Eriksen happy to keep Spurs’ hopes alive
Liverpool camp complain of Neymar’s play-acting after 2-1 loss
With Tottenham facing early Champions League elimination, Christian Eriksen came to the rescue against Inter Milan.
The Dane came off the bench in the 70th minute and made an immediate contribution to thwart an ultra-defensive Inter Milan side that only needed a draw to advance to the last-16 and eliminate Tottenham.
Eriksen scored in the 80th minute to seal a 1-0 victory at Wembley Stadium that leaves Tottenham’s fate in its own hands heading into the Group B finale at Barcelona. “Inter came to defend, they knew one point would be better than losing,” Eriksen said, “and playing against Italian sides you don’t have many chances.”
The hard work in the leadup to the goal was done by Moussa Sissoko, driving down the right flank and cutting past Inter players before squaring to Dele Alli. The ball was quickly laid off to Eriksen who lifted it over goalkeeper Samir Handanovic. “It was a very good move,” Eriksen said, “and I’m happy to finish it.”
Eriksen will likely get the headlines, but Sissoko received much of the praise from the two coaches. “We had to defend better against that Sissoko run down the left,” Inter coach Luciano Spalletti. “But probably it’s the only mistake we made.”
After struggling to prove his worth since arriving in 2016, Sissoko is living up to
the £30 million fee Newcastle received for the French midfielder. “Now everyone has seen he is doing fantastic,” Pochettino said. “His contribution is fantastic for the team in a period we need this type of performance.”
Top spot
Tottenham must still beat Barcelona on December 11 to make sure of advancing to the knockout phase. However, Barcelona has only lost once at home in the Champions League in five years, and locked in top spot with a game to spare by beating PSV Eindhoven to go six points clear.
Liverpool were left frustrated by Paris St Germain striker Neymar during a 2-1 Champions League loss but should have controlled their aggression better in the face of the Brazilian’s “playacting”, defender Andy Robertson has said. The Parc des Princes contest was marked by a number of interruptions with Liverpool committing 20 fouls and picking up six yellow cards, but Robertson said the French side had indulged in gamesmanship. “I suppose they were in the lead and they were looking to waste time. You can use gamesmanship, playacting, you can use it all really,” Robertson said.