscribers on Premier Sports as the feed went down – yet you did not feel you were missing much.
At least a couple of hundred Lokomotiv fans gathered outside were making a noise. Led by a supporter with a megaphone, you could hear them in the stadium and on the TV when the pictures returned. Tottenham still looked flat and went behind after 71 minutes when Georgi Minchev headed home Dimitar Iliev’s cross shortly after coming on to leave the visitors in real trouble.
But Mourinho’s side got a reprieve when Momchil Tsvetanov handled on the line and was sent off, Kane firing home from the penalty spot. Birsent Karagaren also got his marching orders after a second yellow card for trying to dig up the penalty spot and the home side were down to nine.
And Spurs grabbed the winner in the 85th minute when Lucas Moura’s cross was put in by Ndombele, as the £ 55m midfielder who has been given the cold shoulder came to his manager’s rescue. Mourinho added: “In the process of evolution, last season I could not see any.
“But now he is training very well, he has recovered very well physically and gave us what we wanted.”