THE TWO SIDES OF PRINCE ERIKSEN
One flash of magic early in the second half supplied the proof that Christian eriksen was back and the ball was once again performing under his spell.
First, an intricate exchange of passes with Son Heungmin as Tottenham’s Danish prince wriggled out of a tight space, then a change of pace before a cross whipped on to the head of Harry Kane at the back post.
On the bench, Mauricio Pochettino will have savoured the moment. He needs his playmaker to be in the groove and full of confidence to give Spurs another dimension.
What Pochettino could have done without was eriksen’s next key contribution; a blind pass which proved the trigger for PSV eindhoven to launch a swift counter-attack and unzip their visitors. Toby Alderweireld was lurking too deep, playing Hirving Lozano onside, and Hugo Lloris charged from his goal to commit the reckless foul for which he was dismissed, leaving the Londoners to defend a 2-1 lead with 10 men. It proved beyond them. They conceded late and their Champions League prospects are bleak.
The fact that eriksen was fit again, having started for the first time in a month, suddenly seemed to be scant consolation. An abdominal strain forced him out and there were alarms when Denmark manager Age Hareide recently claimed it was a ‘chronic’ problem.
Pochettino brushed this aside easily enough with the Dane on the bench at West Ham on Saturday and in the team in eindhoven, operating as a classic no 10 behind Kane.
It was eriksen who gave Spurs’ campaign such a positive start with the opening goal at Inter, before another late collapse left them defeated at the San Siro and then beaten again by Barcelona lona at Wembley. Things can n unravel at t remarkable speed in a group like this, with three clubs of great pedigree, all former r european champions.
PSV understood ood the threat of erikeriksen, who joined Ajax at the age of 16 and nd won the Dutch title three times before his £12.5million move to the Premier League.
Here, his name was greeted with the piercing whistles of derision reserved for those of an Ajax affinity when the teams were revealed and there was a robust challenge by centre-half nick Viergever to welcome him.
Like his Spurs team-mates, eriksen was slow to find his rhythm. He was unable to influence the game in the opening half-hour and his passing lacked its normal precision but once they went behind, the Londoners stirred. Moving the ball at a quicker tempo they were able to generate more pockets of space, capitalised upon by eriksen, Lucas Moura and Kieran Trippier around the fringes of the PSV penalty area, and this trio produced the equaliser. eriksen delivered a beautiful pass to Trippier. For a fraction of a second it seemed to lack power when, whe in fact, it was perfectly weigh weighted, inviting the full back to accelerate an and rap the b ball square for Moura, who scored with the help of a deflection. After the in interval, the ball wa was back under his spell and the Dane was firmly back int into his groove. His touch w was sure, his decisions clear. On a wavelength with Kane, he read a dummy, latched on to Trippier’s pass and tested goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet with his left foot from the edge of the area. Then came the flash of brilliance to create the second goal. Then the Lloris red card and PSV’s fightback. eriksen might be back and they are much better with him but Spurs are staring at the exit.