Tottenham Hotspur kickstarted their 2018/19 Champions League with a devastating 2:1 defeat over Inter Milan. The Premier League giants looked comfortable throughout the course of the game before a late cameo from the Nerazzurri, saw them concede two goals in quick successions.
Following a rather drab first half, Christian Eriksen initially scored the opener for Spurs in the 53rd minute. But, just when it looked like the Lilywhites were cruising to a comfortable victory, Inter found the equalizer thanks to an 85th-minute thunderbolt from Mauro Icardi. The Italian then used their momentum to score the winner in the injury time as Matias Vecino tucked home from close range to complete a stunning comeback.
Here are three reasons why Spurs fell to Inter at the San Siro.
A delicate yet dangerous tactic
Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino implemented a rather ambitious build-up play against Inter as their back-four often looked to play out from the back irrespective of the pressure and situation. The Argentine mastermind put his faith into his defenders to slowly play out from the back in order to stretch the opposition.
And while it did work at times, the risky tactic mostly backfired as almost all of the Spurs defenders were finding it difficult to evade Inter’s first line of press, thanks to the hard-working duo of Matteo Politano and Ivan Perisic. Ben Davies, in particular, found it difficult to cope with the pressure and gave away a lot of balls in his own half.
But, what struck at most is the fact that Tottenham kept using it even after taking the lead, which, in the end, aided the Inter players as they ultimately squeezed out the opposition lines with a series of attacking waves in the final stage of the game. had Tottenham been more cautious of giving away their slender lead, they could have easily squeezed out all three points given their general defensive organization and solidity.
A moment of magic from Mauro Icardi
Despite their questionable build-up tactics, Tottenham were convincing in terms of their performance against Inter throughout the course of the game. But, at the end of the day, they were just unfortunate enough to face the wrath of Mauro Icardi, who produced a moment of magic to score the equalizer from absolutely nowhere.
The Argentine forward, often criticized for his lack of work ethic and commitment, failed to mark his presence for the most part of the game. In fact, he could only muster 16 touches in the whole of ninety minutes. He even failed to complete a single dribble nor a key pass.
However, he should his true quality when he used a fantastic technique to volley the ball into the back of the net in the 87th minute, making Tottenham the latest victim of his unpredictable skillset.
A tireless and cohesive display from Inter
While Icardi’s insane goal did help Inter Milan seal all three points against Tottenham, we should certainly acknowledge the tireless attitude shown by the entire team. Indeed, the Italian giants never stopped believing despite struggling to break down a well-organized Tottenham defence for the most part of the game.
Second half substitutes Antonio Candreva and Balde Keita, in particular, gave them a huge boost in attack while the likes of Matias Vecino and Milan Brozovic kept fighting till the end with the former being rewarded with the eventual winner in the 91st minute.
All in all, it was a cohesive display from the Nerazzurri, especially in the final phase of the game – the time when it mattered the most.
Stat credit: Whoscored
